"Mary's Women of Joy is what I always knew I needed but had never found...an absolute answer to prayer."
Julie M.
"Mary's Women of Joy is an amazing sisterhood that has brought me many holy friendships. Even more, it continuously nurtures and energizes my Faith journey and has helped me form a closer relationship with our Lord."
Chrisanne F.
"Mary's Women of Joy has increased my faith and strengthened my walk in my Catholic faith. So grateful."
Angela C.
"Mary's Women of Joy feeds my heart and Soul."
Paula B.
"Mary's Women of Joy is a refuge of peace and sisterhood where our true identity as beloved daughters of God is continually being revealed."
Mary F.
"Mary's Women of Joy is a safe place where Our Lady brings women together to share our faith, joys, sorrows; where we can be vulnerable with women who have become sisters."
Bettina A.
"Mary's Women of Joy has changed the trajectory of my life. I feel blessed beyond measure to be a part of this unique and holy sisterhood that has become a major and beautiful part of the fabric of my life. I love everything about it and am eternally grateful."
Kristen W.
"Home - for me Mary's Women of Joy embodied everything my soul was longing for - sacramental living, praise and worshiping our Lord - all wrapped up in an amazing community of sisters."
Karyn L.
"Mary's Women of Joy is my rock, my shelter in the storm of life."
Terri L.
"Through Mary's Women of Joy I have encountered Jesus and He has healed me."
Mandy R.
"Mary's Women of Joy is a beautifully peaceful gathering of women experiencing the love, joy, and mercy of Our Lord through sharing their encounters with the Holy Spirit. We praise Him with prayer and scripture for all His gifts. Our Blessed Mother gives us the encouragement to walk in His ways, arm in arm."
Kathy B.
"Mary's Women of Joy is truly a spiritual encounter with God through all these beautiful women. I am so grateful to be part of such a holy sisterhood."
Mary P.
"I met Jesus for the first time in my heart through Mary's Women of Joy sisterhood! I am daily grateful to God and all of my sisters who are on this journey together."
Margie V.
"Mary's Women of Joy is purely a gift from God that has impacted my life in countless ways! From growing deeply in my Catholic faith, to building a beautiful sisterhood in Christ, I'm overwhelmed with Joy to be a part of this family."
Anna D.
"Mary's Women of Joy is a beautiful vessel where we encounter the Lord through prayer, study, and sisterhood."
Julie H.
"What began over 27 years ago as a few friends coming together to grow in our Catholic faith has blossomed into a continually growing sisterhood - one of the greatest and most life-changing gifts from God I could have ever imagined!"
Laura H.
"Mary's Women of Joy is the vessel through which God's grace reached down to me and set my soul on a path to an ever deeper encounter with the Lord."
Courtney M.
"Our Thursday mornings are like living out the Visitation in real time. It's like watching Mama Mary leap towards Elizabeth in every sister."
Diane S.
"Encountering Christ in a Sisterhood like no other!"
Sharon T.
"Mary's Women of Joy is one of the most powerful vehicles God has used to grow me and change me. I am grateful to God for MWOJ."
Danielle W.
"Mary's Women of Joy is a sisterhood of aspiring saints helping each other to reach heaven."
Leia A.
"Mary's Women of Joy is for me a deep encounter with Jesus with my sisters in Christ that teaches us of His great love for us and sends us out on mission to tell others of His love."
Sherri P.
"Mary's Women of Joy is a profound encounter with the Holy Spirit"
Kerry H.
"It's really like we're all sisters when we get together."
Dianne P.
"It's like the veil is lifted between Heaven and Earth when we're together. Holy friendships form and we nurture each other's souls."
Patti C.
Magnolia
St. Mark Huntersville, NC
Founding Chapter
Tiger Lily
Daniel Island, SC
Peony
St. Ann
Charlotte, NC
Yellow Rose
St. Therese
Mooresville, NC
White Rose
Christ Our King
Mount Pleasant, SC
Rose of Sharon
Holy Family
Winston-Salem, NC
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Sisterhood
Six Chapters. Rooted in prayer.
Blossoming in friendship.
Spreading joy.
Across North Carolina and South Carolina, six vibrant chapters of Mary’s Women of Joy are flourishing, each one a unique flower in Mary’s Garden.
From young mothers to wise grandmothers, single women, widows, from cradle Catholics to converts and reverts, we come together in every season of life, welcoming one another with open arms, just as Mary greeted Elizabeth. We lift each other up, bringing Jesus to one another with every prayer, every smile, every “yes.”
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Truth
Our Joyful Echo Podcast
Join Mary's Women of Joy Foundress, Jean Whelan, and her longtime friend Kathleen Lewis for Joyful Echo video series of heartfelt, Catholic conversations filled with faith, friendship, and encouragement.
With warmth, wisdom, and a good dose of laughter, Jean and Kathleen reflect on the joys and challenges of daily life through the lens of their love for Christ and His Church.
Their voices echo Mary’s fiat, a joyful yes to God’s will in every season. May their witness inspire your yes, too.
Pro-Life
We stand for all life, from conception to natural death
Eucharistic Adoration
We lovingly sit at our Lord's feet.
Spiritual Motherhood of Priests
We pray and fast and gift our Priests with material needs as the Spirit directs.
Our Pillars of Service
Mary’s Women of Joy is a sisterhood rooted in prayer, study, and service—where women come together to encounter Jesus through Our Lady, the Holy Spirit, and the wisdom of Saint Faustina. Each gathering feels like a retreat, beginning in prayer and song, resting in Adoration, and drawing from the Diary of St. Faustina before diving into study, small-group sharing, and heartfelt “WOW” moments. Whether you're lifting up a petition, praising in unity, or simply soaking in His presence, you’ll find joy, friendship, and grace here. We serve in 3 ways:
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Encounter
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Love
We Welcome You
More than a ministry, this is a place of encounter.
Encounter with Jesus through Mary.
Encounter with truth through prayer and study.
Encounter with joy through holy friendships and grace.
You are welcome here, just as you are.
"Women join Mary's Women of Joy
because they want MORE..."
Each chapter carries its own special bloom. Together, we are Mary’s Garden—joyfully growing, spiritually blooming, always reaching for the Son.
Meet Our
Foundress
Jean Whelan, Foundress of Mary’s Women of Joy, is a woman anointed by the Holy Spirit. She's evangelical in spirit, deeply loving in heart, and joyfully charismatic in witness. Her passion for bringing women into a deeper relationship with Jesus through Mary is the foundation of this sisterhood. A natural leader and gifted speaker, Jean radiates the love of Christ and inspires others to embrace the transforming power of prayer, Scripture, and sisterhood. Her life is a living testimony to what it means to walk boldly in faith and to lead others with compassion, courage, and conviction.
Our History
Mary’s Women of Joy began as a quiet miracle more than 35 years ago, a fruit of Medjugorje. When our foundress, Jean, first visited as a young girl, she encountered the living presence of Christ and knew: the Eucharist is real, the Catholic Church is the one true faith, get me to confession. In these videos, Jean shares how that moment blossomed into the sisterhood we are today, along with the story behind our founding saints, logo, prayer sheet, and more.
