Interview with the Sisters

Inspired by National Vocation's Awareness Week, which we celebrated earlier this month,  the Sisters took a few minutes to reflect and share about the gift of their vocations. 

When did you first think of becoming a Sister? ​

"​I thought about being a Sister when I was a little kid, because I thought running away and cutting my hair off like St. Claire would be cool. But it became more serious when I went away to graduate school and on retreat I had an experience with the Lord in adoration. I felt he was asking me to make a decision now: Would I pursue Him in the vocation of religious life or not?"

"​I didn’t meet any Sisters until I was in high school, so I didn’t even think about it at all until then. When I was in high school, my youth minister took a group of us to visit a monastery of Benedictine Nuns and showed us a little bit about the life of the Sisters. Later she told us that she herself was going to become a Sister."

"I first thought about it in middle school when I heard a Benedictine monk preach as a guest homilist at my parish. I was struck by his peacefulness and security. He was very sure of who he was, and I was very attracted to that."

"I thought about it right around the same time as my conversion, my coming back to the faith. It sprang from that experience of my conversion and the desire to respond with a total gift of self. But it didn’t come explicitly as, “Oh, religious life!”. My desire was to give myself totally to God in response to His love, and I was led to see that there is a way to do this in the Church, and it's called religious life."

Why did you join the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa? ​

"​The Sister's spirituality had all the elements I was looking for: Marian, Eucharistic, Ecclesial, as well as a balance of apostolic and contemplative life."

"I joined the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa, because I grew up with a community of priests brothers that offered both forms of the Mass, and that was very important to me as I was looking for religious communities. I felt like if I was missing one of those two elements in liturgy, I would really be missing out on something."

"When I visited the Sisters, ​I felt at home. I felt that I could be myself."

"When I first found their website, a couple months after meeting the Sisters in person, I read the Charism statement, and it really resonated with my heart. I thought: this is everything I have ever wanted to give Our Lord in my life, but it is in a religious community. This might be it."

What is the best part of being a Sister?

​"There are so many best parts. I think for me, what has stood out is the great grace of living in Our Lord’s House and learning how to be His Bride. He's always there with me under the same roof. I am under His roof."

​"Everything, your whole life, is aimed at the one thing necessary, which is union with Christ."

"God is really everywhere. We live in the same house as Him. He is our daily tasks. He is in my Sisters. He is there all the time in prayer, just waiting for me."

"Having so many Sisters! One of the best parts of being a Sister is community life -- getting to know these women, my Sisters, in a very deep way... (and having fun with them, too!)"

What challenges you in your life as a Sister? ​

"​Life as a Sister presents the challenge of ongoing growth in generosity in all sorts of ways: being generous with the Lord, being generous with my Sisters, being generous with myself, being generous with the apostolate."

​"Day to day facing of self; that daily battle with self."

"​Remembering that all of this is sprung from God’s initiative, and that He is leading."

"Community life! It's one of the best parts and the most challenging parts. You get to know the wonderful things about your Sisters, but also the less then wonderful things about yourself. You come to realize your own faults and work on them."

What would you say to a young person considering religious life? ​

"Start a habit of prayer now. Or if you already have one, deepen it. Because prayer is the most fundamental element of anyone’s vocation in life and without it you won’t be able to follow Christ."

"Let yourself fall in love with the Lord."

​"Be open and don’t dawdle."

"​Don’t give up. From the time I started seriously discerning until I entered the Convent was about seven years, and I encountered several “no’s”. There were many times I thought I couldn’t keep going. Don’t give up. If the call is there, if the Lord keeps asking you, keep persevering."

"Don’t be afraid. Have courage. The Lord will supply."