Sister Theresa also sews baptism blankets for all the babies in the parish and sews dresses and shorts for needy children overseas. Sister Lee (as she is called), recalls, I missed the green, open countryside and spacious home on the farm, but I really loved being able to participate in school and church activities, which were not possible before, due to the distance.. Global Sisters Report a project of National Catholic Reporter, Sisters Come from Varied Backgrounds in Education, Healthcare and Advocacy Work for Impoverished, Deaf Ministry in the United States and Peru. Both were religious persons: my father was Catholic and my mother was Lutheran. Sister Helen O'Brien 1953 - 70 years For Sister Helen O'Brien, it only took one year at Ursuline High School (UHS) in Columbia, South Carolina, for her to decide on becoming an Ursuline Sister. There was love, joy, and heartache. It is a life where you pray together; a very close life because its cloistered, she explained. Sister Kathy first taught at the Peruvian Navy School, then joined several other Ursulines in Carmen de la Legua, which at the time was a slum area outside Lima. Sister Sue says, The last 40 years I have worked in Peru. It was very difficult for my dad when I went to the convent. I was fitting in where I belonged, wherever I could help., She progressed through religious formation and studies in early elementary education, entering the classroom in 1948 and making her final vows in 1951. The oldest of four children, Sister Shirley Ann was born in 1924 in Heartwell, Nebraska, to Niles and Ella Simmons. She was 19 when her aunt Gertrude took her to the Ursuline Motherhouse on September 8, 1940. For many, this was very difficult and emotional., Sister Antonine was also treasurer of the communitys former Hospitality House for women who were discerning a vocation to religious life. Sister Sue carried Gods message of love and peace to people living in poverty in this mountainous region for many years, and in the valley of the Mantaro River in Huancayo. She received her bachelors degree from Ursuline College in 1959, with a major in elementary education, and minors in speech correction, philosophy and biology, and professed her final vows in 1966. I am not going to punish you right now, but you come back tomorrow and tell me what punishment you think you deserve. I then went home and forgot all about it. Sister Julienne Guy, who is celebrating her 70th jubilee as an Ursuline Sister of Louisville, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Anthony Parish School. Sister Jean Anne believes that Angelas charism is a very strong charism to have survived since 1535. It turned out that it was my dad. Gifts can be charged to Visa, MasterCard or American Express made through PayPal, an on-line credit card service, offering immediate support to areas of greatest need and/or designated ministry. It is a blessing to have a positive effect on a student who will grow up and teach his own children something that you taught him, Sister says. One favorite saying of the saint is when necessary, change with the times., Saint Angela challenged us to persevere, she said, adding that she identifies with the saint in her work with women, children and families. Sister Antonine recalls, [Sister] Bernadine Nash watched at the door. Previous Ministries:Caregiver, prayer and presence at the Carmelite Monastery of Mary Immaculate and St. Joseph (Louisville, KY). Then, she was chosen for ministry in Peru to answer Pope John XXIIIs appeal to religious communities to send missionaries to Latin America. I thought they took off that habit and stacked it in the corner. She was interested in going to the convent as early as the seventh grade, but she did not say anything at first. I taught my first graders all three words. A Tested Vocation Blooms into Many Fruitful Years of Ministry for Sister Rose Ann, Sister Rose Ann Muller was born in Evansville, IN, at her parents home on June 16, 1932. They include Sisters Alberta Neppl, Romana Selter and Evelina (Roger) Pisaneschi, Mrs. Hurst and Michelle Duvall. Kathy serves on the RCC Board of Governors and works as director of Communications and Public Relations for the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville. Sister Sue Scharfenberger is celebrating her 60th jubilee as an Ursuline Sister of Louisville. to live with Sister Lorna. She received assistance from Sister Wilma Breighner during her first year as a teacher and described her as absolutely wonderful. I think we worked around the clock! She also served her community on three different Leadership Teams. The Diocese of Cajamarca is located in an isolated, rural area of the Andes Mountains. Sister Carl Marie must have seen that in young Mary Jo. Where did the original Ursuline Sisters of Louisville come from (city and country)? Joy first was infused into her childhood as the blonde-haired, blue-eyed daughter of Italian parents who raised four children. My family, friends, benefactors, Associates, and especially my Ursuline Sisters are the most precious gift I can appreciate, share and enjoy.. Never one to let illness stand in her way, Sister Rita Joseph returned to Louisville where she became vocation coordinator for the community, followed by assistant principal at the new Holy Cross High School from 1984-86. This is a model that the Ursuline Associates follow today. Her last year at the country school, there were two other students a neighbor girl and her youngest sister. She felt as though she was learning along with the first class of second graders she taught because she was very new to Catholicism. House Councilor and Co-Coordinator at the Ursuline Motherhouse. Each of them helped me become a better teacher, work together as a team, improve communication skills and establish good relationships with parents., Guiding her, too, has been Ursuline foundress, Saint Angela Merici. Ursuline Sisters of MSJ Vocations. Entering right before Vatican II, Sister Mary Jo remembers that, There were larger classes of women then, and it was good to be a part of a bigger group of people who were answering the call to religious life. I didnt know they were in parts! I really enjoyed my classes and I had some big classes. We were kept very busy with tasks so that we had little time to get homesick. You can browse through all 8 jobs Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph has to offer. They owned and operated in Louisville Ursuline College, Ursuline Academy, Sacred Heart Academy, Sacred Heart Model School, Angela Merici High School, and the Ursuline Speech Clinic. And I learned the intense sadness of losing a two-year-old, and a husband being killed on the highway, but also the joys. In 1994, Sister Martha co-founded the Company of Saint Angela, an association for laypersons following the spirit of Saint Angela. Her journey to religious life began that year. Teaching Christian living is the corporate ministry of the Ursuline Sisters. I was there with the nuns and I had a lot of dealings with nurses. However, it was a heavy challenge: so far away from my family and the concern I had for them. Her own education included a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ursuline College in 1957; Master of Arts, Creighton University, 1962; and summer classes at University of Notre Dame, College of St. Mary (Leavenworth, KS), and University of Montana (Missoula). My Daddy said, Let her go; shell be back in a week. I think Jesus would like for our whole world to have many piazzas. She took classes at Xavier and fell in love with the Montessori Method, where children learn in a prepared environment of specially designed sensorial materials, a way of learning which engages all their natural abilities and senses for learning. in Omaha. There I did some discerning and decided it was time to really do something about working with the poor.. She is a conscientious thinker and a woman of deep faith. Coordinator at Ursuline Motherhouse, Volunteer ministry at Jewish Hospital, Marian Home, Suburban Medical Center, Red Cross, Pine Tree Villa, Elderserve (Louisville). It involved providing for a community, as well as taking care of individual needs. I think the idea of being a woman where prayer and community living were important was becoming important. What an appropriate symbol for a young girl who missed the outdoor life of her family farm, and then as an Ursuline missionary no doubt saw many yellow butterflies in the mountains of Peru, when riding on horseback to carry the Blessed Sacrament to a village or minister to a sick child. Within two weeks of their arrival, the sisters were teaching 50 students with plans for constructing a convent and boarding/day school on Chestnut Street near Shelby. SAM responds to persons in poverty and crisis in the 40216 zip code in Louisville. She taught for 60 years at Catholic grade schools in Louisville, Morgantown, West Virginia, and in Columbia. I just wanted to go to that holy hour with my dad., Taught by Ursulines, she had two cousins who were priests and three aunts who were nuns. I am also shaped by the Gospels and Angela. The oldest of three children with two younger brothers, she went to St. Helens parish school through eighth grade and then on to Sacred Heart Academy for high school. With Sr. Carols permission I am sharing with you a passage from her letter asking to pronounce her vows as an Ursuline. She taught in Louisville at Saint George School, Saint Martin of Tours School, Sacred Heart Model School, Angela Merici High School and Sacred Heart Academy. St. Patrick Seminary, Menlo Park/Jesuit School of Theology (Berkley, CA). The Cry of the Earth and Cry of Humanity Guiding Team asked Annette Mandley-Turner of the Archdiocesan Office of Multicultural Ministry to present and facilitate a conversation on #racism at the Ursuline Sisters' Spring Gathering Saturday, March 26. However, she counts her blessings and feels that she has so much to be thankful for. I just dont like the wild stuff! she said with a laugh. In fourth grade she had her first lay teacher, Miss Dorothy Hillenbrand, because Father John Knue, the pastor, could not get enough Ursuline Sisters, she explained. Her ministries also have included sacristan, tutor, housekeeper, secretary, craft shop contributor, and assistant with chapel renovation at Sacred Heart Academy. When her mother got sick, she cared for the younger girls, too. After a crash course in Spanish, Sister Lee and Sister Mary Martha Staarman set about opening a school in Carmen de la Legua, then a slum area of Callao outside of Lima. She spent a lot of time thinking about her future but did not want to enter the Ursuline Congregation after her high school graduation. Would you like to have a spiritual support group? I really enjoyed going to Open Hand Kitchen (in Louisville) because thats a meditation in itself, the homeless people coming in to eat. In 1988, Sister Lee moved to the rural mission of San Miguel in the Andes Mountains of Cajamarca, Peru, where she worked in pastoral ministry until 2005. I like the Ursuline prayers. Sister Zappa also taught for twenty years, starting in 1972 at the former Angela Merici High School and then at Sacred heart Academy. Centro Latino is a non-profit organization that serves Latinos in five counties with legal assistance, donations of food, clothing and educational services. To become an Associate, the candidate must be willing to participate in a yearlong formation process which involves monthly gatherings. Word of mouth spread about her talks, and in 1980 she was invited to lead an institute in Brescia, Italy, about Saint Angela and Ursuline spirituality. I used to go to early mass with my mother and we would pass the convent, and I wondered what those people did up there. Being with someone in spiritual direction is an awesome gift that I call secondhand grace. She loved Sister Urban so much, she would routinely go to school on Saturday to assist her with chores. I also liked math. Sister then was sent to Omaha, Nebraska, to teach first grade (her first love) at Blessed Sacrament while earning her masters in education from Creighton University in 1966. When was her music career truly born? As a Chapter delegate, I spent long hours for many weeks deliberating with the other Chapter members on how our Ursuline Community would respond to Vatican II.. Adult Education director at St. Jerome, (Fairdale, KY). Like many of the Ursuline Sisters, Sister Kathy is very humble and does not like to be in the spotlight. She truly loved God and spent her life doing all she could for others., She is thankful to God for her vocation with the Ursulines. If I could just touch the hem of his (Jesus) cloak, I will be healed., She thinks of this quote when ministering to children, hoping they come to know and love Jesus. When cooperative talks between Ursuline College and Bellarmine meant the merged college needed analytical chemistry, she switched her major at Fordham University. On July 4, 1943, Sister Dorothy professed temporary vows. She remembers her neighbors coming together to help, and her mothers strength in keeping the family together. Her father, a convert, was a career army sergeant. Were I to speak with my much younger self, I would want her to realize that what she really desires is Gods gift., Sister Helen adds, Being an Ursuline Sister has come to mean being involved in a mission greater than my own. Martha then returned to Louisville where she applied for the position of public relations director of Ursuline College, and also taught English and journalism at the college. The second of four girls, Sister Mary Jo says, I grew up in a faith-filled Catholic family, where our lives intertwined with our parish school and church. The Ursuline Sisters of Louisville taught her at both Holy Spirit and Sacred Heart Academy. 10 talking about this. Now, both Sr. Carol and Sr. Mary Teresa are in the midst of a three-year transition to become Ursuline Sisters. She now serves the community as an apostolate of prayer. Sister Lee says that from 1964-2005, I spent the most unbelievable, difficult, happy and rewarding years of my life. Every time I met with a parent I prayed that the Holy Spirit would put the right words on my tongue. Her father was quick to add, Hon, Ill give you a week there and they will ship you back when they see how boisterous you are!. Sister Mary Jo (Joseph Marian) Gramig, a Louisville native, is celebrating her 60th jubilee. I always enjoyed the Sisters., We went to St. Victors School. Then she made a change. Every three months a group of 15 sisters had to be re-located. I admired all the nuns; all the ones I had as teachers. When Shirley Ann entered the Novitiate, she was given the name, Sister Joanella; she returned to her baptismal name when this was a choice in the 1960s. I know you are too young to understand and comprehend, but life gave you the opportunity to bring the great creativity and wisdom that is in your heart. Anyone who knows Sister Yuli would agree that she is indeed very capable of great creativity and wisdom, which overflows from her kind heart. Her father gave in and let her join. She entered the Ursuline community in 1967, during a period of great change in the Catholic Church and in the Ursuline community as a result of Vatican II. Teaching Christian living is our corporate ministry, which, cutting across socio-economic, racial and national boundaries, assists women, men and children to live more fully and to develop a personal relationship with God. When asked what being an Ursuline Sister has meant to her, Sister Yuli very poetically states that to be an Ursuline Sister is: To be like an open piazza, siate piazzevoloto welcome, to observe, to listen, to contemplate and to act in the face of the reality in which we live. Sister Mary Jo says, The focus was always on family formation, not just the children. She had had contact with the Ursulines and Dominicans, and so she wrote to both communities. She previously served as the leader of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville. Sister Millie began the religious education program and, when space was scarce, would take a statue of the Blessed Mother down into the basement for a womens Bible study. Her teaching career lasted 29 years, during which she taught at Saint Raphael, Our Mother of Sorrows and Saint Helen in Louisville. I am often awed by what happens while the two of us are attending to Gods love and commitment. Every year, Sister Lee would mark yes. It was what God wanted, and that was it., She reflected on her own vocation to religious life and the tremendous support of her congregation for projects like Christian Help. Lessons cost a quarter each. It was during this time that she developed breast cancer. Sister Brendan has been inspired by those she has met in southern West Virginia, where she and Sister Janet Marie were the only Catholics in the town of Kermit. Bavaria, Germany. And exploring the active social justice ministries has been important to me in reaching out to the poor. She has worked with Shively Area Ministries and at the St. Johns Center for Homeless Men. She networks with other social justice groups through the center for investigation and studies, Bartolome de las Casa. After Ursuline College and Bellarmine College merged in 1968, she says, I had to go look for a job! She received a grant to study at Michigan State University for three years to obtain her doctorate in communication. Sister says, I have always felt we belong togetherlike Saint Angela says, Be of one will. We have a common end goal., Sister Maria Goretti Lovett, a native of Columbia, South Carolina, is celebrating her 70th jubilee. There it was, August of 1966; I entered the community having never been to Louisville. . Little Alma lay in a coffin in the sun room, she recalled. That was a real gift. When I returned, my mother died. The second of five children, Sister Sara grew up near the Ursuline campus. Without love, there is nothing. In July of 1952, the then-Mother Superior, Sister Columba Ishanski, wrote to Joan: Sister Ferdinand said you are interested in becoming a Sister. Her decision thrilled her father but made her mother cry. The area had a lot of mosquitos, scorpions and vermin, and disease was rampant. Find jobs. We were just young kids and couldnt resist those cookies! I had one student request that I give her a wake-up each morning because she had so many tardies and didnt like reporting to detention. When things get tough, I can do it. Her car is a taxi, she said, transporting women and children to doctor appointments. I would not have had the opportunities and experiences if not for being part of the Ursulines., Even though she lives away from the Motherhouse, she feels connected to the congregation in Louisville.