Twelve religious orders gathered for the annual Marian Dinner on Oct. 30 at Columbus St. Andrew Church.
Approximately 40 girls attended the dinner and spent time with consecrated religious sisters while learning about the various orders serving in the diocese.
The 12 religious communities included the Apostolic Sisters of St. John; Children of Mary; Congregation of Sisters of St. Dominic, Immaculate Conception Province; Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus; Daughters of Mary Help of Christians; Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist; Dominican Sisters of Peace; Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity; Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (FIH); Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary – Puducherry (FIHM); Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception; and the Order of the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget.
Bishop Earl Fernandes was present for dinner and offered remarks on the joy of consecrated life, which, he said, he has witnessed among religious orders in the diocese.
The event was organized by Sister Antoinette Cedrone, FMA, of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters), who serves as the bishop’s delegate for religious.
The evening began with Vespers, or Evening Prayer, at 6 p.m. Young women had an opportunity to join religious sisters in prayers that they profess daily. Vespers is part of the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours, which is prayed by religious communities, clergy and many laity.
Attendees could also learn more about consecrated religious life through shared conversations with religious sisters during dinner.
After the shared meal, consecrated religious from four communities gave a witness talk. Their talks offered young women a glimpse into the sisters’ personal discernment and journey to consecrated life.
Of the four religious who shared their story, all attended a four-year college and most had careers or earned an advanced degree before taking vows.
Sister Janna San Juan, a Salesian Sister, currently serves as coordinator for diocesan campus ministry at the Columbus St. Thomas More Newman Center near Ohio State University and lives with several Salesian Sisters just north of campus.
Sister Janna shared that she graduated from college with a degree in environmental engineering and worked in the engineering field before making consecrated vows. She has now been a consecrated sister for four years.
While working as an engineer, she taught faith formation classes at her parish. She said she enjoyed sharing Christ with her class of eighth-grade students and loved it more than her career.
She began exploring religious life after realizing she could share the Lord with youth daily in such a vocation. The Salesian Sisters are dedicated to reaching the youth for Christ and ministering to them.
Sister Janna offered young women three tips for discernment: finding a spiritual director, praying with Scripture and having courage to go forward. She used an Italian phrase, “corragio avanti,” meaning, “courage ahead.”
Sister Catalina Maria, H. SMCJ, of the Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus, also shared her journey to consecrated religious life. She said her journey began at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
In college, she met several different religious sisters on campus and began attending daily Mass.
“I went to my ‘Diary of Saint Faustina,’ which is my go-to book, and I opened it to a random page, and there was, ‘If only you knew the importance of one single Holy Mass,’” she recalled reading. “So, I started going.
“Years later, I looked that I had written in the margin of the diary what day that was – that was during orientation, and I had no way of knowing this at the time – that was the day that later I took my first vows. So, the Lord, it was as if He was beginning a covenant of love, His Sacred Heart in the Eucharist with me, but only He could have done that.”
Sister Catalina Maria said that after spending much time discerning whether she was called to marriage or consecrated religious life she became exhausted. She took a summer off to focus on simply being a “daughter of God.”
She spent much of that summer attending daily Mass, making a daily Holy Hour and praying the rosary every day. She said she was very happy and felt much peace.
She realized she would like doing the same things with a community, too, and understood she might be called to religious life, she said. She got to know the Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus.
Visiting with the sisters in Steubenville and attending a discernment retreat, Sister Catalina Maria said she felt peace, joy and “at home.” She said she was always ecstatic when she was with the Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus and later entered their community.
“The Lord fulfilled all those longings that I had for the love of a spouse because He became my beloved spouse, and I can only say that I discover His love more and more, and it makes me happier and happier the deeper I go into it,” she said.
The Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus serve at Westerville St. Paul the Apostle Church and in the school.
Sister M. Felicity Wolf of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Dominic, Immaculate Conception Province, shared her story. She teaches theology at Columbus Bishop Hartley High School and has been a Dominican Sister for about six years. She attended college and received a master’s degree in teaching before discerning religious life.
After receiving her master’s, she said, she thought of becoming a religious sister. While she had spent much time with Franciscan sisters in middle and high school, Sister Felicity said she had not thought of being a sister herself.
She proceeded to visit a community of religious sisters various times. However, the vocation director there told her they did not think she was a fit for the community.
Sister Felicity said she returned home and spent much time in silent prayer revisiting the call and facing her fears.
“Two years into that, I visited a community of Dominican Sisters, and I thought, they have everything that matters to me: the strong community life, strong prayer life, faithfulness to the Magisterium, the Dominican charism of preaching the truth,” she said.
Sister Felicity now lives with Dominican Sisters in a convent on the east side of Columbus.
For discernment, Sister Felicity encouraged young women to take the “next step” rather than attempt to figure out their vocation altogether. She acknowledged that, while having professed temporary vows, she is still discerning too.
Girls also heard from Sister Jose Mary of the Order of the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget.
Sister Jose Mary made her first profession of religious vows in September at Columbus Holy Family Church. The Bridgettine Sisters’ convent is located adjacent to Holy Family in the Franklinton neighborhood.
The Bridgettines have a specific quality, or charism, of unity. Their order is known for hospitality, attention to guests and centrality of Eucharistic Adoration.
Before becoming a religious sister, Sister Jose Mary earned a business degree from Ohio State University. She first began exploring consecrated religious life on campus.
She attended a come-and-see retreat with a religious community during college. She told young women about the positive impact the retreat had on her discernment.
“That come-and-see was really, really impactful for me because it just showed me the beauty of religious life, and it also just showed me how many misconceptions I had about religious life,” she said. “I think that’s really important to be able to spend time with sisters because we all grow up in families. We all know married life to different extents with our families, our friends’ families, the people around us, but none of us grow up in the convent, so it’s really helpful to talk to sisters, to go on come-and-sees or just activities sisters are running.”
After the religious sisters’ witness talks, young women could visit various booths and speak with the sisters to learn more.