SR. MARY OF THE SACRED HEART

I was born in Beaumont, TX, and was number six in a family of six girls and two boys. We went to St. Anthony Grade School and High School taught by the Dominican Sisters of Houston, TX. I wanted to be a Sister from the time I can remember and presumed that I would enter the convent of the Houston Dominicans. That was up until my sophomore year when I discovered that the Dominican Order had Monasteries of Nuns also. This

was in the late 50's when St. Therese of Lisieux was newly canonized and, having been exposed to her life as a contemplative nun, I felt attracted to the contemplative life. The Eucharist was very prominent in my life with daily Mass and communion and the nuns had perpetual adoration. As soon as I was allowed, I sang in choirs at our Church for I loved to sing and the nuns sing the praises of God many times a day. The nuns made and sold vestments, as a means of their livelihood and sewing was another gift the Lord had endowed me with. Such was my desire to enter that I entered five days after graduating from High School. When I entered the Monastery my little sister, Sylvia, was going into the eighth grade and she thought I had lost my mind to want to enter a Monastery. Lo and behold, to my surprise, five years later Sylvia had come to the conclusion that I was pretty smart after all and sought admittance to the Monastery. Sylvia became Sr. Mary Grace is a member of our Monastery in Farmington Hills, MI. That the Lord calls one member of a family to the religious life is a wonderful thing. That He calls more than one is a VERY SPECIAL thing!