The Order of Preachers sharing the Gospel for over 800 years.
Stories of Our Sisters
bring the Charism to Life
Here are Our Stories for August 2008
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill
Dominican Sisters of Caldwell
My connection with the Caldwell Dominicans comes from St. Dominic Academy where I grew to love the sisters while I was in high school there. They were warm and human and easy to talk with. I entered the community right after high school and have never regretted it.
Jesus promised that “He came to bring life and life to the fullest.” I have felt the fullness of life in all my ministries; from day care , grade school, high school, pastoral work, retreat work to my present work with senior citizens at Marian Manor, an independent living facility on our grounds in Caldwell.
I have loved ministering to the elderly because in truth they minister to me. Their love and kindness and appreciation for all that goes on at Marian Manor has touched me sincerely. I want them to feel that they are women and
men of much wisdom and they prove me right all the time. I help with forms for pharmaceutical and electrical assistance, aides for those who need them, coordinating religious services including scripture sharing and Saturday evening Masses, working with volunteers from our high schools and college and local parish and all other activities that take place within and outside of the building. Every day is a new experience and it keeps me young at heart.
My earliest desire to enter the convent was an inner stirring at my First Holy Communion. At fifteen I portrayed a Sister in a benefit play. When the Sparkill OP’s saw the photographs of me, they teased. On a visit to Sparkill I felt at home through the energy of the sisters in the cemetery.
At seventeen my father urged me to attend college. At Oneonta I belonged to Neuman Club where I played organ for Benediction. During Benediction I felt Jesus call to me. Doubts and scruples assailed me. Nevertheless I was determined to test my vocation with the same OP’s who had playfully teased me in my younger years. My parents were not in favor of letting go of their only child, but in her wisdom, my mother suggested that I try it, assuring my father that within two months I would return home to escape the housework.
I often comment that I am a “Born-Again Dominican”. I fell in love with the Dominican sisters during my elementary school years. During my high school days, sisters of another congregation tried to entice me to become one of them but I knew in my heart that the only kind of sister I could be was a Dominican. I did not answer this call until the end of my second year of college. When I entered the Novitiate in Amityville everything about convent life was new and exciting for me. I loved wearing the Dominican habit and being part of the congregation. I taught elementary school for seven years before being assigned to teach mathematics on the secondary school level
Dominican Sisters of Amityville
During the mid-seventies, I became unsure of my vocation, many of my friends had left the congregation and I was searching for my own identity. I asked for a year’s exclaustration, which extended to two years. I wanted to return but lacked the courage at that time. When I signed my dispensation from vows our Assistant Prioress told me that I would always be welcome to return to the congregation. That thought always kept coming back to me. “Not yet, God “was my reply for over twenty-five years.
After I retired from teaching math in the public schools, I was searching for a more meaningful life. I did some volunteer work, played golf and bridge but wasn’t fulfilled. I attended a prayer day in Amityville for former members and that was the spark that I needed. During the years of informal and formal discernment, I found the freedom, peace and joy I had been seeking. I have had numerous experiences to deepen my understanding of the Dominican charism through retreats, pilgrimages to Regensburg and Fanjeaux, preaching institute, conferences on the vows, being a member of various committees and living in a house with prayerful Dominican women who accept and love me.
Now that I have signed the book of Perpetual Profession for the second time, I am confident that the Preaching will continue through my life and ministry.
Archived
Sisters' Stories
August 2008
(this page is on top)
Dominican Sisters of Caldwell
Dominican Sisters of Amityville
Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill
My sense of call to religious life came through my teachers, the Dominicans of Blauvelt. When I entered the congregation, I never dreamed where my response would take me. Since then, I have been privileged to respond to our Dominican call to preach the gospel in a variety of ways: teaching in elementary school, high schools and in ESL Programs, vocation and formation work, and congregational leadership.
I now minister to senior citizens in New York City and as a chaplain in the medical unit at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women. Both groups are among the most vulnerable in our society. Yet my interaction with them leaves me enriched.
I try to be an instrument of God’s word for them. This is simple when I am leading formal prayer at the prison or praying with a senior citizen in their small apartment. They serve as encounters with God for me and preach to me as well.
The seniors preach in their letting go. They are totally dependent on others for meals and visits. Peacefully ending their lives, they preach a powerful message.
The women in Bedford prison preach through their trust in God, their courage, and their compassion. They trust that their children will be cared for and that they, as a result of their prison experience, will become different persons. Their courage, in trying to change their lives and their compassion in their interaction with each other are powerful and inspiring. It is a privilege to be with them as I continue my response to God’s call as a Dominican.
Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill
I began my teaching career in a Catholic school, teaching 5th grade. Little did I know that the Chapter of 1969, bringing the concept of personal option to our community, would change that early model of religious life forever. By the early 1980's, I moved into a new ministry, one which has changed my life drastically over the past 25+ years. I started out as a teacher at New Hope Manor ( a substance abuse program for women ). Quickly the needs of counseling these women, and role modeling a concept of family and community became apparent. I have been able to be a part of some very special miracles as I have walked with women on their journey from the death of drugs to a new life. I have learned much about life from them and have been stretched in many ways. It has only been through a clear understanding of God being at my side all these years that I have felt the strength to continue.
It's now time to reassess again what my role at New Hope should be. Seeing the fundamental concept of spirituality as a cornerstone of recovery, and hearing the grief of loss that so many women have experienced in their life, I can see a new role emerging for me that would best suit my experiences in religious life.
When I entered the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill in 1965, I could never have dreamed the path my life has taken. Thank God! I have been so greatly enriched and rewarded at each turning point of my life and I know God has walked with me every step of the way.
In the 43 years I have spent as a Dominican Sister of Sparkill, religious life has experienced tremendous change. In 1965, when I entered, that change was just beginning. Some of those changes were superficial; some of them took on the beginnings of deeper change in the church.
During the first 2 years after profession, I watched as week after week someone I had known and loved left to live out their Baptismal commitment in a different way. I had to constantly question and reaffirm my decision, wondering often why I kept choosing to stay.
www.catholicdominicansisters.org
+ Amityville + Blauvelt + Caldwell + Sparkill
