Ruma Center - Ruma, Illinois
Located approximately 40 miles southeast of St. Louis, Missouri, the Ruma, Illinois, center sits on 500 acres of rolling Illinois prairie and is the oldest ASC center in the United States, celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2001. The central house is home for approximately 75 sisters and includes a contemporary chapel, meeting facilities and dining facilities. The Center of Peace is a recently renovated, multi-purpose facility which provides private rooms for retreatants and other quests. Urban grade school classes often visit the Earth Kinship Center to learn about environmental education. A 15-foot bronze sculpture memorializes the five ASC Martyrs of Charity killed in Africa in 1992. Residents and visitors enjoy many flower gardens, endless walking paths, wooded areas and ponds. Vegetable gardens and a variety of crops also occupy much of the land. A new fountain memorializes all deceased Ruma Sisters and especially those whose remains are not in the convent cemetery.
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 Front view of the Ruma Center. This section is used for offices, dining rooms and bedrooms. |
 The Rose window in the Chapel depicts the traditional seven ways that our Lord shed his most precious blood. |
 Here is a beautiful memorial to the five ASC sisters who were murdered during the Liberian Civil War, October 1992 and a tribute to all women of Gospel courage and mission. |
 Center of Peace retreat center. |
 Preparing the vegetable garden. |
 A stained glass window of Saint Maria De Mattias graces an entryway and reminds us of her love for children. |
 One of the many ways to tour the spacious and landscaped grounds and trails. |
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