paint icons and sing. I grew up in a rural area, playing violin, raising beef cattle, and working with horses; eventually I studied art history and pilgrimages in Rome.
Sr. Jeana Visel, OSB
have long been involved in prison/jail ministry, and that I am an artist.
Sister Kimberli C. Lawrence, OSF
have traveled to every continent.
Sr. Lucy Slinger, FSPA
was a former Good Shepherd sister ( an active order) in the Philippines. I knew in my heart I wanted to be a contemplative nun...GOD IS VERY PERSISTENT and I FINALLY SAID YES LORD !
Sr. Mary Helena Aquino
teach religion by creating raps and songs that highlight different biblical stories, dogma or vocabulary.
Sr. Angela Gertsema
am a religious sister. I didn't have a strong faith life growing up and I didn't really know God. It was through a wilderness retreat that I came to know God more deeply and my call to serve as a religious woman.
Sr. Laurie Orman
was undocumented and a farm worker. Eventually, by the grace of God and my mother's strong will, I became a resident and completed my education to teach. I feel blessed to have been assigned, after final vows, to ministry with the migrant community where this journey started. Never be afraid to follow Jesus, even if you can't make sense of what you are experiencing rest assure that He knows what He is doing. So hold on strong and enjoy the adventure.
Sr. Rosa Maria Hernandez Casillas
entered religious life at 51. I visited a friend one time and mentioned how impressed I was with the life of the sister. My friend said perhaps God is calling to that way of life. I was surprised by that statement, but it remained with me. I prayed to God to give me more sign if He this is His will. The following Sunday morning at Mass, the priest talked about vocations. I believed God gave me the sign I asked for.
Sister Grace Marie Navarro
never knew any Sisters while growing up or attended a Catholic academic institution, but somewhere along the way I developed a curiosty about religious life. I remember a bible given as a gift on the occasion of my Confirmation sparked a deeper interest to know and love God more.
Sr. Anastase Dura
was born in St. Anthony hospital in a small rural town. The hospital was owned and operatorated by the Sisters of St Joseph of Concordia, KS. I was born as a Protestant but the very first people who held and took care of me were the Sisters of the community I would eventual enter. I was imprinted from the very first day of my life by the Sisters.
Sr. Jean Ann Walton
had really always felt an attraction to the religious life, even as a child. I never considered it a viable option for me, however, because I was "normal." The fact that I truly had a vocation to the religious life came as a shock to me.
Sr. Mary Faustina Bean
love the theater and planned to go to New York City after high school to continue my studies and performance experiences in musical theater.
Sister Kateri Rose Masters, OP
came to DC after high school graduation to become the president, but instead converted to Catholicism and discovered my vocation to religious life (and changed my major!).
Sr. Mary of the Incarnate Word, SSVM
thought of becoming a religious in second grade because I thought you had be one in order to be a teacher. I did become a teacher but not as a religious. Some of my public school students thought I was an undercover nun. Eventually after taking the long road around I reached God's point of view.
Sister Lethia Marie Leveille OSF
first saw the Nashville Dominicans on "Life on the Rock" on EWTN. I immediately knew that God was calling me to this Congregation, even though it was another two years before I entered.
Sister Veronica Anne Cotter, OP
travelled to China and studied at Oxford University in the search for a meaningful life to which I could entrust myself. Wherever I travelled or whatever education could offer, only Christ Himself could fill my heart and offer the path to true happiness in His service.
Sister Alexandra Prosser
was baptized, confirmed, and received my First Holy Communion on April 22, 2000 and entered the convent three years later. A very influential teacher first spoke to me of God's love and encouraged someone (who later became my Godmother) to invite me to my first Mass. It was certainly love at first sight!
Sister Mary Bethany Zeitler
love to play tennis! Also, one of my brothers, God-willing, will be ordained to the priesthood on June 4, 2011 for the diocese of Syracuse, N.Y.!
Sister Mary Emmanuel Schultz, OP
never seriously considered my vocational call to religious life until a Religious Sister proposed it to me. It has been a journey with God's grace and with the community's prayerful support.
Sr. Christine Ma
pictured myself happily married to a wonderful husband and being a mother.
Sr. Olivia Rico
was married for 20 years. As a widow at age 48, God was calling me to a new home and family to help me serve others and follow His Will.
Sr. Ann Terese Dana, OSB
teach Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. A life consecrated to God and lived in community is a beautiful life and a great adventure. I thank God for the gift of my vocation.
Sister Elinor Gardner
was 59 when I made my final profession of vows on August 28, 2010.
Mary Lou Shimshock
always wanted to be a sister but somehow did not realize I could be a sister. However, after I met several Sisters of the Good Shepherd, we became friends. I took time out of my busy schedule to get to know them. It was after being with the sisters that I knew Good Shepherd was where I belonged. Thank you, God, for calling me!
Sr. Donna Miles, RGS
was promised to God on the day of my birth. When I was a newborn, there was a possibility that I would die due to complications. Unbeknownst to me (until after I entered the convent) my father whispered a desperate prayer, "let her live, and she can serve You".
Sister Grace Dominic Hargadon
as a military child I was attracted to religious life while living in Japan and that I am musically inclined.
Sr. M. Anne Elizabeth Cronin
came to the United States with the sole purpose of working to have my own business in my country of origin. To my surprise Jesus' plans for me were totally different. He has changed my life for good!
Sister Evangelista Bernardez
have served people in our Pauline book centers in Venezuela, Sicily, Canada, and the United States. The many ways God calls me to serve as a Daughter of St. Paul surprise me each day!
Sr. Christina Miriam Wegendt, FSP
am a nun and I thank the Lord for choosing me to be HIS instrument to proclaim the gospel message to the world.
Sr. Fay Pele
my grandmother was very religious and took me everywhere she went. Her life was a life of service and prayer. It was through my gradmother's testimony that I knew God was calling me to do something beyond my uderstanding. I, too, wanted to love God and to give my life in service to others.
Sr. Veronica Saray
God gave me the desire to be a sister when I was very young. As a four-year-old, I remember walking around the house with a bath towel on my head pretending to be a sister.
Sister Theresa Anne Knuth
I felt attracted to religious life when I was 12. At the time I never imagined I would follow Jesus in another country different from Mexico. However when I gave my Yes!!! to God's call, many blessing and surprises accompanied my journey. And now I am here.
Sr. Herlinda Elizabeth Ramirez-Machado
before I was born, when my mother was having hard labor she prayed and told God that if she delivered me safely then she would offer me to God. And God granted her request, but my mother never told me about her promise until a week before I entered religious life…
Sister Victoria Trinitas Anyanwu, SC
have hidden talents.
Sr. Perpetua Sevillano
even though elected "most friendly" my senior year, have always had a contemplative nature and preferred to be alone in prayer.
Sr. Mary Theresa Mallahan
first thought about being a sister when I was in the second grade. I always wanted to be like the saints, especially the ones that were religious.
Sister Gabriel Mary Gaughan DLJC
resisted God's call for a very long time, due to fear of what others might think of me. Finally, I decided that God is the only one who really matters; it doesn't matter what others think of me, as long as I am doing God's will.
Sr. Nora DeCarlo
On a retreat in Hawaii where I lived, it took until the age of 47 for me to react to a Benedictine sister's words, "if you hear God call - heed that call!" Everything opened up after that, and a year later, I entered Medical Mission Sisters. God is always calling - and when we can move with it - it moves us.
Sr. Katherine Baltazar
was a midwife before I entered religious life, that I speak Hebrew, and that I wear a habit on a public university campus.
Sister Maria David Magbanua, FSE
asked Mother Angelica if I could enter the monastery when I was only three years old. She said, "Come back in 15 years." And I did!
Sr. Marie Therese Lunsford
am a cradle Catholic who drifted awy from the Church as a young adult. Years later, I answered an altar call in a Baptist Church and soon after returned Home (the Catholic Church) because of the Eucharist.
Sr. Chala Marie Hill
enjoy working with wood.
Sr. Mary Ann Koetter
did not consider religious life as a serious option for my life until I decided to take the opportunity to live for a short time with sisters. This experience was essential in helping me to recognize a call to Religous Life.
Sr. Maria Antonia Aranda Diaz
I played two years of junior college basketball and was confirmed into the Catholic Faith at the age of 34.
Sr. Dina Potter
Am currently involved in jail ministry.
Sr. Tanya Williams, OP
I praed daily before the Blessed Sacrament and total consecrated myself to Jesus through Mary. Jesus gave me the grace to hear and respond to this radical vocation to love Jesus as His bride for all eternity.
Sr. Antoniana Maria Macapagal, SV
love the poor very much and I just want to offer myself to help them.
Sister Anna Tran
was hoping to be a studio photographer after graduating college. However, one Sunday a priest told his vocation story during his homily and that's when I felt the call to be a sister. I still get to take plenty of pictures and can't imagine my life any other way!
Sr. Serena Deters
left my native country Nigeria to join a religious community in the United States.
Sr. Anthonia C. Ugwu