On St. Patrick’s Day when I was fourteen years old, I was looking out our front door at the sky. Suddenly, I felt in my heart that I should become a religious sister. I didn’t hear a voice; the thought just popped into my head and I never forgot it. Soon afterwards, a community of religious sisters arrived at our parish. My mom made friends with them and we started hanging out with them. One of the sisters gave me a Miraculous Medal that I still have to this day. The sisters were instrumental in helping me realize that I wanted to be just like them. I attended their college, majored in theology, and planned to become a sister. I was involved in many religious activities on campus – it was a special time.

After graduation, though, I had second thoughts about becoming a Sister. I wound up entering into several challenging relationships, but the Lord kept his hand on me. I prayed to God for His assistance and guidance. In response, over time, I felt the nudge to return to the path I had left after college. I heard a call-in program on which a man mentioned that he had heard the call to become a priest but had not gone through with it. The program host, who was a religious sister, said something to the effect that she wouldn’t want to be standing before God knowing that she never answered His call. I don’t remember what the caller said after that, but those words were emblazoned in my mind and my heart. My heart still yearned for something more and I finally listened and paid attention.

In discerning God’s will for my life, I’ve encountered the Sisters of the Transfiguration Hermitage in Windsor, Maine. As a cloistered Benedictine community, they live a life of prayer and work within the Monastery. Our world is so in need of prayer. It is my desire to serve as a Sister, offering my days, indeed my whole life, as a prayer, given to God for the good of His people.