A Sister's Story

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sister_Helena
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Sister_Helena

Guest
This thread is intended to invite Religious out there who may be interested in sharing their vocation story. We have several threads of those who are interested to join a religious community but I haven’t seen any page of those who have already joined religious life and what they think of it. I consider this thread as a witnessing to the greatness of our calling.

Since I opened this thread, I should start it, right? Well here’s my story…

I have always been attracted to Religious life since I can remember. We used to play nuns with towels in our heads to pretend we were wearing veils. My family is not really what I would call religious but I think the seed was sown by my grandmother. I used to spend vacation times with her and it was from her that I experienced religion. She took me early morning Masses (5:00 am) and I always saw her in her little prayer-corner in the middle of the night muttering some kind of prayers. I learned all sorts of devotions from her.

I did not think anymore of this in High School. I was involved actively in school. I went to a Catholic High School. I was pretty straight-laced. High Schoolers today will probably think of me with a boring social life. I had a sheltered family life and did not date or do anything important. Every time I saw a Sister though, I felt an attraction and pull.

I took Nursing in College and by my junior year I was becoming more aware of a religious calling. I did not know any Religious community. I was a voracious reader and I was into the Lives of the Saints. On a College Retreat, I stumbled into the Opus Dei movement which was very active in my College. they introduced me into a more structured prayer life and what they called a “Plan of Life.” This is basically a schedule one kept on a 24 hour basis on times of prayer, spiritual reading, Mass, Confessions, etc. It introduced me into a more sacramental life and into the rubrics of the liturgy.

One day coming from Opus Dei Center, I stumbled into a place packed with people. It was a Carmelite Monastery and the public novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel was going on. I joined and finished the novena. I met a nun who made a very deep impression on me. After the novena was completed I was convinced I wanted to be a Nun. I entered the monastery 5 years after I graduated from College. During my stay there I discerned that I was called to an active ministry within the Carmelite Order. I left and entered another community. I am now with the Carmelite Sisters ministering to the Aged and Infirm.

My story is but the highlights. It is a story of the Hound of Heaven who finally got what he wanted! Good for me! I love my vocation and I would not exchange it for anything in the world. I never regretted giving my life to God.
 
Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, what a beautiful vocation story Sister Helena thank you for sharing it with us. Perhaps, one day I too will have a “vocation story” to share.

God bless
goforgoal
 
StarMaiden said:
Thank you so much for sharing your story Sister Helena 🙂
Click to expand...
You are very welcome! I believe that the works of God deserve to be shared. Sometimes somebody else’s story can resonate with another and can be an instrument of God to do good. This is my intention for this thread. I hope more Religious out there would also take me up on my invitation to share their vocation stories.🙂
 
Thank you, Sister Helena. I look forward to other responses (hopefully!).
 
You think Religious out there are just shy or uninterested in sharing vocation stories?
 
*Bless you for sharing Sr. Helena.

I do so hope that other religious will share their stories. I think it will be of great help to forum members.
Blessings of Peace and All Good!*
 
You think Religious out there are just shy or uninterested in sharing vocation stories?

Sister Helena, I certainly hope they are not but if they don’t I do thank each and everyone of them for their Prayers and so much more…🙂

Praised Be Jesus Christ for sharing your Vocation Story with all of us.
 
Hello, friends. Please allow me to share my story.

My family had no religion, yet I always wanted to be Catholic (something I now attribute to God’s call!). In 8th grade my “boyfriend” offered to give me a rosary; I said, “That’s great, but I’m still not Catholic!” In high school, I begged my mom to take me to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve (I could not yet drive and there was no public transportation where I lived). She drove to downtown Flint and parked outside of an Episcopal church, where we watched the people going in…“this will have to be good enough”, she said. I always asked her to ask her Catholic friends if I could go to Mass with them, and she always said, “NO! That’s rude! You can’t just invite yourself!” Though not Catholic, I went to Mass when I was away at band camp.

I was always very interested in Catholic schools, and I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. The summer after high school, I was working as a teacher’s aid in a summer school program for 5th through 7th graders. After class one day, the teacher and I debated the merits of Catholic vs. public schools…I was totally pro-Catholic school! The teacher rolled her eyes and said, “You MUST be a Catholic!” My response was, “No, but I want to be!”

She was surprised! “You want to be Catholic?” She then told me that she was Catholic and that she thought that I’d like her little country Church. She and her husband would be out of town that weekend, but she invited me to go to Mass with them the following weekend. Well, now I had that long-awaited invitation! Even though she wouldn’t be there, I decided that I just HAD TO go! I went on Saturday and on Sunday. A Sister from the parish, noticing a new face, came up and asked me if I wanted to register (I didn’t know what this meant!); I said, “SURE! And I want to be Catholic, too!” Much to my delight, Sister told me all about RCIA and gave me some books, and was willing to answer any questions I had. Though RCIA didn’t start until Fall, I went to Mass every weekend. I bought a rosary, as this seemed very Catholic to me! 🙂

Sometime during RCIA, I felt this “you just know” feeling that I’d be a Sister one day. I started to investigate. Because I was very shy, the RCIA directors later admitted, they thought I did not understand what was going on! To their surprise, I was taking in everything and reading everything that I could get my hands on. Once I finally started to talk, it seemed that I never shut up! 🙂

I was baptized at Easter. Some time during RCIA, this feeling that I would be a Sister came about; after my baptism, confirmation, and 1st Holy Communion, the feeling became overwhelming; I had done some reading and praying about it, but now I needed to talk to a real person. I called the Sister at my parish and told her that I needed to talk; “Let me get my calendar. When would you like to come over,” she asked. “How about right now?!,” was my response! She agreed. We sat on the proch and drank tea. I said, “Sister, how did you know that you wanted to be a Sister?” Her response was, “You just know!!” I was amazed, as that was exactly what I had begun telling people myself. I asked Sister if she could take me and show me the convent. “Which one would you like to see?”, she asked. “Anyone will be fine, it doesn’t matter,” was my response…but how wrong I was!! I must admit that I had a small thought in the back of my mind that I’d see the convent, “hate” it, and end up married with kids and a Cadillac (remember, I’m from Flint…we love our Cadillacs!)!

We went to the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and immediately upon our arrival on that dark, dismal rainy day, I KNEW that I would be a Sister of St. Joseph! The Motherhouse became my favorite place, and although still often feeling painfully shy, I loved to spend time with my Sisters; I also loved spending time with Jesus in the Motherhouse Chapel.

The vocation journey was a bit rocky, as the Sisters in charge of formation said that I was “too young” and that my zeal was “only initial fervor” that came from being a convert. I continued to hang around, came to know and love my Sisters even more, and did all that I could do to one day be a good Sister. The Sister-formation director charged me with looking at as many congregations as possible, which I did…each one strengthening my desire to be SSJ. When the obstacles were many, that Sister-friend-Mentor that brought me into the Church stuck by me and did all that she could do to help to teach and form me. One day she even said, “Our community is not treating you right; you should go to the Sisters of Mercy; they will let you enter!” I said, “BUT I Can’t! I AM a Sister of St. Joseph through and through!!” And Sister and I continued to read and pray and discuss.

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST… 🙂
 
The congregation required that I graduate from college, which I did, all the while being very involved with the life of the congregation. Next, they required that I live a year on my own and teach full time before I could enter; I think those in charge of formation STILL thought that I was too young and too “new” to Catholicism, and thought I’d find something else that interested me more. I did all that they asked, and, eventually, I was accepted to the Sisters of St. Joseph. There were still rocky patches along the way, but God was always there and my Sister-Mentor was always there, too.

Eventually, I professed perpetual vows - the most joyful day of my life! “I profess the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience…FOREVER”. Wow!

From that quiet, shy girl who wandered into that little Catholic Church in the country, the one the RCIA directors thought was “slow” to the one that some Sisters thought was too young, naive and under the influence of initial fervor, I became that Sister of St. Joseph that God had called me to be from eternity, and I can’t imagine anything any differently. I LOVE being a Sister of St. Joseph!

I’ve been in the convent for eleven years this August 6th, and “with” the my Dear community “unofficially” for fifteen (I count those four years of formation before I was allowed to enter!).

I had the delight of getting to live on mission with my Sister mentor, who continued to teach me all the things necessary to being a good religious, which she modeled in word and deed. She would have celebrated 50 years as an SSJ this September 1st, but very unexpectedly went home to God on this last January 16th from a heart attack (even though she was very healthy and took good care of herself). Now, she intercedes for me from Heaven (I have no doubt whatsoever that she was with God immediately).

I now live with two other wonderful Sisters of St. Joseph. We have a chapel right in our local convent, and they, too, continue to teach me how to become the best Sister of St. Joseph I can be.

After entering with a BS in education, I completed an MA in k-12 administration, an MA in systematic theology, and a doctorate in religious education (I’ve been one busy Sister!). I taught everything from first through eighth grades, and am now teaching Theology to five classes of freshmen and one class of seniors at a Catholic high school for boys.

Back in that public school classroom as a new high school grad, I could never have imagined all that God had in store for me…it has truly been amazing - all blessing, all gift. And, like the wonderful Sisters of St. Joseph who have gone before me, I strive to do all with “gentleness, peace, and joy, humility and charity”…and all for “the love of God and the Dear Neighbor”.

Please pray for me and all Sisters of St. Joseph; I will pray for each of you in your religious discernment.

God bless!
 
You are most welcome! Thanks for taking the time to read it!

God bless.
 
Sister Helena,

Thank you for sharing your vocation story! It is beautiful…I feel the same way now in my life when I see a Sister, I feel drawn in. I have been discerning for about 3 years now. I am in a Catholic College finishing my freshman year studying Theology. I am trying to stay in contact with the Dominican Order who started our University by going over for dinner and discussion once a month. At least this way I can stay connected and the vocation director here keeps me in the loop when things are going on.

I’m planning on really focusing in on a specific order down the road and finding an order than suites me that I will enter come 5 years or so after I graduate.
 
Just as a point of interest and perhaps get some feedback from you sisters, I would like to share some of my story. I thought about being a nun back in high school as I believe everyone does once in their life, but it passed, and I desire to be married some day. I had a spiritual experience with the Lord in college when I truly found Him, although I had milder experiences of His presence when confirmed, etc. I’ve been through many emotional struggles, especially in college when the Lord drew me to Him and revealed His Truth to me through scripture. He also helped me through some rough times. I’m still trying to work through recognizing my true value and worth. Through some of this, especially after college, I made some bad decisions, took things into my own hands if you will, and learned a big lesson from my mistakes. During this time, I felt a strong pull to be a nun. I think now it was that I desired to be holy, and it was a way to get out of the strong guilt I felt.

I spoke to a nun about this desire, and she said that there are a lot of women who experience this when in a bad relationship. I also spoke to another nun who said I would have to “know who I am in Christ” first before I explored being a nun so I wouldn’t be using this to fill a void in my heart. I’ve always felt an attraction to being a nun, especially when I saw one. It gave me a feeling of happiness to think I would totally be giving myself to the Lord. I would still like to travel because I love the Caribbean and would like to go there someday. I also love to ski and garden, but would definitely give these things up if the Lord were truly calling me to be a nun. I’ve always been drawn to the Carmelite order.

I’ve often felt through what the nuns said and my own thoughts of marriage and still working on knowing myself completely, that maybe God doesn’t want me to be a nun. I will be turning 48 next month, and would love to find a man to marry, but if God wanted something different like becoming a nun, I would be open to that too. I just ask that you pray that if He wants me to be married, that He would introduce me to this man, and if not that I may discern His perfect will and become whole in the knowledge of who I truly am as His precious daughter in Christ. Thank you.

God Bless you and your ministries, sisters.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top