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| Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart (left) talks with Joanna Boornazian from Madison after Mother’s talk, “From Baghdad to Boston: A Journey under the Shadow of Our Lady” — the latest in the Diocese of Madison St. Thérèse Lecture series — at St. Christopher Parish in Verona, May 7. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
VERONA — “The only way I was able to get to all these places and get to where I am today is because of one mother.”
When Mother Olga — who spoke the above words — talks about her life, people listen. When the gentle soul, only 4’10” but tall in love of Jesus and love for Mary, shared her story with hundreds of people, all eyes and ears were focused on her. She got everyone’s full attention.
On Thursday, May 7, St. Christopher Parish in Verona hosted the spring St. Thérèse Lecture called “From Baghdad to Boston: A Journey under the Shadow of Our Lady.”
St. Thérèse Lectures are presented twice a year by the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Madison.
The speaker was Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, founder and mother servant of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, based in Boston.
St. Christopher Pastor Fr. William Vernon welcomed everyone, saying his parish was “blessed” to host the spring lecture with Mother Olga.
Father Vernon pointed out that the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in the tabernacle in the church because Mother Olga would be giving a talk on “our faith, our families, and our friends and the virtues of faith, hope, and love.”
Bishop Robert C. Morlino then spoke briefly thanking everyone for coming and said, “Mother Olga’s presence is going to be used by the Lord for spiritual enrichment tonight in many and beautiful ways.” He thanked Mother Olga on behalf of the diocese for coming.
Bishop Morlino then led everyone in prayer.
Michelle Nilsson, from the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, briefly introduced Mother Olga, giving her a warm welcome to the diocese before Mother Olga told her story.
Mother Olga’s story
Mother Olga opened her talk singing “The Magnificat” — the Prayer of Mary.
She then prayed to God to anoint the evening, “be open” to whatever he wants of us, and for the intercession of Mary, as she led a “Hail Mary.”
“It’s a great joy for me to be with all of you in this Easter season,” said Mother Olga, as she began her lecture.
She talked about being born in Iraq in the Eastern rite Church. Her family is half Assyrian and half Armenian — both people who have dealt with genocides in their past.
Living in both Iraq and the United States, she reflected on feeling “in between” both countries, especially during their times of war against each other.
“Mother Mary has always been [with me], holding my hand, not only walking me through the dark valley of my life journey, but always giving me a share in her heart to contemplate, through her Immaculate Heart,” Mother Olga said. “I feel in so many ways, Mother Mary took me into her womb.”
She talked about growing up in a home with parents who wanted to protect and hold onto their culture and language, having grown up with stories of the genocides.
“I always thought there was something more,” Mother Olga said. She said the roots of Assyrian and Armenian culture were important, but she felt there was something missing in her heart.
“I needed an identity that no one can wipe out,” she said.
She used to tell her parents she missed Jesus “from Sunday to Sunday,” with no daily Mass in their rite of the faith. She knew Mary was in her heart, wanting her to be with Jesus more often.
This began an exposure to the Chaldean Catholic Church — which had daily Mass — and later to the Roman Catholic Church.
Life challenges
She faced political and family challenges wanting to become a Religious Sister to be closer to Jesus, and also become a Catholic in full communion with Rome.
Her family had hopes she’d change and get married once she attended college.
She told her parents Jesus was the only man for her, and she did not feel called to marriage.
“He [Jesus] is in the DNA of my being,” she said. She had to explain to her father she wanted to devote her life to Jesus and not a husband.
This led to many challenges in her life, including avoiding an arranged marriage and being disowned by her family. She became homeless for the first of two times in her life at age 23.
“It was an eye-opening experience for me,” she said. Being the youngest among the homeless, she had the most energy to beg for food for herself and other homeless people.
Her story of helping the poor, handicapped, and homeless on the streets of Baghdad gained attention and her bishop found her and asked her to start a Religious order for the Assyrian people — a Church that had not had Religious Sisters for 700 years.
The convent flourished in a short amount of time, but Mother Olga would find herself homeless again, as she was removed from the order. She emphasized devotions to Mary and Eucharistic Adoration, and was told she was not keeping the traditions of the Assyrian people.
Her journey to Boston began when she met with some of the Jesuits from there who were teaching in Baghdad.
They asked her to come to the United States and go to school at Boston College.
She started her studies there, but returned to Iraq when war broke out in 2003. There she spent time and spoke with both U.S. soldiers and Iraqis.
“It was so painful in my heart to see that tension between my two families and my two countries,” Mother Olga recalled.
The help of Mary
She asked the Immaculate Heart of Mary to help her with the pain during this time.
She returned to the U.S. in 2005 and was received into the Roman Catholic Church later that year in the Archdiocese of Boston. Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, OFM, received her perpetual vows that same year.
In 2011, Cardinal O’Malley entrusted to her the mission of establishing a new Religious community of Sisters in the Archdiocese of Boston, the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth.
They have an apostolate to serve the faithful through the Corporal Works of Mercy and pastoral care. They offer evangelization opportunities through conferences, parish missions, and retreats. They provide instruction on Theology of the Body, teach in Catholic schools, and serve in religious education programs in parishes.
In every step of her life, “I have learned not to do anything without Mother Mary. I speak to her like my own mother. I always ask her about everything,” Mother Olga said.
“She has never left me alone and she has always walked behind me, beside me, and before me. I feel I have lived all my life in her shadow.”
For more information on Mother Olga and the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, go to www.dmnazareth.org