Happy NUNDAY! Nundays are Monday blog posts that feature photos of real Catholic sisters and nuns. Today we have a lovely tribute from Shannon Spicciati about her nun, Sister Joan Sobala, SSJ.

Last summer I had the opportunity to re-connect with a very special nun, Joan Sobala, SSJ. Her community is Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester, NY.

I met Sister Joan when I was a student at the Eastman School of Music, and attending St. Mary’s parish in downtown Rochester. She was the pastoral associate of the parish at that time. She came into my life at a fragile time for me, spiritually speaking. I had grown dissatisfied with my Catholic faith, and was ready to search for something different. I knew faith was important in my life, but I hadn’t felt connected to the parish my family attended. But, several girls from my dorm hall were going to Mass the first week I spent in Rochester, so I went along.

It was an entirely new experience for me – wonderful music, a community that immediately embraced us newcomers, and a woman (Sister Joan) giving the scriptural reflection! I felt as though she was speaking directly to me, and with such wisdom. I became involved at St. Mary’s in music, and it really was my home away from home during the 4 years I spent in Rochester.

Sister Joan and Helen Halligan (the music minister at St. Mary’s) traveled to Hillsboro, OR, when my husband and I got married in 1995, and both took part in our wedding. This past summer of 2009 was the first time I had seen Sister Joan since our wedding, and it was wonderful to get together in person. She will always be my example of “living faith”.

The photo attached shows L-R, Sister Joan, Helen Halligan, Shannon and her husband Alan at Highland Park, Rochester, NY.

To see all the photos of Catholic sisters and nuns and links to their stories, visit the A Nun’s Life Facebook photo album. If you’ve got a photo and story (how you know Sister) of a real Catholic sister or nun, check out the details on submitting your photo for consideration.

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer at 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone).

Sister Marguerite Dynski is a Catholic nun, cancer survivor, paraplegic, and doctor. She belongs to the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Rochester, New York. Her story is described a bit in an interview the ABC TV channel 13 in Rochester.

The interview comes shortly after Marguerite’s participation in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. There are many such walks, runs, fund-raisers and other events this month as October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Check out the video of Sister Marguerite by clicking on the photo to the right (the link takes you to the channel 13 website where you can see the video). Even though it’s a short segment, I felt such a light and peace coming from this Sister. Next time I’m home to visit my family in Rochester (my home town), I’ll have to look up Sister Marguerite and see if she’ll do an interview for us here at A Nun’s Life!

Found this article about Sister Mary MacKillop on Zenit.org

Sister Mary MacKillop Featured on Coin
1st of Inspirational Australians Series

SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 9, 2008 (Zenit.org) – Australia is honoring Blessed Mary MacKillop, who will likely be the country’s first saint, by featuring her on a collector’s coin.

Senator Nick Sherry, minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, launched the Sister Mary MacKillop coin Tuesday.

The $1 uncirculated coin is the first of the Royal Australian Mint’s series featuring inspirational Australians, which commemorates unique Australians who have made an extraordinary contribution to the nation.

“As the Australian people’s saint, and someone who could be called Australia’s saint in waiting, Mary MacKillop is a fitting choice for the first coin in the Inspirational Australian series,” said Sherry.

He explained that Royal Australian Mint coin designer Vladimir Gottwald depicted MacKillop as “guiding future generations.”

“Mary was an exceptional Australian woman who stands as an example of great courage, trust and compassion, and as our first saint, she will forever inspire our nation,” said the senator.

Mary MacKillop was born in Victoria in 1842.

She founded the Order of the Sisters of St Joseph, the first religious order to be founded by an Australian.

Under the sister’s guidance, the order established schools and charitable institutions across Australia and was devoted to the care of orphans, neglected children, the homeless, sick and aged. She died in 1909.

Pope John Paul II beatified Sister Mary MacKillop in 1995.

To order the coin go to the Royal Australian Mint.

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