IG062 In Good Faith with Sister Violaine Paradis - Actress, Acrobat, Social Pastoral Worker

Sister Rejane  
Hello, I am Sister Rejane Cytacki of A Nun's Life, and my guest today is Sister Violaine Paradis, a Sister of the Congregation de Notre Dame -- in English, the Congregation of Notre Dame. Join us for an adventure that explores these questions and more: Can you be an actress and a nun? How is the theatrical embodiment of a character connected to the incarnation of Christ? Why does the community embrace the spirituality of the Visitation? May the joy of our conversation resonate in your own life's spiritual journey with Christ. Enjoy!

Welcome, Violaine! It's so good to have you.

Sister Violaine  
It's so good to be here too! Merci beaucoup for the invitation, thank you so much. I'm very glad to be here and to meet with you again, Rejane!

Sister Rejane  
Yeah, it was San Antonio, Texas, wasn't it? Last year?

Sister Violaine  
Yes, at the Giving Voice gathering in San Antonio.

Sister Rejane  
And we met in the choir, right, weren't we in the Mass? Now were you singing, or were you playing bongos, or -- remind me.

Sister Violaine  
I was up to play bongo, but finally there were persons that really played better than I, so I was just singing.

Sister Rejane  
Okay.

Sister Violaine  
And we were just close to one another. That was a super experience.

Sister Rejane  
Was that you and Libby? Was it the three of us back there in that row? And we made that connection with my having a name coming out of Quebec. Actually I lived in Montreal, on Ile de Soeurs -- on Nuns' Island -- when I was a little girl.

Sister Violaine  
You know about Ile de Soeurs, the Nuns' Island? They called it because of the Congregation of Notre Dame, our community, because the Sisters were there. So they called it the Nuns' Island because the sisters were there. And that's a great story.

Sister Rejane  
Was that the first place your sisters went in Montreal?

Sister Violaine  
No, Marguerite Bourgeoys first arrived in Montreal -- it was called Ville Marie at that stage, at that time. Montreal was really the first first place and then later on the Sisters went building schools and doing education all along the river near them.

Sister Rejane  
It is so neat that that's where I was living for about four years. And now to kind of connect in with your community and your foundress and Sisters were there.

Sister Violaine
Yes.

Sister Rejane
So Sister Violaine, how long have you been a Sister with your Congregation?

Sister Violaine  
I've been a Sister since -- well, if I'm counting my three years of formation, the one year of postulancy and two years of novitiate -- I did my first ball vows in 2012. So it's gonna be almost 14 years now. This summer, like at the end of the summer. Entering the postulancy was 2009. So.

Sister Rejane  
And have you made final vows or not yet?

Sister Violaine  
Yes. I've made my final vows in 2021. After nine years. Last summer, we celebrated 10 years of our first vows with one of my Sisters. Beautiful, beautiful time, beautiful story with a lot of ups and downs. But it's good.

Sister Rejane  
Right. It's a journey. Right?

Sister Violaine  
It's a journey.

Sister Rejane  
That's what it really is. And your congregation is international, yes?

Sister Violaine  
International. Yes, we are. We can call it that way. Because we are here in Montreal, Canada, French side and English side. We have two provinces here in Canada, the Anglophone province and Francophone one. And we have Sisters in United States. We have Sisters in Cameroon, Africa. We have Sisters in Japan. And we have as well two Sisters in Europe, one in Belgium and one in France. Oh, no, sorry. I'm forgetting about our Sisters in Central America, Guatemala, Salvador and Honduras.

Sister Rejane  
Wow. So are they provinces? Is that what you call the branches?

Sister Violaine  
Yeah, we call them regions and provinces, though we are thinking a lot in those times of simplifying our structures. We are trying to see how we can simplify all this because we are one congregation, right? Yes, locally, we are in different places, but we are one. So we are in that reflection now.

Sister Rejane  
No, I know, many, many communities are, but thank you for sharing that. Because I think that's such a gift to have that diversity, and yet recognizing the unity of all being united as one congregation and having that one charism. Okay, so we're gonna talk a little bit about you. And I'm curious: what was your childhood like, growing up? And was faith part of that for you?

Sister Violaine  
Actually, I'm not from a family -- we were not going to Mass when I was young. I've been baptized and my parents had the sacraments there for themselves, in their times. So they wanted that for us. I'm the second of four children. We are we are four, two brothers and my sister. They said, "You are going to do the sacraments," -- I mean, "You will receive it." And for me, it's very special because I am the only one in my family for whom it was really something to meet with Jesus in the Eucharist. So I had this super moment, meeting with Jesus in the Eucharist in my First Communion, but it wasn't the same for others. And we were, I went to, to this celebration, but then we didn't go to Mass, right? It was just to have the sacrament. But then I studied at the secondary school -- at the high school, I mean -- at the Villa Maria, with the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. There I really, really grew in my faith life. My family were believers, we say, but not practitioners.

Sister Rejane  
Not practicing. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. So when you were in high school, did you did you think of becoming a Sister at that point, or not so much?

Sister Violaine  
No, I wasn't. I didn't think of it. The only moment I had a very strong, strong feeling and like a questioning about religious life or about putting God in my life, very center of my life, was looking at a movie when we were in secondary, I think grade four, secondary four. It was a movie about St. Francis of Assisi. We're seeing the life of Francis and I was very touched by this movie. It's the Zeffirelli movie, very beautiful. The pictures, the scene -- it touched me a lot. And I asked myself after looking at it -- I was the only one just staying in the in the classroom after that, and I was like, "Wow, would I do that? Leaving everything to follow Jesus?" And that was a great question and a very deep question inside of my heart of it -- I was 15 at that time. That's the moment I thought of it. Because the Sisters were all older. I mean, there were not young Sisters. It doesn't mean that the Sisters were not an example for me or I didn't want to follow them. It's just that I didn't think of it at that point.

Sister Rejane  
Sure.

Sister Violaine  
And I can say as well in my family there were there was no presence of the religion or the practice of the faith, but in my mother's family, she had a brother, who was my godfather. And he was a priest. So for me, it was powerful to see my godfather as a priest, because I didn't know anyone like this at that time. And so that contact, I think, played in me. I mean, that affected me in my spiritual journey. And my aunt, my godmother, was the sister of my mother. They were both in my mother's family. And she was a very prayerful woman, she was very dedicated to the Church. But that's it. Those persons are very deep for me, very important. It's not that I was seeing them a lot. But it was interesting to receive their cards, their birthday cards, with all the prayers and such an attention to Jesus. It was nourishing.

Sister Rejane  
Yes. And they were a witness or a role model of what living a life of faith could be, I suppose.

Sister Violaine  
I think so. I think so even though, as I say, I wasn't seeing them a lot, just receiving at my birthday, or Christmas or Easter, the cards and I was seeing them as well for those big feasts. It was an occasion to be close. And sometimes when we were going to see my grandparents on my mother's side. We were going to Christmas Mass with my grandparents on my father's side. For me, it was an important moment because I really enjoyed the Mass, and because I had this connection with Jesus through the Eucharist since my childhood.

Sister Rejane

Sure.

Sister Violaine  

I'm forgetting something! I did the -- how do you say that? The movement, the Scouts.

Sister Rejane  
The Girl Scouts?

Sister Violaine  
The Girl Scouts, I did the Girl Scouts. Scouts, you say?

Sister Rejane  
Yeah, we say Scouts. What do you call it?

Sister Violaine  
For girls, it's the Guides.

Sister Rejane  
Okay.

Sister Violaine  
And I did that. And there was this spirituality mentioned. And I think that helped me to stay connected as well -- with God

Sister Rejane  
You've mentioned a couple of times, like when you made your First Communion, you had this special moment with Jesus? Can you talk about that?

Sister Violaine  
Yes, of course. It's a special moment. Because in those days -- actually when we are recording, it is the Feast of Corpus Christi. And the Eucharist is the center of it. The catechists, the persons who were giving the Catechism, were very good. They really presented me Jesus as my best friend, like the best friend that I can have. I think I was eight, eight-year-old girl. You know, friends are important and he will be my best friend. And so I was preparing to receive my best friend in my heart, and that's what happened. When I lived that sacrament, and I received it, I really felt a very deep function of His presence and I was talking to him -- in my heart, I mean. I was nourishing this relationship with Jesus in my life, in my heart, because as I say, I was not really going to Mass at that point. Or when I was in the Villa Maria High School with the Sisters, I was more involved in my faith life because I was in a great place to nourish it and to live it.

Sister Rejane  
Sure, because their example provided the structure and the routine to express it.

Sister Violaine  
Yes!

Sister Rejane  
Within the classroom and -- go ahead.

Sister Violaine  
Yes. In the classroom, and between classes or after school, there was recreation.

Sister Rejane

So like a free period. Sure.

Sister Violaine 

Free period. They had some pastoral clubs, and I was part of that. And I was very involved in it. And my religion class --  now in Quebec Province, we don't have those kinds of class of Catholic religion; it's all religions together. But at that time at Villa Maria, I had religion, the Catholic faith. Yeah, we can say that. So, I really liked those classes. I was like, wow, and I grew in my faith because of my teachers. And I told them, "You know, those classes -- I really loved it." Because at the time we were teenagers.

Sister Rejane  
Right, you can present that you didn't really like it, and you can look really bored. But inside you were really paying attention.

Sister Violaine  
Yeah, and I was really paying attention!

Sister Rejane  
You even were presenting that you were paying attention!

Sister Violaine  
Yes, yes yes! And I can add something about my First Communion. It's that when I received Jesus in my heart, and all my person, my child person, I was very happy and I felt joy. Wow. And then when I received Confirmation, I was very WOW. And then I just wanted to just change the world and go and help. I remember one time I saw a homeless person in the park, and I came back for lunch to the house and said to my mom, "Maman, there's someone, he's hungry, we should bring him something." And she said, "Oh, my dear." And she called me Mother Teresa, because I had that kind of a spirit. I think this was the first time, and it didn't happen a lot after that when I was a child, but I brought him soup or something in the park. And I really am glad that my mom let me be me --, act like this. She would say, "Okay, Violaine, we won't save the world." So it's an important moment, because I can see already myself, in that movement of giving myself for others, but at that point, as I say, I wasn't taking a religious life. It came later.

Sister Rejane  
Right. But you had that disposition and how beautiful your mother just allowed it to unfold and to be, even if that would not be her choice. Yeah.

Sister Violaine  
That's it.

Sister Rejane  
She gave you the freedom to be yourself. That's beautiful.

Sister Violaine  
And I had a little corner of prayer in my room, but I'm the only one. For me, I had this corner. This place to pray in my room. She said, "Yeah, you were like that." And I said, "Okay!"

Sister Rejane  
Sometimes our parents have to remind us of things. It was just part of who you were, so it doesn't stand out. But with a mom having four kids, she'd say, "This makes you unique of the four of you."

Sister Violaine

Yes, yes.

Sister Rejane  ]

It's good to hear those stories -- kind of reclaims who you are. That you're consistent.

Sister Violaine  
Yes, yes. It's true, when I remember all the story of my faith in God, my journey. I'm like, Oh, it started from there, probably.

Sister Rejane  
I'm sure. We are going to take a moment for a brief break. This is In Good Faith, a program of A Nun's Life Ministry. We want to thank our sponsors and individual donors like you, whose support makes the In Good Faith program possible. Please visit anunslife.org for more information, to make a donation, or to become a sponsor of the ministry. We will be right back.

Welcome back! I am Sister Rejane of A Nun's Life Ministry, and my guest is Sister Violaine Paradis. You can find past episodes of In Good Faith, and all our podcasts, at anunslife.org, and on all the major platforms where you get your podcasts. So now with Canada -- your secondary school, you go five years, correct?

Sister Violaine  
Five years correct.

Sister Rejane  
And so instead of instead of saying like we say freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, you say year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Is that correct?

Sister Violaine  
That's correct.

Sister Rejane  
Okay. Did I tell you my mom is Canadian? I don't remember if I told you that.

Sister Violaine  
Yeah, I think you told me. From which --

Sister Rejane  
Ontario. She was in Ontario between Windsor and London.

Sister Violaine  
There's a lot of Francophones there. And Anglophones.

Sister Rejane  
She's Anglophone. The village of Highgate, farming community. But that's why I know. I remember growing up and she kept saying something about her fifth year of high school and I'm like, "Mom, we don't have five years of high school." [laughter] She's like, "Well, in Canada, you do, especially if you want to go to college. You do the fifth year. It's your preparation." I'm like, okay. So where did you go to college after high school?

Sister Violaine  
After high school I decided to go to a college called Jean-de-Brébeuf. There were great courses there. I decided to go and letter in communication. Because I liked to be in communications. All the communications, I really liked it. It's two years of college there. It's two years, and then we can start at university. For us, it's two years. I think that's why it's five years secondary, two years of college.

Sister Rejane  
Okay. And then where did you go, after your two years of college in communications?

Sister Violaine  
Well, that's where I started to do theater. Well, theater I started in grade four and five of my secondary.

Sister Rejane  
Oh, you did. So you started acting in high school?

Sister Violaine  
Well, I was a part of the troupe, the theater troupe. I'd been involved. But then I had a friend who was doing theater in an after-school program, and I said, "Oh, actually, I really like to do theater." So I went to the same class as she, and really, I loved it. So I decided to do theater at that time. And I continued. When I was in college, the two years I was part of the troupe of the theater program. And then I said, Yeah, that was really what I want to do. And so I decided to try to enter in the theatre schools in Montreal. There were two big schools in Montreal. I tried both, but I wasn't received so I decided as well to make auditions in other colleges. Even though I had finished my college, I could try. They were great schools too. It's just that they were not in Montreal. So I did one year in another school in the region. It was a great course. Though I was feeling I wanted to I wanted to learn more, I wanted to go deeper. They were good, the teachers, but I just wanted -- So I decided to do again my auditions. We say that?

Sister Rejane  
Auditions for another school?

Sister Violaine  
Yeah, for another school, the school that I wasn't ...

Sister Rejane  
... accepted the first time, you applied again.

Sister Violaine  
That's it. The director told me, "Well, you're maybe too young," because I was like 18 or 17 at that time. I was young, younger than other people who were like 21, 22 or older. So he said, "Oh, maybe try again next year." And that was in my mind, too. I said okay. So I decided to do it again. And I was accepted. So I did four years of theater school which was very hard. The first year in a theater school is very, very hard because it's like to crush the person. Not crushing like breaking, but to put you in a mode like let's be free, let's do whatever. We had to learn to be creative, yes. To let us ourselves be adapted or changed by the character. It was a very deep work on ourselves. And it was hard.

Sister Rejane  
Almost like you have to be okay expressing and acting in ways that your personality would not act?

Sister Violaine  
Well, it's interesting the question because actually, the idea is to know ourselves so much then we can ...

Sister Rejane  
Set it aside?

Sister Violaine  
Set it aside or use it for the character. First year, know oneself and work on ourselves and our creativity, our dark side, our light side. Then the next second year was more know your character, how do you do act. With all what you are, how do you serve the character you are going to share, you're going to play, to act. And then the third year is like know the public, to share it to the public, give it to other persons you're involved with -- the other actors. If I remember well, they constructed it like that.

Sister Rejane  
No, I like it! You first have to go in and get to know yourself. It's almost like that insight -- within a faith context we have that too, in religious life: knowing your inner self and, like you said, the dark and the light. And then focus on the character that second year, and then you're doing those two movements and then you're out to the public. I like how you said that.

Sister Violaine  
And a good actress, a good actor, I think for me, it's a person that lets himself be full of the character and share it to the public, living it, giving it with all that he or she is. Sometimes we can see the actor doing a character, acting. But when an actor is so much involved in the character, you know it's an actor acting, but you're just seeing the character. That's a magic moment.

Sister Rejane  
So you're embodying the character, giving that character life and flesh and movement, not just --  I often made this mistake when I took acting classes, that I was like, oh, I'll just set myself aside and try to be this, but you can't do that. No, you have to know yourself really well so that you're actually embodying this character.

Sister Violaine  
That's it. And you are serving your character through what you are. And for me, in French --

Sister Rejane  
Yeah, go ahead. Say it in French.

Sister Violaine  
No, but maybe we can use the same parallelism.

Sister Rejane  
Yes.

Sister Violaine  
With the incarnation. Incarnation, for me, to incarnate -- we say in French to incarnate the character, if I can translate it like this. So for me, it's like being so deeply touched by Jesus Christ that we want to just share it to the world. But he wants to be embodied in us -- himself in our body, in our lives. So for me, it's very, very, very strong. I did a paper on that. When I was in my practical theology. And I really was touched by this dimension. I wanted to go deeper. To act out, for me, that was the most beautiful moment that I felt: that I know that people were looking at us, or living something. To let them live something, touch something in themselves, because we are acting well, or doing all that story well. They are touched and they are moved and there's something changed in their person because of the show. That, for me, it's a grace a moment of grace, we say.

Sister Rejane  
Yes. Oh, it's powerful to connect our sacramental life of the church, and that such an intimate relationship with Jesus -- you have it within you, but you can't hold it. You're never supposed to hold that relationship. It's not for you alone, it's to give back and let Jesus be in the world. That whole idea. It's our hands and our feet that he works through, which is what you're saying. As an actor, you're giving that character life with your hands and your feet and your heart to share to the world. And by doing that you touch others' lives.

Sister Violaine  
Yes, I think the more we let him be in ourselves with all ourselves, what we are, each one of us.

Sister Rejane  
And even the parts we don't want to claim is what I always tell people. [laughter]

Sister Violaine  
Yes, that's it.

Sister Rejane  
It's true. It's true, but people actually relate, I find, with the parts that I don't necessarily like about myself, but if I allow Jesus in it, then I'm willing to be vulnerable enough to share, "Well, here's how I walked my journey with this part of myself."

Sister Violaine  
Yeah, and being transformed by him and by the grace. So yeah, the theater is a big, big part. I had really deep and tough moments doing my theater class because I was looking for myself but as well looking at others and I was like, Okay, well, who am I in front of others? At that time, I was 20, 21, 22 -- those years of like just starting to be an adult and just wanted to be who I am but with the eyes of others on me or my eyes looking at others. So at that point, especially, it's going to be special to say, but in those years of my schooling, it was very hard and I kind of -- not disconnect from Christ, because he was there. But I was more and more into the people, into the world. I did a life of exploration. In theater life, it's not always like that, but there's parties and exploring or experiencing things. So I lost a bit myself in that, but I had to pass through those years before going back to Christ, even though I always felt that he was there. Even though I was with him. When I look at my story backwards -- This friend in my theater class and theater group during my years of studying, he was very, very human, very Christian in his way. And with him, I was going very well. Thank God he was there, because he was a rock. His name is Jack but it's not his real name. I knew and with another friend as well, in that troupe, I knew I could count on them. They were there. And I think that kept me as well close to Jesus. I felt his love through him or my friend or ...

Sister Rejane  
So there was kind of a struggle of self-identity and self-expression, who am I? And then these two friends, you could always go back and bounce some of the stuff you were experiencing, and, and feel secure and grounded and trusted with them.

Sister Violaine  
And being myself. I was myself because I am quite faithful to who I am while trying, even though I was looking for who I was, who I am at that time. That was funny because one of my classmates told me at the end of the third year at the Conservatoire, he said, "Violaine, you didn't change." According to what I was wearing or what I was saying. He said, "You didn't change," but it was positive. It wasn't bad. I felt, Oh, thank you. Thank God. I could enter in that, but still being myself, according to who I am deeply. I heard it like that.

Sister Rejane  
Yeah, that's beautiful. We are going to take a quick break. Thank you to all our donors and sponsors who support A Nun's Life Ministry and our In Good Faith podcasts. If you have any questions or comments about this podcast, please leave us a message at 913-214-6087. We would love to hear from you, our listeners. We will be right back.

Hello, listeners, we are back. Remember to fill out our listener online survey that can be found in the Show Notes. Your feedback is important to us. Let's finish our conversation with Sr. Violaine Paradis. At what point did you kind of feel drawn to religious life? I assume it was kind of after the school year?

Sister Violaine  
Yeah, yeah. Actually it's not just after the school year because I finished in 99, my theater program and my bachelor degree in theater. Well, in the acting. So I had been accepted to a theater troupe who was doing acrobatic theater for young people. So I did acrobatic theater for young people during four years, because I knew about that organization and I said, I want to do physical theater because I was really a physical actress. I mean, it has to pass through my body as well. And it's funny because incarnation, right, passing through our persons. One of my movement teachers had told me that at the Conservatoire, and I said, "Oh, yeah, it's true that I need to go through that way better than just thinking about my character." So I applied and I was accepted to a theatre troupe. And so I did training because it was very acrobatic gymnastics. I returned to my skills, because when I was younger, I was doing gymnastics.

Sister Rejane  
Oh, that's neat.

Sister Violaine  
Yeah, I was a very physical, very active child as well. But I did some gymnastics. And I really liked it. So I came back to my roots of gymnastics. So I trained and then after the year of training, they offered me a role in one of their shows, and I did some three years of touring with them because they traveled a lot around the world. And I had the chance.

Sister Rejane  
Where did you go? Where are some of the places you went?

Sister Violaine  
Well, we went to Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska. We went as well in China, but Macao, the city of Macao. It's an old Portuguese colony. We went to Europe, different countries like Scotland, France, Spain, Italy, Germany we just passed through. But it was wonderful to do this, acting around the world. Like it was a one-hour show for young people. I'm very grateful, very grateful. But after three years, I said, I did one year and a half in a row. And then they offered me first role in another show. So I changed the show, but it's still in the same troupe. I did another year and a half with that. And I really liked it. It improved my actress skills as well, to be a leader of a show like not only one but with others. I really liked it. It was great.

Sister Rejane  
What was your role?

Sister Violaine  
The first one, as it's an acrobatic theater company, what can be said to the body, it was saying like through like, cartwheel or handstand or backflip. There was scene, a moment in the show that there was like, a fight against the parents, an argument.

Sister Rejane  
Yes.

Sister Violaine  
So the mother and the father, instead of saying "You are such a -- you are blah blah blah," they were like jumping on the table, going down the table, very acrobatic. We could feel the anger or the emotion. So that kind of acting and your question was ...

Sister Rejane  
Your character.

Sister Violaine  
Yeah, yeah, I did that in that show. The second one, I did this young lady, young girl of 9 years old, 10 years old, who are starting to feel like adolescence coming. Teenage years are coming. It feels sad because one of her best friends, he's going to move to be operated for sickness in another town and she's sad. But there's this other guy and there were the family difficulties that she lives in. So it was all a bit about her dream and what she wants to do.

Sister Rejane  
Were you using words at all, or was it just the acrobatics?

Sister Violaine  
There were some words. So I needed to learn my text in different languages. I learned it in Spanish. And I learned in English, and then we went to Macao. That was the time we went to Macao. And we thought it was Mandarin, but it was the other Chinese language. There's two, I don't know the name of the other. But actually I've learned one, but it was the other one. So finally, I ended up doing it.

Sister Rejane  
You had to learn on the fly -- you had to learn fast.

Sister Violaine  
No, no, I was doing it in the first language that I learned and they accepted it. But that was impressive. And there was one moment that I can talk to you about. I was in Spain, and I couldn't remember -- there was a blind ... I had a blind of my text.

Sister Rejane  
Oh, you just blanked. You blanked out of your lines.

Sister Violaine  
I blanked! I needed to tell it to say it in French, the sentence that I was forgetting my line. Slowly and then the Spanish came back and I could say it. I was so embarrassed. For me it was like an eternity. But it was like just a couple of seconds. My friends in the crew who were doing the lights and the sound, they were like, "What's happening what's happening!" [laughter]

Sister Rejane  
"Say it, Violaine! Say it!" So your brain like just kind of switched off and then you had to go through French to get to the Spanish.

Sister Violaine  
Yeah! That's a fear for an actor, to forget his line or her line. So that was Lily, her name. My character was Lily. And the other one, the first one, was a story of two young teenager couples. I was the shy girl with the tough guy and there was the girl with the shy guy and there was the little brother of one of these who was coming always to interrupt the romance between. It was a fun way to talk about the lovers, because love is universal. That was named The Wall.  There was a wall, and some stones were going out. And we could walk through the stones and doing backflips from them.

Sister Rejane  
So the wall had certain stones that stuck out that you could actually stand on.

Sister Violaine  
Stand on and be on. After that I decided to stop doing tours because I said to myself, if I want to marry and have kids, I need to stop doing tours. I need to meet people.

Sister Rejane  
So you need to be in one place, is what you wanted.

Sister Violaine  
Yeah. But then I played in a show. Well, you'll laugh. It was a theater show at that time. I was hired by a summer theater, and we played Nunsense.

Sister Rejane  
Yes. The comedy Nunsense.

Sister Violaine  
I was doing the novice who wanted to be the first ballerina. But instead of ballerina as I was doing acrobatic theater, I was doing the first nun who wants to be an acrobatic nun or something like that. So instead of doing ballet I was doing some acrobatics on the stage. So I experienced summer theater. I had a boyfriend that summer. I was questioning myself very deeply that summer because I had that work that summer, but I didn't have something that was to come. So I was questioning myself a lot because I had finished the tour. And I said, What am I going to do and I should maybe look for another agent -- you say that?

Sister Rejane  
Yes. Agent who helps find you --

Sister Violaine  
Casting.

Sister Rejane  
Casting. And so you didn't know after that, what the next job would be. Acting job.

Sister Violaine  
No. And at that time I was 27. I was starting to be like, okay what's next. I decided after that summer to do a retreat because even though my parents were not very religious, they were encouraging us to listen to ourselves, doing some time in silence either in an abbey or in the woods. So I decided to go into an abbey because I had that interest of a religious life. So I went to spend five days in a retreat house, in an abbey.

Sister Rejane  
Which congregation was it?

Sister Violaine  
Trappist. There were some monks. And I was very, I really liked that place. And I spent three days in silence. And I decided to -- I was writing a lot. First of all, I needed to go there because I was not listening to my inner voice because I was all the time listening to what other people were saying to me, like, "You should do this, or you should do this, and how about this?" And, and I was like, Well, wait, wait, wait. What do I want myself? It was difficult to hear it. So I decided to go in that place. And there in the deep silence, I was crying. I was like, where am I going? I was very fragile inside, like, just not feeling that I can hear myself. And I was like, that's weird. And so I met a monk at one time, and I told him about my inner voice: where is my inner voice. And he said, "Do you know, the little Therese of Lisieux?" And I said no. "You should get a book in the library and look at it." And I said, "Oh, okay." So I went away and I took a book in the library and it was for children with cartoons. And I took it a little cartoon, very simple, because I said I want to start simply. And I read this cartoon. And that one page, very well done. I mean, it was written, "My vocation is to love." And that image and words talked to my heart so strongly that I was crying. I said, "That's it. That's what I want." It was very, very strong. And I was I felt such warmth in my heart, and grace. But at that point, I didn't know what was happening. And I was just going down to my knees and I was like, okay, I cannot say that you're not there. Like, I could feel the love of God. And I said, "Okay, I was looking for you outside, but you were inside of me." It came back to me that phrase of St. Augustine. I was looking for you.

Sister Rejane  
Outside, but you were in.

Sister Violaine  
And that changed my old life. And I didn't know I was wanting to be a religious, but I knew that I would put God into my life, consciously. I really changed a lot of things. And I started to go to the church, to go with a community, like a place to pray with others. And I started to be very dedicated and very faithful to those meetings. I was just turning 28. That was 2004. And 2005 in the spring, I met a sister in a Taizé meeting. There were 200 young people, young adults, I was there and she was there. And we were in the same group of 10 at one point because we are gathering 10 by 10. And we present ourselves and she's saying, presenting herself, that she's a sister of the Congregation de Notre Dame and I'm looking at her and I'm like what?? Afterwards I went to see her and said you're a sister? And she said yes. And she was from Belgium. But she was in Montreal for a couple of years because she started her religious life and we connected so is so fast. We connected deeply and she became my accompany-er in my vocation path because I was looking for my place and I didn't know if I wanted to be a religious, but I was touched by her example, her witness. In those years, I needed to be very clear and discern, this is her path; is it mine?

Sister Rejane  
Right. You weren't sure if you're absorbing hers, but it has to be yours.

Sister Violaine  
Correct. And so I discerned that. And at one point I told her during my accompaniment, I shared with her that I would love to go to Africa, because there was a festival in Montreal, there was the music and I talked to her about it. And she said, "You know, we have sisters in Cameroon." I said "What??" My heart started to beat boom boom boom. And I said okay! So I joined a program that the CND, the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, called Youth in Visitation. They are going to live and experience some place and came back, and they are formed -- like they are accompanied to as they are being with others in another country, and being visited as well by others from other countries. It's very beautiful. So I went six months to Cameroon, in 2007. And I really loved it. It was a very, very strong experience and it deepened my roots, the roots of my faith, because there the people are practicing very deeply their faith, right? Yes. And so it's very different from here in Canada, Montreal. You don't see people saying "Hey, God bless you," in the street.

Sister Rejane  
You don't talk about God all the time.

Sister Violaine  
That's it!

Sister Rejane  
It's not integrated in life as much. Yes.

Sister Violaine  
Yes! When I came back from that experience I felt that I was called to religious like, to give myself -- or just going to see. Right.

Sister Rejane  
Right. Try it. You've got to jump in and --

Sister Violaine  
But it took me another year and a half. I wrote to my mom from Cameroon. She said, "Okay, Violaine, maybe that's it, but please wait to be here to decide." That was wise. Not because I was not sure. But I was in another world, in another ambience. And so when I came back, I decided to take my time, as well, because I wanted to learn and to go to take a class, theology class, just to know about more about the intelligence of the faith. So then, after that one year of study, and still continuing discernment, I asked to enter the Congregation of Notre Dame in 2009.

Sister Rejane  
Okay, wow. And during that year and a half back in Canada, were you still being accompanied by sisters from the congregation?

Sister Violaine  
Yes. Yes.

Sister Rejane  
Okay.

Sister Violaine  
Yes, I was accompanied, and very, very faithfully, each step. And I did, as well, a discernment with a group called Going Into the Deep. And there were other young adults who were looking for their place. And I was actually living in as well an experience with three other young adult women who wanted to discern and live it together.

Sister Rejane  
So you were living together in community.

Sister Violaine  
Yes, community but it was in a presbytery. There were other people in that presbytery, but we were there and we were gathering to pray together. We're talking about our path, because there was one who was not really religious, she had left the religious life. So it was more like how does God want me to serve at that point?

Sister Rejane  
Now tell me more, because you mentioned visitation. Right? And I know that's really important within your congregation, and the spirituality in your charism, that moment when Mary and Elizabeth come together. Can you talk more about what that means?

Sister Violaine  
Yes, of course! It's our spirituality, visitation. We say, Mary in her visitation and in Pentecost, as well -- Mary among the apostles as well. But the visitation is to be with, go forward, and be with. It's mutuality, it's learning from different generations, it's being visited by God, but being visitation ourselves for others, of his visitation for our world. And it's about life. Visitation is about life, because it's the life in Mary, the life of Jesus in Mary, the life of John the Baptist in Elizabeth. Yes, I am in communion with others and what she or he is living. In visitation it's two women, but I can see it with men as well. What is life? What is the living in that moment and how can I be attentive to this life? And being attentive to how the other is listening or visiting me and what I am. We are in very great joy because it's the theme of the World Youth Day this year.

Sister Rejane  
Oh, that's right!

Sister Violaine  
Going in haste, right? Mary arose and went in haste. So it's about going to others and to be witnesses of what they are living, even though you don't know yet, but you're going because you feel a call to. Marguerite Bourgeoys, our foundress, wanted that for us: to be as Mary in her visitation for others. To be part of that, listening to the needs of our world, and our church and our people, and be in a hurry to go and be with them, or feel the connection, communion with them, and as well with nature because how do I go in haste and doing my best to serve? Serve God, but as well, take care of the Earth?

Sister Rejane  

That is so beautiful. And that's also incarnational.

Sister Violaine  

Yeah, yes.

Sister Rejane  
I mean, it's just a complex, rich mystery of our faith. And I love it, because that idea of being with and accompanying is a different posture of being open to the other. And it's a mutuality, like you said, sharing, so that you're not coming into a different culture or a different person and saying, "I've got the answers. And this is why I'm here." I think our church has so often taken that different stance of imposing on top of you, instead of coming to meet and together, standing equally, to learn. And because you're right, I mean, Mary being young, Elizabeth being old, yet they still had much to give to each other in that.

Sister Violaine  
Oh, yes.

Sister Rejane  
Just thinking, I'm like, that's just a beautiful place.

Sister Violaine  
I think, for our time, we need that.

Sister Rejane  
We all need that posture. Yeah. Well, and how much joy came out of that, too?

Sister Violaine  
Yes!

Sister Rejane  
When they met, and you just you can't help reading that that scripture with the joy when Elizabeth -- and John leapt in her womb? And she's just like, oh, my gosh! And that's what it should be. You shouldn't be dreading going to meet someone who's different than you. Be open and adventuresome and welcoming and, and usually joy does happen because it's Spirit-led.

Sister Violaine  
Yeah. It's letting the Spirit lead us both ways. And Mary's saying the Magnificat at that point, as well. It's such a big piece of our church life, of our writings. And it's a very subversive text -- do we say that?

Sister Rejane  
Do you mean --

Sister Violaine  
Like powerful.

Sister Rejane  
Powerful. Yeah, and part of the church, in the breviary, we pray at it at night, that prayer -- the whole church does. Yes. And the Liturgy of the Hours, but it is powerful.

Sister Violaine  
Yeah, it is powerful. If we want to live that, it's very, very strong if we want to try to live that Magnificat. I remember when I went to Honduras, because I lived there after my first vows. I went for an experiment and experience of one year and a half with my sisters there and I really loved it. And I had that dream before in Montreal to do that project, but I did it there. I did it there finally, to lead a group of women to help them to improve themselves and to be more confident in themselves.

Sister Rejane  
So like empowering them.

Sister Violaine  
Empowering. Yes, empowering them. So I was leading them with another sister who helped me: What is your Magnificat? How can you say that you've pronounced the marvels that God's done in your life? Can you say it out loud? Most of the women -- there was a time of sharing and little groups, then I was guiding them through a song, the song of the Magnificat, but with gestures. That was so powerful to see those women using their bodies to like to say, "My soul proclaims the greatness of our Lord." It was amazing because they felt they had some wounds, they had some very deep and difficult times. But through this, God showed up, and he did marvelous things. So it's very important, that Magnificat -- part of our journey, each one on a journey, right?

Sister Rejane  
Oh, that's beautiful. I could continue this conversation, Violaine, forever. But I just think we're gonna end on that, because it also shows that, you know, you've you have this vocation with God, and you have this vocation of embodiment through movement, and you've been able to still share that within your religious life. I just think that's so powerful.

Sister Violaine  
Thank you Rejane! Next time, I will be happy to hear from you! Let's do it another time!

Sister Rejane  
We should! We should have another conversation. It may not be for an audience, or it may be. You never know. But I'll share my story a little bit with you. Yes, there are many parts that resonated.

Sister Violaine  
It's so great to share with you, and you know, that visitation, maybe just to add that -- that visitation, spirit and movement and Pentecost as well, to be listening to what the Spirit tells us. It's part of my ministry today, because I'm in a social pastoral industry, in Montreal, trying to build bridges between our communities, the parishes and social organizations, and I'm trying to link them to make the parishioners, the people in the parishes more involved in their social dimension of their faith. So that visitation movement, I'm living it, but I'm trying to inspire them to do as well. And I'm inspired by what they are doing and for the others. But just to say that, in fact, the ministry I'm doing as Marguerite Bourgeoys did in her time, in Montreal, like just listening to the needs and go, and it was very social work as well, kind of. Before she started the first school in Montreal, she was helping the men, the women, the couples, and she married many people.

Sister Rejane  
No, that's great. That's great. And people do need to be able to embrace that personal relationship with Jesus and take Jesus out. And that's what you're doing is trying to make sure people can put their faith in action with the social group. So I just say thank you, again, for this time, Violaine, and blessings on your ministry. I'm so jealous -- are you going to World Youth Day?

Sister Violaine  
Yes!

Sister Rejane  
Oh, that's going to be wonderful.

Sister Violaine  
But you know what, it's my first time. I've never been there in a World Youth Day. So I am going into this and I'm like, Okay, I know. I heard that I won't sleep during one week, but I'll try to be fine with that. Did you participate?

Sister Rejane  
I have never been no, never never. I had a chance when I was in Denver with my family vacationing. And Pope John Paul was there. But they didn't have enough water and people got dehydrated. And so we were actually grateful we didn't go. I think it's gotten better planned over the years, but sometime in the future, it will happen. I am sure. And I'll keep you in prayer while you were there.

Sister Violaine  
Thank you! I'll keep you in my prayer while I'll be there. Let's pray for Rejane. And the visitation.

Sister Rejane  
Yes, I feel like this has been a visitation for you and I, this conversation of getting just to share our stories of faith and the way God and Jesus has moved in our lives. It's just beautiful.

Sister Violaine  
Amen.

Sister Rejane  
Amen, sister. Amen.

Sister Violaine  
Amen.

Sister Rejane  
In Good Faith is a production of A Nun's Life Ministry, helping people discover and grow in their vocation by engaging questions about God, faith, and religious life. This program is made possible through the grace of God and the support of our sponsors of A Nun's Life Ministry, and you, our listeners. Don't forget to call us and leave a message. Tell us what you like, ask a question, or just say hi. Call 913-214-6087 and visit us at anunslife.org. God bless!

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.