Sacred Storytelling Connects Longtime Friends

Sacred Heart, faith and friendship serve as foundation for a partnership in the sacred retelling of the life of Mary, Mother of God

Key Highlights

• In just weeks, Blessed Is Her Name has drawn a fast-growing global audience—surpassing 24,000 YouTube subscribers, 3.5 million views and more than 80,000 website sessions from over 60 countries—an unexpected surge pointing to worldwide interest in Marian storytelling
• Two longtime friends, Mary Treschitta and Barbara Oleynick ’93, reunite after 25 years to create Blessed Is Her Name, a multimedia retelling of the life of Mary, Mother of God
• Their shared devotion to the Virgin Mary has shaped both their personal lives and creative paths
• Blessed Is Her Name is available as an e-book, audiobook and audiovisual series, offered in six languages

Two longtime friends have united to create a multimedia tribute to Mary, Mother of God. Called Blessed Is Her Name, the adaptation brings Mary’s story to life through narration, sacred music and imagery and is available in six languages as an e-book, audiobook and an audiovisual series with new episodes weekly.

The two project collaborators are Mary Treschitta, associate professor of art & design at Sacred Heart University, and Barbara Oleynick ’93, who earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in theatre from SHU and a Master of Fine Art in writing musical theatre from New York University’s Tisch School of Art. She taught at SHU from 1999-2003. The two women go back 25 years, with their strongest shared interest finding inspiration in the Virgin Mary. “Our lives have been in parallel in our service and devotion to Mary,” said Oleynick.

United in purpose

When Oleynick was in college, she wrote the musical, The Miracle of Fatima, which in 2003 completed its tri-state tour with a performance at Sacred Heart. Treschitta created the logo for the musical production, and her painting, “Our Lady,” adorns the cover of a book that Oleynick published this year.

The painting was originally commissioned for use on another book, an assignment that involved Treschitta traveling to Medjugorje, a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina known since 1981 for its Virgin Mary apparitions. (It’s a place Oleynick has visited, too.) Treschitta interviewed women who have reported seeing the apparitions so she could paint Mother Mary as they described her.

That writer’s project didn’t materialize, so the painting—which took two years to complete—was available for Oleynick’s book. In looking for cover art, Oleynick saw it and realized her friend’s piece would be perfect.

Teachings with reach

The number of people worldwide logging into experience Blessed Is Her Name is impressive. Oleynick’s YouTube channel, revived this fall to focus on the project, gained nearly 11,000 subscribers in fewer than 30 days. By late November, it reached close to 20,000 subscribers. Most channels take six months to several years to reach the 10,000 mark, Oleynick said, adding that she sees the interest from viewers spanning more than 40 nations as “a clear sign of the hunger for Marian content that transcends language and borders.” The YouTube channel has now surpassed 24,000 subscribers, gaining more than 300 new subscribers each day. The channel has also exceeded 3.5 million total views, reflecting strong international engagement with the project’s multilingual content.

The project website, themotherofgod.org, welcomed 81,001 site sessions and 74,597 unique visitors in the last 30 days alone. Tens of thousands of visitors are staying on the site to listen to the audiobooks, watch the videos and read the material.

The project brings to light stories that haven’t traditionally been recognized and taught within the Catholic church. It draws on works by the Venerable Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, a 17th-century nun whose visions inspired writings that examine the Virgin Mary’s divine life.

The nun was said to have experienced bilocation, the ability to be in two places at once, and was reported to have been simultaneously in New Spain (now central New Mexico and West Texas), where she taught the Catholic faith. While these bilocations were documented by church-ordered investigations, findings were archived until the mid-20th century.

The Mystical City of God, a collection of Mary of Jesus of Ágreda’s revelations and the primary source for the Blessed Is Her Name project, wasn’t published in English until 1912. While the writings are still controversial to some, the church now sees them “as a way to improve and understand the meaning and devotion of the life of Mary,” Oleynick said.

More on Mary

It is a commonly held Catholic belief that the immaculate conception describes Mary giving birth to Jesus. “It is actually the conception of Mary,” Oleynick said, referring to doctrine that states that upon her conception, Mary was free from original sin.

Oleynick said her creative inspiration comes directly from Mother Mary, including topics for videos—such as a recent one titled, “What Do You Really Know About Mary?”—and the idea to create translated versions of videos, which was immediately successful.

Oleynick also finds inspiration in her friend Treschitta. “I love her faith and that I can talk to her about what I’m feeling, even in moments of doubt,” she said. “I can count on her as a really gifted artist and media specialist to point me in the right direction.”

Treschitta shares those feelings. She sees Mother Mary as a guide in her approach to teaching. “How I relate to students, act to them, respond to them. She inspires me to act like her,” Treschitta said. And she admires Oleynick for the way she has responded to difficult times in her life by helping others.

Treschitta hopes the next phase of their partnership involves a live presentation, and she plans to develop an outdoor video display about Mother Mary. “We believe this work reflects not only our shared commitment to Catholic storytelling, but also the mission and spirit that Sacred Heart continues to inspire in its alumni and faculty,” Treschitta said.

To learn more about Blessed Is Her Name, visit the mother of God website.