1:00 pm Saturday | Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart

GICC Exhibit Hall C,D

Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, founder and mother servant of Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, was born and raised in Iraq. She lived through four wars.

She has a bachelor’s degree in biology and hematology from Arbil University in Iraq and a master’s in philosophy and theology from Babylon College, which is affiliated with the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. She also has a diploma in Islamic studies and a certificate in theology of the body.

In 1993, Mother Olga started a lay movement called Love Your Neighbor, inviting young men and women from Christian and Muslim communities to serve the needs of the poor in Iraq. Two years later, she established the order of Marth Maryam Sisters—Missionaries of the Virgin Mary, the first order for religious sisters in the Assyrian Church of the East in 700 years.

In her homeland, Mother Olga was involved in pastoral ministry for college students and youth in parishes throughout Iraq. She also served prisoners, homeless, elderly and handicapped of war for many years. The Iraqi government gave her a humanitarian award for her service to the poor.

She came to the United States in 2001 for her studies, and received her master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Boston College. From 2002–2011, she was involved in campus ministry at Boston University, and served as the university chaplain. She was received into the Roman Catholic Church on Sept. 8, 2005 and made her perpetual vows in early December the same year.

Mother Olga continues to be recognized for her service to those in need. In 2008, she received the Religious Sister of the Year award at the Boston Catholic Women’s Conference. In 2010, she received the Saint Paul the Apostle Award from the Archdiocese of Boston, and a year later received an honorary Scarlet Key Award from Boston University. She also received the Bowie Kuhn Special Award for Evangelization at the Legatus 2012 Annual Summit.

In summer 2009, Cardinal Séan Patrick O’Malley gave Mother Olga the permission to start a new apostolate on the Boston University campus called the Nazareth House, a place of prayer and discernment for young women. In 2011, Cardinal O’Malley entrusted to her the mission of establishing a new religious community of sisters in the Archdiocese of Boston called the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth.