Last month, on a recruiting tour that covered five dioceses in 14 days, two Sisters from the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of the Church (SCMC) visited the Diocese of Madison.
The Sisters, Sr. M. Faustina Nath, SCMC, and Sr. M. Gabriela Maldonado, SCMC, made Janesville their home base as they traveled around the Diocese of Madison, greater Wisconsin, and into Illinois on the recruitment trip that lasted from December 4 through 17.
In Janesville, the pair stayed with three fellow Sisters of Charity at their Order’s house, located next to the St. Elizabeth Nursing Home in Janesville’s Courthouse Hill Historic District.
In addition to traveling throughout the Diocese of Madison, the pair visited sites in the Archdioceses of Chicago and Milwaukee and Dioceses of Green Bay and Rockford on their two-week trip.
‘Wherever the Spirit guided’
In the Diocese of Madison, Sister Faustina and Sister Gabriela planned a busy schedule to meet with discerning women, school children, and old friends.
When planning the trip, Sister Faustina shared, “We felt that with us having a house in the Midwest and a number of our Sisters being from the Midwest, this would be a good place to start.
“We started making calls, and we trusted the Holy Spirit to say, ‘Here you go,’” she continued.
From that outreach, “We kept going wherever the Spirit guided. [We] started with a list on paper, and it turned into a two-page spreadsheet,” Sister Faustina said explaining how packed the 14 days were.
Sister Faustina, who had previously cared for elderly residents of St. Elizabeth Nursing Home in Janesville, was especially happy to return to Wisconsin for the trip, after spending time at the SCMC Motherhouse in Connecticut.
Sister Gabriela, who is originally from Janesville, was also looking forward to returning to Wisconsin from the east coast.
While in Janesville, the Sisters attended Mass at St. Patrick Church, visited students at the city’s Catholic schools, and attended the “Lighting the Way for Women” event hosted at St. John Vianney Church on December 5.
The two also met with Fr. Matthew Pearson, parochial administrator of St. Jane Frances de Chantal Pastorate, and Fr. Randy Timmerman, parochial administrator of St. John Henry Newman Pastorate, who is an old friend.
Traveling west, Sisters Faustina and Gabriela spent time with college students at St. Augustine University Parish on the UW-Platteville campus, and in Madison, they visited high school students during a school day at St. Ambrose Academy.
For an evening meal, the Sisters ate with residents of the St. Gianna and Magnificat households, which are discernment houses located in Madison for young professional women.
The Sisters’ final stop in the diocese was on December 13.
Sisters Faustina and Gabriela met with attendees of the Santa Lucia Mass and dinner, a discernment event for young women that took place at Holy Name Heights in Madison.
Sister Faustina explained more about what sparked the SCMC interest in vocations recruitment, adding, “We had been praying for a long time about what we felt the Holy Spirit was guiding us to do with vocations.
“Part of that is understanding that we truly feel people need to be aware of the possibility, they need to be willing to be open to that possibility, and third, they need to know that we exist, to be part of that possibility.”
Through discernment, the SCMC decided that they “need more involvement,” Sister Faustina explained, and added that, paired with strong ties to the Midwest, a recruitment trip done in “a bigger fashion than what we had done” was in order.
Ultimately, Sister Faustina shared, “Just being present wherever we go is allowing Christ to be present too, in ways that we would never know.”
A Marian discernment retreat
One reason the Sisters decided to travel just before the end of 2024 is that in February, the SCMC Motherhouse, located at 54 West Main St., Baltic, Conn., will host “a Marian discernment retreat,” Sister Gabriela explained.
The retreat in February is for women “who are trying to understand where God is calling them, in light of Our Lady,” she said.
The weekend retreat from February 7 through 9, will consist of “talks on Our Lady, silent time with the Blessed Sacrament, and time with the Sisters,” Sister Gabriela said.
The retreat, which is free for attendees, is designed “so that they can see what it’s like to be with Sisters.
“We want to share more about what it’s like to follow or continue the discernment process and how to have that happen with Mary,” Sister Gabriela added.
While the retreat is free to attend, with housing and food provided, transportation is not.
To register for the Marian Discernment Retreat, visit sistersofcharity.com/discernment-retreat/.
If February is too soon, Sister Gabriela said, “In the future, we’ll have Come-and-See retreats, where you can come and see what it’s like to be a Sister of Charity of Our Lady Mother of the Church, specifically with us.”
To contact Sister Gabriela, vocations director for the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of the Church, email her at [email protected] or call 860-964-0468.