A new Junior Catholic Daughters of America Court at Resurrection of Our Lord School in Northeast Philadelphia is uniting girls in friendship and faith, fostering a sense of belonging, and helping them put their faith into action through community service.
When Vanessa Rymer, principal at Resurrection since 2023, began researching the Catholic Daughters of America (CDA) and how to start a Junior Court, she discovered that none existed in the city or the state of Pennsylvania.
Before Rymer could create the Court, she had to go through an initiation process at nearby St. Dominic Parish in Northeast Philadelphia. Court #2222 at St. Dominic’s is serving as the sponsor for the JCDA at Resurrection.
“I had to be a Catholic Daughter of America myself, so I was initiated into the CDA Court at St. Dominic’s,” Rymer explained. “Colette McCaffery, coordinator for JCDA in Philadelphia, helped our court get initiated through the state.”
The Catholic Daughters of America, founded in Utica, New York, in 1903, fosters spiritual growth in Catholic women, promotes charitable work, and encourages a sense of community among its members.
The national organization has nearly 53,000 members in 1,041 local courts in 45 states as well as Puerto Rico, Mexico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Resurrection Court’s first gathering – a prayer and paint social – was held in August to help the girls get to know one another.
“The girls did a prayer with me around Mary, and then we talked about the importance of prayer,” Rymer said. “We also did religious paintings which was really nice.”
Several Catholic Daughter of America members came to the gathering which helped the girls see what they can become when they get older, she added.
An initiation ceremony was held during a Mass at Resurrection of Our Lord Church on Sept. 14 where the girls wore white dresses and received flowers. The elected officers of the JCDA also were introduced during the ceremony, Rymer said.
The school’s JCDA has attracted 36 girls in grades one through eight, according to the principal, who is facilitating the monthly meetings.
“We do our pledge, we do prayers, and we do something that’s faith building, whether it’s centered around a theme for the month or saints,” Rymer said. “We also identify community service projects, and we do fun social activities like a craft or something that’s team building.”
Service projects are an important aspect of the group.
“Our next goal is breast cancer awareness, and our girls are going to make pink ribbons and then fundraise to support a breast cancer awareness organization,” she said. “We definitely want to partner with Alex’s Lemonade Stand to raise funds for childhood cancer research.”
While Resurrection became the first school with a Junior Court, Rymer said that St. Katherine of Siena School in Northeast Philadelphia recently began the process of forming a JCDA.
She hopes that creating the Junior Court at Resurrection will inspire other schools to do the same.
“The goal is to spread the word that the Junior Catholic Daughters is another faith-based outlet for girls,” Rymer said.
Although Resurrection’s Court is just getting started, the principal looks forward to creating a strong culture among the girls.
“I hope that it builds more friendships and gives the older girls the chance to mentor the younger girls,” Rymer said. “We also want to build a legacy of JCDA and bring continuity to it.”
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For more information, visit www.CatholicDaughters.org/jcda or contact Margaret T. Giordano, Pennsylvania State Regent: margarettgiordanocdapa@gmail.com.
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