ESF Favorite Links ...

Bookmark Your Favorites

Below and on the linked pages are several links that relate to websites of Family, Friends, Business Colleagues, Educational Institutions, Associations, and Resources that we would like to share with you. Please visit them and patronize businesses you feel can help you. Be sure to add them to your Bookmarks or Favorites. Except for the first link, Family, which is on this page, each of the subsequent links will open on its own page.

Because the Internet is constantly changing, occasionally a Website address may not work properly. This might be the result of a change of site address, the discontinuation of a particular site, or simply a temporary situation. If you can't access a particular site referenced or the page does not display correctly, try it again later or even the following day, or try using a different browser. This site works best in Firefox. We are now validating it for Safari and will then try it with Internet Explorer. Because we are Mac-based, Internet Explorer is the most difficult for us to work with since Microsoft no longer support IE for Mac. If you are repeatedly unable to go to a site or receive a screen message that the site no longer exists, please notify me by e-mail at Mary Sullivan Esseff so I can investigate further and remove or update the URL as appropriate.

Thank you. Happy surfing!

Mary Sullivan Esseff, Ph.D.

Artist, Designer, and Wife & Mother Superb

Mary and Peter's older daughter Jeanne is not only beautiful and loving, she is also a gifted artist who did many of ESF's graphics after she graduated from Marywood University, Scranton, PA. She is a Creative Memories Consultant. Currently, she is the Office Manager of Optimal Spine Chiropractic in Aberdeen, MD.

Jeanne has been married to Joe Reif, a graduate of Loyola, Baltimore since 1992. He worked for ESF for ten years while he was working on his Masters in Distance Learning from UMBC. Joe is currently Director of Training for HMS Host.

Pictured above: Reif Family: Julianne, Jeanne, Cecelia, and Joe

Their two angels, our "GrandBees" so called because they are always buzzing around, Cecelia and Julianne are in middle school. Cecelia plays the Clarinet and Julianne, the cello. Both participate in Destination Imagination. Julianne's DI Team competed on the International level in 2008 after winning 2nd place in the Harford County competition and 3rd place in the Maryland State competition. Jeanne has coached the DI Teams for three years. Julianne competed and won a Benjamin Carson Scholarship in 2007. The girls are also active in softball and soccer and their dad Joe has been the teams' coach for several years.

They also both love playing with their Collies Shannon (sable and white) and Shadow (tricolor). They competed at the 4-H Club County Fair with their dogs and Cecelia won Grand Champion Best of Show with Shannon in their first competition.

Pictured above: Cecelia's Collie Shannon (left) and Julianne's Collie Shadow (right).

And, of course, their doting grandparents love it when they come to visit them in sunny Florida. The Reifs visited Tampa during Sr. Rosemary's yearly home visit in 2007 and everyone went kayaking on the beautiful Weeki Wachee River hoping to spot a Manatee. No Manatees, but everyone had a great time.

Pictured below: Julianne & Cecelia, Sr. Rosemary and Mary in the double kayak.

Musician, Composer, Conductor, Teacher Extraordinaire

Sr. Rosemary, Mary and Peter's second beautiful, loving, talented daughter is a Nashville Dominican Sister. She graduated from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. twice. First, with a Bachelor of Music (Musical Theater) and later, with a Master of Music in Sacred Music: Choral Conducting. She is currently working toward a Master of Arts in Liturgy at Mundelein University: Liturgical Institute. While there in the 2006 Summer Session, she conducted a Scola consisting of choral directors from around the country who were there for a one-week music workshop. To hear one of the songs she conducted with them, please click here: Ave Verum. A gifted musician, she conducts the Sisters at the Motherhouse, plays piano, guitar, and organ, and writes music. To hear her sing a song she wrote, click here: Blessings. She is pictured with her maternal Grandmother Alice Sullivan who celebrated her 90th birthday July 4, 2008.

The Nashville Dominicans' philosophy is: When the religious life is lived in a way that is balanced and fully engages a person's capacity to love and to be loved, the result is joy and a family spirit.

The Sisters of the St. Cecilia Congregation are flourishing. Two to fifteen candidates have been received each year for over a decade. The congregation is currently home to over 200 sisters, the highest number in their 142-year history. And the average age of the congregation is just 36 years of age when the average age of sisters nationally is 69. The new addition to their Motherhouse, dedicated in June 2006, "is not just a building, but a place that helps us live our Dominican life," according to Sr. Marian Sartain, General Councilor of the congregation. "It's built to support our mission of teaching," she told the Tennessee Register, newspaper of the Nashville Diocese.

The newly-completed east wing includes an exquisite chapel with stained glass windows currently being created by the same company that made the window of St. Cecilia in the Motherhouse built in 1860. The new convent also includes an expanded dining hall and commercial kitchen, a library four times larger than the old one, an updated computer lab, music and art rooms, a community room, a new infirmary, a climate-controlled archive area and 160 new 10-foot by 11-foot cells, the small private bedrooms where the sisters sleep.

To request prayers, please fill out our on-line Prayer Intentions Form.

If the Spirit moves you, there are several ways you can help provide for the Sisters as they complete this major building campaign: prayers, stocks, wills, trusts and insurance policies, and cash. To make a pledge or contribute financially to the capital building project on-line, please click here for the Nashville Dominican Development Fund. You can also call 615.251.0053 or email: Sister Mary Elizabeth, O.P.

Fabulous Father and Lover of the Outdoors & Animals

Peter Timothy is Mary and Peter's handsome, loving, gifted son. As was the case with his two sisters, Peter was involved with ESF, the family business. He worked on projects such as the FedEx Hub training contract as a videographer.

Peter was the first graduate of the Wilderness Leadership Academy, New Castle, VA. The Academy was begun by Eugene T. Nervo, Colonel, USMC, Retired, and specialized in teaching outdoor survival skills combined with academic and experiential learning. Although the Academy itself has closed, the Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing Camp (that spawned the Academy) is still one of the best programs that offers young people the opportunity to learn Outdoor Skills. WAEL's adventure activities include: rock climbing, kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking, rappelling, caving, ropes course, climbing wall, 900' zip line, SCUBA diving, snorkeling, white-water rafting, ice climbing, glacier travel, culture immersion, environmental education, and many more outdoor adventure activities.

Peter always preferred working outdoors and is Crew Leader and Tree Service Specialist in the Baltimore, MD area.

He is also a phenomenal cook and creates dishes that are not only delicious, but also good for you.

Peter and Nina are very excited about the arrival of their first child, Timothy Michael, born February 12, 2009.

Timothy Michael, One Month

High above the water, Peter is
hard at work trimming a tree.

Peter and Mary are also brimming over with congratulations for Nina & Peter and are thrilled to welcome our beautiful Grandson.

Mary's "Irish Twin" Sister, Elizabeth Lawrence

Mary's "Irish-twin" sister Elizabeth Sullivan Lawrence founded the LuMarian Center to offer spiritual direction, counseling, healing, mediation, and training. Her methods are based on proven clinical counseling procedures as well as beneficial spiritual healing that is too often omitted from conventional therapeutic approaches. She looks at the "total of the individual": lifestyle; work patterns; family background; and diet.

LuMarian training is offered to those interested in Energy Medicine or in seeking deep spiritual renewal through "healing of memories." Elizabeth believes all healing becomes "concretized" in community, so she has helped form spirituality groups across the country.

Elizabeth holds a Masters in Pastoral Counseling, is a spiritual director and certified mediator. Her post-graduate studies include Mind-Body medicine, Yoga, Centering Prayer, Therapeutic Touch, and the Science of Intuition. She has facilitated women's spirituality groups and seminars, including the nationally-known "A Gathering of Women" retreat with author Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. Elizabeth's call to ministry has taken her from local Catholic parishes to small third world villages.

Elizabeth conducts individual phone sessions that can be used effectively as an adjunct to your own therapy or psychiatry. She teaches and celebrates with peoples from all ethnic and religious backgrounds calling them to peace, community, and purpose. You can reach Elizabeth through her LuMarian website.

Elizabeth was recently married to Bud Prober on September 26, 2008.