8+ hour, 18+ min ago (176+ words) [Sister Theresa B. Couture]Sister Theresa B. Couture " data-image-caption="Sister Theresa B. Couture " data-medium-file="https://www.pressherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/11/577868sistercouture.jpg?w=192" data-large-file="https://www.pressherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/11/577868sistercouture.jpg?w=375" />BIDDEFORD - Sister Theresa B. Couture, Good Shepherd Sister, died peacefully at St. Joseph Convent in Biddeford on Nov. 25, 2025. ... You are able to gift 5 more articles this month. Anyone can access the link you share with no account required. Learn more. With a The Portland Press Herald subscription, you can gift 5 articles each month. It looks like you do not have any active subscriptions. To get one, go to the subscriptions page. - Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Sister Theresa B. Couture BIDDEFORD " Sister Theresa B. Couture, Good Shepherd Sister, died peacefully at St. Joseph Convent in Biddeford on Nov. 25, 2025. She was born in Lewiston on Nov. 9, 1932. Daughter of Romeo Couture and Blanche Poirier....

2+ week, 1+ day ago (406+ words) I've been thinking a lot about gratitude lately. In part, that's because "generating gratitude" has been a theme of reflection for our congregation this month. It may also have something to do with the fact that Thanksgiving is upon us. Despite its colonial baggage, which is considerable and enduring, there remains an association between this holiday and the spiritual practice of giving thanks. It occurs to me that gratitude has a proper pace to it, and it's not fast. I don't know about you, but I find myself rushing these days from meeting to meeting, or task to task. The world feels like it's spinning more quickly and out of control than ever, and for some reason, I act like I think I should keep up. That, I realize, is not a path to gratitude. How can I learn to…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago (1169+ words) NEW GLOUCESTER " Reading about Sister April Baxter's new life at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, since becoming the third active member of the last living community of its kind, I found myself thinking: this sounds pretty nice. Living rent-free on a scenic hillside farm among historic buildings, in exchange for keeping the place running, struck me as the best deal going in southern Maine. Surely, plenty of people would find the mandatory oath of celibacy a worthy sacrifice for that kind of housing arrangement. Come to find out, there are other requirements for becoming a Shaker that could present bigger challenges. Along with being at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, you must be single, childless and " likely the disqualifier for most " debt-free. And then, of course, there's the religious piece. While I can get behind many Shaker values, like…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago (814+ words) Though "many men have come and gone, and many buildings built and destroyed," one Brunswick landmark has remained a town centerpiece for 180 years, and its impressive history includes some of the most legendary names in American history. "The First Meeting House of the First Parish Church" was built in 1735 and was "situated about one mile south of the college " in front of the graveyard." This meeting house served the community as a place of worship and as a center of government for over 70 years. In 1756, an additional meeting house "was erected at the upper part of the New Meadows" to serve the mixed community of East Brunswick. Referred to by some "as the second meeting house of the First Parish," this structure was abandoned by 1834 and "carried off piece meal." By 1806, property was purchased from "Robert Dunning and William Stanwood…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago (1474+ words) WINDHAM " When the tarps of the sweat lodge are pulled back, a swirling cloud of steam wafts up toward the bear pelt draped overhead. It dissipates before reaching the razor wire that caps the fences around the recreation yard at the Maine Correctional Center. Between rounds in the ceremony, voices from inside command the retrieval of rocks warming in a fire pit a few feet away. Women carefully lift the rocks with shovels over an altar bearing a cedar bough and a turtle shell, and into the lodge. As Savannah Smith, 28, crawls out of the roughly 12-foot-wide structure, she grins. "It's a lot right now," she said, her calves dotted with goosebumps as her body readjusts to the cool fall air after two hours inside the lodge. Her halting voice and still-glistening eyes give her away:I cried at every…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (365+ words) The new Jim Morrison Memorial Narthex at St. Gregory Roman Catholic Church in Gray was blessed by James Ruggieri, bishop of the Diocese of Portland, on Monday evening. The 788-square-foot narthex, which serves as the opening vestibule of the church between the main worship area and the outside world, began construction in April, and was funded by the $400,000 "Fulfillment of a Dream" campaign. The narthex was named for the late Jim Morrison, who served as pastor at St. Gregory from 1983 to 1986. Morrison, who served in the Diocese of Portland from 1974 to 2008, ministered in several congregations in addition to St. Gregory, such as Old Orchard Beach, Old Town, York, Scarborough and Norway, while also holding administrative roles in the diocese. Morrison had a lifelong connection with St. Gregory, having spent many summers there as a camper and counselor in the mid-20th century,…...