On August 14, Miss Regina and Miss Rose, Everest formation coordinators, were set to climb St. Mary’s Peak in Stevensville, Montana. They were there to form part of a group to help fellow consecrated woman, Nicole, who has ALS, climb the mountain. Six of Nicole’s families member and a friend from the parish also helped. The group also included consecrated women Teresa Williams and Teresa Maziarz, both of whom attended Everest Academy when they were young.
The local parish community hikes up St. Mary’s Peak, named after the Blessed Virgin Mary, for the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. Nicole’s grandfather, John Rivera, started the tradition for his parish in 1964 as a Knight of Columbus. While hiking, the parish stops at five locations to pray a decade of the rosary on the way. At the top of the mountain, Mass is celebrated.
The group helping Nicole started before the parishioners, anticipating it would take longer to hike up pushing a specially-made wheelchair. However, they made great time, climbing 3.7 miles with a 2490 elevation gain in three hours At the top, the group ate lunch, prayed the Rosary, and songs and visited as they waited for the parishioners to arrive for Mass. Thankfully the hike down went smoothly and took half the anticipated time.
The group and Nicole expressed special gratitude to all who made this trip possible by helping buy the wheelchair and supplies as well as plane tickets.
