February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord, a feast of encounters as our Holy Father Pope Francis says, was a day of encounters for two of our sisters. In the morning our dear Sister Marie pronounced her first vows at our morning Mass and received the name Sister Gianna Marie and began her journey as a spouse of Christ. Sister was very active pro-life activities before entering so her new name suits her well. For more information on Saint Gianna Beretta Molla check out the website  http://saintgianna.org

Our dear Sister Mary Genevieve who had celebrated her 90th birthday on January 18 and her sixtieth jubilee of profession on August 28 of last year (St Augustine), had begun her journey Home, answering the summons of the Bridegroom who came for His little spouse about 5:15 that afternoon. One sister began her journey and another had finished hers. We share with you Sister’s account of her vocation which we found in her file. How God works in a soul!

“I only went to Catholic school for kindergarten and first grade, but felt the seed was planted then, as all through grade school I wanted to be a Sister. I thought they were so good, neat, and not afraid of anything. I remember a high wind came one afternoon in the kindergarten. It blew the school door open which was a one room building separated from the grade school. Sister really had to tug at the door to get it closed and tied. For a minute we thought the wind was going to take Sister through the door and us, too! She did not appear one bit alarmed. On another occasion, they gave me lunch with cookies when I could not find mine at noon. In the eighth grade I began to have other ideas and wanted to do what the rest were doing–have a good time, get married and have twelve children. However I did not think much of high school as the girls were only getting married after they graduated, instead of using their education as teachers, secretaries, etc. So I started working, but in the back of my mind was my vocation always. It was only when I was 25, I had my own home and car. And always when I was with others enjoying life at a dance, movie, picnic, etc., the thought of God would come to me with a sweet drawing power so that everything seemed so empty and useless. I would only feel peace when I went to church, although I did not particularly like going to church – only when I had to. I began to go more often and felt more at peace. Different people asked me if I ever thought of becoming a nun. Many told me they thought I had a vocation for that kind of life. I began in earnest to do something about it. Some teaching sisters wanted me to join their Order, but I had no attraction for teaching. They take a vow of obedience and I was afraid I might have to do that and I had no attraction for it. I felt attracted to somewhere were they made vestments or altar breads, or to the Carmelites without knowing their lifestyle. Whenever I inquired about such a place, no one knew of one. They only knew of the teaching and nursing orders and wanted me to go there, where you can really help people and see what you do. Where I wanted to go I would just be wasting my time. Finally I met a girlfriend with similar ideas. She knew of the Visitation Order but the ones she knew taught school. So we asked Father (Father John Beckmann) for his Catholic Directory of all Religious Orders, etc. He smiled and said he wondered when I was going to do something about my vocation. We went down the list to Toledo. I said, “There. I think that is where I will go.” We looked at the map to see where it was. It looked like it was near a lake. I thought that would be real nice, not realizing I would hardly ever see it. I still was not sure though, so I prayed and wrote a letter to some Carmelites in Iowa because that would have been closer to home. At the same time I wrote a letter here (to Toledo) and told the Lord, “now the first place I hear from, I will take that as a sign that is where you want me to go.” I heard from Toledo immediately, asking me to come down to visit them. I did, received a favorable answer and in a couple of months I was here. It was only after I was here that I heard from the Carmelites. They were moving about the time I had written to them and in the process of moving the Superior (Abbess) said they had lost my letter.”

Sister served our community for many years as an extern (outsister) and for all who came to our door, she was the “face of the monastery.”

One of our chaplains wrote:

“Sr. Genevieve was the first ‘face of the Visitation’ for me in the 1960’s.  In those years my brothers and I would serve an occasional morning Mass at the Monastery for Fr. Urban Burkhardt (of happy memory).  Most times the Mass with Fr. B. was at the Mausoleum at the Cemetery … but on days when it was too cold — like our recent days — we would have the morning Mass with Fr. B at the Monastery, (Thanks be to God!).  I always looked forward to those days when we’d be at the Monastery — not only for the warmth, but the Salesian warmth that was Sr. Genevieve.  Even when I was 9 or 10 years old, I was very much taken with her gentleness and kindness as your “out sister” or “ambassador” to the public. By the way … that morning Mass was at 6 AM!  (Whenever 7 AM seems early to me, I think back to those 6 AM Masses.) Now I don’t go back as far as Fr. C. (who remembers being at the Monastery back in the 1940’s), but I clearly remember visiting and serving Mass at the Monastery in the 1960’s — nearly 50 years ago.  Sr. Genevieve always, always was a model of Salesian Virtue.  She lived his motto “tenui nec dimittam.”  What a blessing to have known her!”

To which we add, “Amen!”

On February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, our dear Sister Marie will pronounce her first vows as a Visitandine during the Eucharistic celebration. She will place her hands into our Mother’s hands (our “visible Jesus”) and give her entire being to the Lord. “In Germanic law, the vassal lays his folded hands in those of the Lord as a sign of humble submission to his service and protection.” (St Francis de Sales by Michael Muller, p. 59). Her vows of obedience, chastity and poverty are her loving response to the Father’s invitation. “It is a vocation that arises from the gratuitous initiative of the Father. . . The Father makes His call known through Jesus, who invites us to follow Him . . . By means of the action of the Holy Spirit the one called is configured to Christ through a special consecration. Evangelical counsels are a gift of the Trinity.” (Vita Consecrata 17-21, 36)

She will receive our profession cross, the sign of our consecration. The celebrant will present the cross to her saying: “Receive Sister, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, as a seal on your heart, so that crucified with Him to the world, you may one day reign with Him in His Kingdom, in the company of the saints. There is no corpus to remind us as we are to be the corpus. As we decrease and He increases, He will appear on our cross.

She will receive our Holy Constitutions–the same Constitutions that she has studied and lived during her novitiate. The Celebrant says: “Receive the Constitutions of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, By keeping it faithfully, may you arrive the perfection of love.” She receives it not as a burden but rather a yoke that is easy because it is the response of her heart to the Lord’s invitation. “All through love, nothing through constraint,” as our our Holy Father, St Francis de Sales, counsels. The Constitutions make known, quite simply, how we are to live the Gospel in accordance with the spirit of our Founders. Each day will be a fuller living of the mystery of the Vistation, which Pope-emeritus Benedict says was the first Eucharistic procession in history. We are to be the constant adorers of the God who dwells within–Emmanuel and, through our hidden life, carry him to each other and to our world.

Then comes the Giving of the Name. This is the moment of suspense! It is Mother who chooses the name after carefully listening to the whispers of the Holy Spirit. The newly professed may discover that she receives back her baptismal name, or that a name has been added to it, or that she receives a completely new name. The giving of the name symbolizes her new life in Christ. All listen attentively to hear which saint will be her intimate companion on the journey.

“Grant, O Jesus, thou sweet and holy love of our souls, that the year in which each sister writes her Vows and Oblation in this book, may be to her a year of sanctification, the day a day of salvation, and the hour and hour of lasting blessing.” Saint Francis de Sales