PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Sister Donna Marie Dorfner chuckles as she recalls the day a child criticized her sandwich-making skills.

Taking heed, she upped her game and now evenly distributes peanut butter and jelly to the very edge of each slice.

On the third Tuesday of every month, the Sisters of Divine Providence gather to make PB&Js for folks in need. It’s a simple meal — creamy Jif and Smucker’s Concord Grape on white bread — but one that nourishes the mind, body and spirit.

With donated supplies, the women get to work; everyone has their own technique, but they’re joyful and chatty as they assemble the snacks.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Sister Kathleen Angel, who spearheads the mission, delivers 100 sandwiches to Jubilee Kitchen in the Hill District. Co-founded in 1979 by Sister Liguori Rossner, Joyce Rothermel, the Rev. Frank D. Almade, Sister Cornelia Racs and the Rev. James W. Garvey, it’s open 365 days a year. There, folks can find hot meals and those providential PB&Js, along with services ranging from homelessness prevention and child care to job assistance.

Sisters of Divine Providence have supported Jubilee for decades, but the “jam” sessions began during the pandemic. About a dozen elderly nuns report for duty in the dining room at The Commons at Providence Heights, a new senior residence and healthcare facility located behind the century-old McCandless motherhouse.

“People want to help the poor, but whenever you get to be in your 90s, it’s hard to do that,” says Angel, who entered religious life in 1961 and spent 17 years teaching biology at La Roche University, which was established by the Sisters in 1963. “Our founders were always involved in working for justice. We see this as justice for people.”

In 1851, Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler and Mother Marie de la Roche founded the community in Germany to serve the poor and sick, and to teach girls in rural areas of the country. In 1876, six pioneer nuns were sent to North America to carry on the mission.

Today, there are provinces in Germany, the United States, the Caribbean, Korea and Peru. The Marie de la Roche Province is headquartered in Pittsburgh, where about 70 nuns live, teach and try to make the world a better place.

Before I left, they gave me a sandwich to take to my dad, a proud Catholic, cancer survivor and La Roche graduate who was receiving immunotherapy at neighboring UPMC Passavant Hospital.

Sometimes, thoughts and prayers are the best medicine.