St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821

Dear Sister Elizabeth Ann,

Just a short note to say that I’m a big fan of yours! It’s not just because your feast day is on my birthday, which it is. Or that my momma’s name is also Elizabeth Ann (BTW she’s a huge fan too).

I really admire your sense of adventure, or whatever spirit it was that allowed you to say “yes” to God in so many different ways. Raised an Anglican in New York, you married and went to Italy with your hub and one of your five kids. (My mom and dad also raised five kids).

It must have been very difficult when your husband died in Italy. Yet even then, you did not lose faith. Even then, you turned to God. Maybe the challenge of being a single parent led you to such a deep desire to help others. Back in New York, you became a Catholic and raised your kids.

And then you began a religious order! Way to say “yes” to that one – the Sisters of Charity, Emmitsburg, Maryland, was the first order of women religious that originated in the United States! (My congregation was also founded in the U.S.!) Not only did you and your sisters help many poor young women by providing free Catholic education, but you left a legacy that’s still vibrant nearly 200 years later!

Throughout the day today, I’m going to pray in these words you wrote to a good friend in a letter in 1810:

“Faith lifts the staggering soul on one side, hope supports it on the other, experience says it must be and love says let it be.”

Thanks for the many ways you said “yes” to God, Sister Elizabeth Ann!

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer (Mon.-Wed and Friday) at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live. Join us there on Thursdays at 6 p.m. for the Ask Sister broadcast.

Sister Trude “Thomas” Collins, SC, is being honored this Sunday for her 60th Jubilee, that is, 60 years as a Sister of Charity of New York. Nearly 50 of those years were spent in the South Bronx at Saint Athanasius Church where Sister Trude taught int he classroom and did community organizing.

“People would knock on the convent door for help,” she said. “It cemented the idea you had to be with the people.”

Forty-eight of her years here were all about helping and hope, about rebuilding the wreckage of arson, drugs and crime.

The tan brick building named “Sister Thomas S.C. Apartments” on Southern Blvd. is on the last of the burned-out lots in the South Bronx.
(source: “Sister gives 60 yrs.” by Patrice O’Shaughnessy in NY Daily News, September 1, 2011)

The building is an all-affordable, 105-unit apartment building.

In the 60′s and 70′s the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx was a desolate place lined with the carcasses of buildings still smoldering from the latest fire. Landlords torched their buildings for insurance money, gangs ruled the streets, and crime was at an all time high. The community complained of no heat and hot water, no garbage pick-up and no police presence. The only refuge was the neighborhood Roman Catholic Church – St. Athanasius and its priests and nuns, namely Fr. Louis R. Gigante and Sister Thomas, who became beacons of hope and leaders in the tenant’s rights movement and in empowering this community.

The building’s name pays tribute to the strength and character of Sister Thomas, S. C. a key leader in the Hunts Point community that empowered her community by meeting their needs at a grassroots level. The beloved Sister of Charity boasts that although she is a NYS licensed teacher, her unofficial training came by way of the “Academy of the South Bronx Streets,” where she earned what she refers to as her “P.H.D.” – a degree in Poverty, Hunger and a Determination to bring about Social Change.
(source: Press Release from NYhomes.com, June 19, 2008)

Happy Jubilee, Sister Trude! May your light continue to shine brightly through your life and through the lives of all those whom you have known!

So here’s a question … if you were to be named after a building to characterize something about your life’s mission (as it’s unfolded or how you hope it unfolds), what building would it be and why?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CST. Head over to aNunsLife.org/live for prayer and chat.

Sister Paula Gonzalez is a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati and the founder of EarthConnection. She was recently featured in the Cincinnati Enquirer in the article Nun marries science, spirituality: Teaches that all life is sacred and connected by Shauna Steigerwald (July 11, 2010).

A few of my favorite quotes from the article …

On vocation:

… the daughter of two teachers was “a curious little kid” who learned to read at an early age, skipped first grade and was bumped from third grade to fourth, finishing that grade level when she was only 7. She came to the College of Mount St. Joseph on an academic scholarship in 1948, graduating with a bachelor’s in biology in 1952 at age 19. But even at that young age, Gonzalez knew that her life’s calling lay in religious service. She entered the Sisters of Charity two years later, in 1954.

“It just hit me like a ton of bricks, and that was it,” she said. “All of a sudden, I knew.”

On care for God’s creation:

Much of Gonzalez’s reverence for the natural world was instilled by her father, who was raised on a farm and taught his own family to grow food. From his Spanish heritage, he taught her the concept of “La tierra es bendita,” “the land is holy.”

“My father was truly a person of the soil, which got through to me,” said Gonzalez, who calls her own garden her “spiritual director” and cites her spirituality as another contributor to her concern for the planet.

What do you think of the article? What are ways that you recognize “all life is sacred and connected”?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. Just before 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

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Today is NUNDAY and we celebrate Sister Mary Devlin, a Sister of Charity who will be celebrating her 93rd birthday at the end of July. Sister Mary is from Saint Stephen, New Brunswick. I love how she describes her calling … one that many of us can relate to!

Sister Mary Devlin, SC; Doug Geddes photographer

She was still a young teenager when she first heard the call to become a nun, and it was “very strange” to her because she didn’t know any sisters at the time. Her first exposure to that way of life came when an Order of the Sisters of Charity opened a house in St. Stephen.

“The first time I saw them in church was the first time I’d ever seen them (at all) and within myself I heard: ‘One day I will be one of them.’ I thought, ‘Well that’s the funniest thought I’ve had yet.’ It was unreal. I was 14 then and I didn’t enter until I was 28.” …

Sister Mary Devlin remains highly active. Her life in the Church has been enormously fulfilling, and she continues to give generously to others, what she knows best — love. “The most important thing in life is love, and we all need it,” she smiles. “It’s a necessity.”

- SOURCE: St. Stephen native became a nun at 28
in Times & Transcript (May 18, 2010)

Did you ever experience that sense of God calling you as “very strange”? How did you respond immediately and/or eventually?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer and chat
every night at 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone).
Visit http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE.

Today the Sisters of Charity of New York, my IHM nun Sister Maxine Kollasch, and myself will be here on A Nun’s Life blog from 2-4 p.m. EST for a “live” discussion and Q&A on Doubt the movie. This discussion takes place right here on this page in the comment section (below this post).

I asked the Sisters of Charity a few of my own questions. Sister Connie, the community’s archivist, graciously responded.

Sister Julie: Who are the Sisters of Charity of New York? What is your spirituality and mission/ministry?

Sister Connie: The Sisters of Charity of New York are a Roman Catholic congregation of vowed religious women founded by Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. We are in the tradition of St. Vincent de Paul and from our earliest foundation our mission was to serve the poor of every type who may require our assistance. In former times our ministries centered around child care, hospital work and education. Now, however, our mission to serve the poor brings us into many different ministries. No matter where we are, we strive to bring our Logo, “Living Lives of Love” into practical loving service.

Sister Julie: What are your overall impressions of Doubt the movie?

Sister Connie: I loved the movie DOUBT! I thought it was an example of suburb, talented, acting set against a background of spectacular technical effects. All the elements of good theater combined to create a great fiction film.

Sister Julie: How did you feel the Sisters of Charity were portrayed?

Sister Connie: I thought the Sisters of Charity were portrayed as a typical Religious Community of that time, 1964. We were portrayed as educators and as a community of religious women living together. As an educator, Sister Aloysius was dedicated not only to the academic excellence of the school, but also to the protective care of each of her students, especially the most vulnerable. As a Sister in Community her loving attention to the ailing Sister Veronica was and is typical of our concern for one another.

The film was dedicated to one of our Sisters, Sister Margaret McEntee who taught the author, John Patrick Shanley in the first grade. Sister Margaret remains today a living example both of a Catholic educator, and Community woman.

Sister Julie: What was it like to meet Meryl Streep?

Sister Connie: I was introduced to Meryl Streep when she visited our Archives. Of course, I was thrilled! But on a deeper level, I was impressed with her friendly attitude and her desire to meet and talk with as many Sisters as she could. She visited two of our Retirement Houses, ate and chatted and had her picture taken with the Sisters. She also visited the Convent where Sister Margaret McEntee lives. She allowed us to take pictures and posed with endless patience. On another note, when she visited the Archives, and we showed her the clothing worn in 1964, she was very interested. She said that she would like to make her own shawl.

The Sisters have a webpage specifically on the Sisters of Charity of New York and Doubt.

We’ll be here from 2-4 EST but feel free to begin posting your questions or comments here. For those who submitted questions earlier, I’ll pass them along to the Sisters. Please extend a warm welcome to the Sisters of Charity of New York, Sister Connie Brennan, SC, Sister Regina Bechtle, SC, and Sister Mary McCormick, SC. All three will be responding via Sister Regina’s comments.

The Sisters of Charity of New York are joining us at A Nun’s Life this Thursday to talk about the movie Doubt. We’ll chat about the making of Doubt, which they served as consultants for (the Sisters of Charity are the ones portrayed in Doubt) as well as their impressions of the movie as a whole.

This “live discussion” is happening from 2 – 4 p.m. (EST) on Thursday here on A Nun’s Life. The discussion is like other discussions we’ve had here (e.g. Jim Martin, SJ, and Joan Wester Anderson) where the interaction is through comments back and forth on the blog. So all you need to do is visit around 2 p.m., read and offer comments/questions on that day. This is your conversation! You can email me or comment directly on the blog post of that day. You’ll have to update/refresh your screen to see new comments/questions.

If you have any preliminary comments or questions about the movie please write them in the comment section below. If you can’t join us on Thursday from 2-4, check in anytime later and you’ll be able to see the discussion.

Tomorrow I’ll post my review of the movie and my preliminary questions for the sisters and for you!

This Thursday A Nun’s Life is hosting a discussion about Doubt, the movie about a nun who confronts a priest after suspecting him of having an improper relationship with a student. The discussion will be here on the blog on January 8 from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

We will be joined by two Sisters of Charity of New York, the community of nuns who are featured in the film — Sister Connie Brennan, SC, the community’s archivist and Sister Regina Bechtle, SC. I am delighted and honored that they can join us and give us their impression of the movie, the making of the movie, and their experience as Sisters of Charity.

I just saw the movie with Sister Maxine Kollasch, IHM, so I’ll write up my own review of the movie and post it here prior to the discussion. I encourage you to see the move (or play) and join us for an online discussion about the movie, the Sisters of Charity, and other related topics.

If you have any questions now for the Sisters of Charity or Sister Maxine and myself, please offer them below and we’ll try to incorporate them into Thursday’s conversation.

Doubt is based on the play by John Patrick Shanley who also adapted and directed the movie version. The cast is stunning with Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman,  Amy Adams, and Viola Davis.

Today’s Nunday picture comes from Siobhan, a Reform Jewish woman who was a high school graduate of the Sacred Heart school in Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada) and who has known and worked with Catholic sisters and nuns. The photo is of Sister Elaine Fortin, SC, a Sister of Charity from Halifax who is currently studying at Boston College for her Masters of Social Work. Last summer she worked for Habitat for Humanity in Romania for three weeks.

Writes Siobhan, “I like the [photo] of Elaine because it defies what many presume about nuns. I suspect if I was Catholic, I might will have become a nun but I am a Reform Jewish woman who occasionally reads your blog. I teach at a university though am on leave to assist Tzipi Livni as she tries to cobble together a coalition in Israel. We need all the prayers we can get!”

Well my prayers are with you, Siobhan — sounds like you should be blogging yourself! Thanks so much for the picture of Sister Elaine!

Got a nun photo? Send it in along with a little description — you and/or your nun might be featured on A Nun’s Life!