Sister Briege McKenna, a Catholic nun who has helped thousands of priests and bishops worldwide through her healing ministry, is in dire need of prayers after complications following a recent hip replacement surgery. 

A recent social media post shared that the nun, who has been part of the order of the Sisters of St. Clare since she was 15, is in the hospital being treated for pneumonia and had been moved to the intensive care unit. 

Speaking to the St. Clare Retreat Sisters directly, the Register was given the most recent update about the dear nun: 

“Sister Briege is improving a little more each day as she continues recovering from health complications related to infection and pneumonia following her hip surgeries,” Jackie Grchan told the Register. 

“While her recovery is still ongoing, she is making steady progress and remains deeply grateful for the many prayers, Masses and expressions of support being offered for her healing. She has been very touched by this outpouring of love and faith, and it has been a real source of strength and encouragement to her during this time.”

An update posted to her personal website noted that her retreat schedule would be postponed until May at the very earliest. 

Known for her own recovery from debilitating pain, Sister Briege has dedicated herself to a specialized ministry for priests since 1974. She has appeared alongside at least two saints — Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II — and is recognized by royalty and dignitaries worldwide. Over the last 50 years, her global outreach has touched countless Catholics through the power of prayer and her unique gift of healing.

Long before she reached a global audience, however, Sister Briege’s mission was born from a quiet, private vow in her native Northern Ireland.

Speaking to Franciscan Missionary of the Eternal Word Father Mark Mary on EWTN about her upbringing, Sister Briege explained: 

“I grew up in Northern Ireland, one of five children. My mother died suddenly on Christmas Day when I was twelve. That night, as I grieved, I heard an inner voice say,'Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.' From that moment, I knew I would become a nun.”

She entered the convent at 15. “At 17, I developed severe rheumatoid arthritis and was in full leg casts for two years. I was later sent to Florida in the 1960s, partly because they said the sunshine would help my arthritis. It didn’t — it got worse. But that’s where God planned to heal me.”

And it was when she was 24, she attended a retreat with Holy Cross Father Ed O'Connor from Notre Dame. “He taught about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, explaining that it’s not about receiving new gifts, but letting the graces of baptism come alive. During that retreat, during Mass, I prayed, ‘Jesus, please reveal yourself to me.’”

And it was in that moment that she felt a hand touch her head. 

“Instantly, my pain was gone. But more importantly, I fell in love with Jesus as a person. My healing was not only physical but spiritual. I realized for the first time He was real, alive, and deeply personal.”

Sister Briege has ministered to priests for most of her life after a spiritual encounter she had in the chapel one day.

“I had a mystical experience that changed my understanding of the priesthood. It came at a time when many priests were leaving, and people were becoming critical. One day I went into the chapel and cried out aloud to Jesus, ‘What’s wrong with the priesthood?’”

And it was in the quiet that she heard a voice. 

“In the stillness, I heard an inner voice say, ‘What do you mean, what’s wrong with my priesthood? Have I ever given a gift that’s not perfect? What have you done for those who carry this gift?’ Then I saw a vision — the ordination from heaven’s side — and it was so beautiful.”

And she had a revelation about persona christi. “I realized the priesthood itself is perfect because it is Christ’s own priesthood," Sister Briege recounted. 

“The problem is never the priesthood — it’s the vessel holding it. Priests are human, cracked and flawed, but they hold the wine of divine grace. The Lord showed me that attacks in the Church aren’t really against His priesthood—they’re attacks on the vessel, on the person.”

And the experience became her calling. 

“The Lord told me my mission was to encourage, challenge, and affirm these vessels—His priests. Years later, I began giving priest retreats. At my first one in Minneapolis, I was terrified — 50 skeptical priests! But the Lord worked powerfully.”

And it was over time, “I came to understand that true humility for a priest isn’t denying his priesthood — it’s magnifying Christ within it.”

Sister Briege was most recently featured in the Jesus Thirsts film that was released to coincide with the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. Her devotion and understanding of the Eucharist and the sacrifice of the Mass have influenced many priests who have spoken about Adoration. 

And it is the Real Presence that is first in her mind when she speaks to priests about prayer, telling them on retreats: 

“Don’t go into the chapel just to say nice things to Jesus. He doesn’t need our compliments. He wants honesty. Speak to him as to a friend. Tell him you’re angry, sad, confused. Scripture is powerful; reading it fills the soul with grace, just as harmful words can wound the soul.”

Sister Briege reminds priests that “the Divine Office isn’t a burden but a springboard for prayer. And above all, Eucharistic adoration renews the heart. I tell them, 'It’s like sitting in the sun. You may feel nothing, but you’ll come away changed.”

She recalled a conversation with King Baudouin of Belgium, who abdicated his throne rather than sign an abortion law. The king once told her, “I sunbathe every day with Jesus," and she says that image says it all. 

“You can’t have faith without prayer — and prayer only grows from relationship. I tell people: stop speaking to a void. There’s a living person in that tabernacle who hears you, loves you, and longs for you."

And this is how Sister Briege lives herself. 

“I live with the Blessed Sacrament, so I often just sit with Him, praising, adoring, worshiping. That’s the secret — learning to love His presence."

Still serving in a world where priests feel lonely and isolated, suffering with depression and anxiety, Sister Briege's ministry is more needed than ever. 

Focusing on the current temper of our time, Sister Briege said: 

"Many priests today are weighed down by negativity. I tell them: “You weren’t ordained for global warming or social activism — you were ordained for the salvation of souls.” Those are good causes, but the priest’s primary work is eternal: bringing Jesus to people."

And it's easy for priests to get distracted, the Irish nun explained. 

“Even struggling priests often only need to refocus their GPS — back on heaven. Rarely have I met a man who didn’t begin his priesthood well. They lose their way through distraction, not destiny.”

We could fill volumes with the insights Sister Briege has given us over the last 50 years, but today, we simply offer our prayers. 

As she spends these days in a hospital room, one specific story from her many talks feels especially poignant right now: the story of the empty chair:

“A priest once told a story that I love. He was visiting a hospital and met an elderly man who was dying. The man explained that, when he was younger, a priest taught him to pray by placing an empty chair in his room.”

“Imagine Jesus sitting there,” the priest had told him. “Speak to Him as to a friend.”

“He did that every day of his life. When he died, his daughter found him kneeling beside the bed, his head resting on that empty chair.”

“The priest said, ‘He went to Jesus just the way Jesus came to him.’”

And as Sister Briege says: 

“This story sums up my whole message: Jesus is real. He hears, He loves, and He waits for us to speak to Him — just as we are.”