ATLANTA–Monica Donohue, who had a profound conversion experience at age 31, will be the speaker at the next Magnificat gathering for women to be held on Saturday morning, Aug. 22. Donohue is a parishioner at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.

All women are invited to attend the Magnificat meal, which will be held at Holy Cross Church in Atlanta from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Atlanta chapter of Magnificat hosts the meal, which includes breakfast, a time of praise and worship with music and the speaker’s testimony.

The international Catholic women’s ministry is inspired by the joyful meeting of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, related in the Gospel of St. Luke.

Donohue was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early 1950’s, the third of four children. She grew up with devout parents and a large extended Catholic family in a Catholic neighborhood. Her parents loved the Lord and Our Lady and modeled the practice of the faith for their children.

Monica Donohue

Donohue attended Catholic School from first grade through high school except for grades six and seven. After graduating from a very small all girls’ high school with 69 students in her senior class, she attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, which had 35,000 students. The challenge of this change pulled Donohue into a very secular environment where she temporarily left behind her Catholic values.

With a failed marriage by the age of 23, the relocation of her parents from Wisconsin to South Carolina and the death of her mother, her early 20s were tumultuous.  She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in nursing and later received a Master’s in Nursing from the University of South Carolina.  This allowed her to discover her two professional passions, teaching and caring for the poor and vulnerable in a community setting.

At the end of her 20s, she was blessed to meet and marry the love of her life, Jeffrey Donohue. They had three children together, Erin, Shannon and Patrick, and were married for 32 years.

At the age of 31, Donohue experienced a profound conversion which changed her life. She was infused with the Holy Spirit and began an intimate relationship with Jesus, and she began to follow the Lord on her unique journey of life as He made straight her paths. Through marriage, parenting, her nursing profession, a lifetime commitment as a Lay Cistercian of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, along with various ministries with Magnificat, and more recently with the Encounter School of Ministry, God has taken her by the hand. God has taught her to know him, to love him, to serve him and to trust him with all her heart.

Advance reservations for the gathering are required and can be made either online or through the mail. The cost is $25 per person. No tickets are sent. Check-in is at the door for those with reservations only.

To register online, visit https://tinyurl.com/2608Meal. Those who have provided contact information will receive an invitation by email. To be added to that list, please send a request to joyfulvisitation@gmail.com.

To register by mail, please send your name, address, parish if applicable, contact information, and a check made payable to Magnificat Joyful Visitation to Debbie DuPont, 315 Rose Court, SW, Lilburn, GA 30047. Online registration closes on Wednesday, Aug. 12. Mailed reservations must be postmarked by Aug. 8.

The Magnificat will be interpreted for the Deaf. The doors open early. Guests are encouraged to arrive by 9 a.m. Holy Cross is located at 3773 Chamblee Tucker Road, Atlanta.

Priests and religious are invited to attend free of charge, but reservations are still requested to plan for the meal. Since the morning is designed to speak to the hearts of women free of distractions, it is respectfully requested that young children not attend. For information, contact Debbie at 770-696-6216.