Vocations

As a young girl, I yearned to join the Religious Sisters of Charity and do my part working in the community. My Catholic parents were reluctant to practise their faith during much of my childhood and didn’t understand my dream to join the Congregation. They hoped I would eventually change my mind.
At Kabwata Convent, I met Sr Mary Xavier Walsh, a co-founder of The Catholic League Women Organisation in Zambia. When I told her that I wanted to be a Sister of Charity, she smiled and told me that I should focus on school. In the meantime, she introduced me to Sr. Madeleine Kelly, the novice mistress at Roma. Sr. Madeleine arranged retreats during the school holidays and I always enjoyed them. At each retreat, Sr. Madeleine would give us small books on the lives of the saints.
When the time came for me to go to secondary school, Sr. Madeleine suggested that I board at Roma Secondary School. My parents were very happy with Sr. Madeleine’s suggestion and I completed my form one to five at Roma Secondary School.
After I finished my secondary school education and national service, I told my parents that I would like to join the Religious Sisters of Charity and then train as a teacher. My father supported me but my mother wanted me to have a job, get married and have children instead.
It was a stressful and worrying time – my family were under financial pressure after my father lost his job. My younger siblings were still in school and I was offered a role with Standard Chartered Bank to help my mother support our family, leaving behind my dream to join a religious order. I prayed to God and after some reflection, chose to join the novitiate. A week later, I went home when my mother asked me to get a job to support our family.
Sr. Bernadette Collins, the head of Roma Girls Secondary School, was a great help and found employment for my father at ZESCO, restoring a second income to the household and clearing my path to become a Religious Sister of Charity. Again, my father supported my decision but my mother had other dreams for me. In time, she accepted my choice and both of my parents began attending mass regularly. They are very proud of me.
I have never doubted my vocation despite the ups and downs of life. I owe my happiness to the almighty God, my family and the Religious Sisters of Charity for supporting me through my journey to be where I am today.

It is very difficult to put the mystery of ‘God’s workings’ into words. God communicates in many ways, through people, events, scripture, books, and films, even when we are not aware of it at the time. I grew up in a home where faith was strong and vibrant. As children, we all learned the value and importance of sharing, honesty, self-worth, hard work, respect and prayer from the example our parents gave us. So, even though I didn’t know it at the time, the first seeds of my vocation were sown in those early years at home.

Growing up, I was like any of my friends, enjoying parties, discos, cinema, reading, walking and going on holidays. The year that I was doing my Leaving Certificate, my friends asked me to go on holiday to Greece to get my mind off the idea of Religious Life. Off we went and all had a great time but my heart still told me to keep searching. I had a great fondness for books, especially biographies, autobiographies – tales of heroism. Again, God used my love of books to continue planting seeds. When I read the life of Mary Aikenhead, Foundress of the Sisters of Charity, I was very impressed by her great desire to help the poor – those on the fringes of society – in a way, those who were least cared about. Also, I loved the motto she chose for the congregation: Caritas Christi Urget Nos – which means The Love of God impels us.

Of course, there are many vocations in life – the hard part is deciding which one God is calling us to.

I didn’t know any Sisters, and so it was all a bit daunting, not having any first-hand knowledge about the life of a sister. Of course, there are many vocations in life – the hard part is deciding which one God is calling us to – so I looked up the phone book (pre-internet days), under vocations, and found the address of Vocations Ireland. A priest there directed me to a group called Unison. One of the Sisters there invited me to a weekend and my quest to find out if I was called to be a Sister began in earnest.

After some time, writing, praying, reflecting, I met my first Sister of Charity. We had been writing to each other for a number of months. After a while, I met the Novice Mistress. I felt completely at home with any of the Sisters I met and when I heard of all of the areas they worked in, I felt that there would be a niche for me there. I am now 34 years a Sister with the Sisters of Charity. In that time I trained to be a primary school teacher in Carysfort College, and was awarded a masters degree in Women’s Studies from UCD. I taught in various schools, before becoming the Principal of Mater Dei, Basin Lane, and establishing The Haven Adult Education Centre. I am now Vocations Director, and part of the Leadership Team. My journey to try to have God at the centre of my life, continues.

Like many children growing up in Dublin during the 1960’s and 70’s, I was one of the lucky ones to be born into a family of faith and religious practice. I am one of five; my twin brother and I being the eldest. We were not a ‘rosary’ family, but my mother, to this day, lights a candle on her ‘sacred space’ which is the mantle piece! Each day when I was growing up, as the candle was lit, we called to mind a special intention. We were fortunate that we lived beside the church and we seldom passed it without paying a visit to Jesus in the tabernacle and having a chat with him.

I attended a Religious Sisters of Charity school, both Primary and Secondary, so I got to know many of the Sisters. I was always impressed by them and their generosity in helping us, always going the extra mile!! Having finished school, and like many girls of my age, I enjoyed being in the company of my peers. We went to the cinema, discos and even the pub where the real chats happened. Some of us were in the Legion of Mary. I was also involved with the organisation, which still exists, Young Christian Workers (YCW) – see, judge and act was the core value of this group. While we saw, judged and acted on many issues we also had a very healthy social life, and we travelled abroad to meet other YCW groups. Putting faith into action was important to me then.

I began to feel that there was more to life – that I needed more than work, my friends and social activities.

When I turned 20 years, I began to feel that there was more to life – that I needed more than work, my friends and social activities. While I enjoyed all these, there was the yearning for the more. Religious life came to mind and once it came, there was no getting rid of it! My friend, Veronica, who could read my mind, encouraged me to follow it up. Eventually, with her by my side, she picked up the phone and rang the Noviciate house in Milltown, asked to speak to the Novice Mistress and then handed me the phone! The following year in October, 1977 I joined the Religious Sisters of Charity.

35 years on, I still feel great gratitude to Veronica for her encouragement in helping me to take up my mat and follow Jesus by answering his call ‘Come and See’. I came and saw and I soon felt very much at home with having time and space for daily prayer, which is now a vital part of my life. I have never looked back. Like any human life I have had my ups and downs, but maybe as a Religious Sister of Charity I have learned to find God in all the bits and pieces of life. This has helped me grow into a deeper personal relationship with Him who is the food for my journey of life.

Following my Leaving Certificate, I went as an auxiliary nurse to St Mary’s Hospital, Baldoyle, while I was waiting to secure a place in a teaching nursing hospital. It was here that I met my first Sister of Charity, Sr. Margaret Bernadette, who was my mentor during my time there. The nursing auxiliary experience opened me to a variety of physical disabilities in children. This was a great shock to me and influenced me in my decision to continue my nursing career and to become a religious sister.

I then commenced my paediatric nurse training in Temple St. Children’s Hospital. It was here that I came into contact with a group of the Sisters of Charity, from whom I learned to respect all who came to the hospital for care and healing. I later joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity where I continued my career as a nurse alongside the living of my religious life.

My first mission experience was four years in Zambia. It was one of the most liberating experiences of my life. Mission work was appreciated and I was able to use my expertise to bring health care to the most needy. It also gave me a great social life experience, where the sisters lived and worked in close contact with the people. The bond that exists among those of us who were there at that time, still links us together.

My life as a sister has been both fulfilling and challenging, and I thank God for all that I have experienced.

My second mission experience was in Nigeria, and this was one of the most difficult experiences. It left me quite drained spiritually and physically. Again, this was a four year stint and I completed my contract. Returning to Ireland this time was a blessing, as my mother was very ill and I was able to be with her, and share great love and caring together with family until her death seven months later.

During this time, I was appointed as principal tutor in St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin. This proved a wonderful challenging experience and I thank God for the great team of colleagues who supported me up until the profession was incorporated into University. This move challenged me to make further choices, and I decided to study Theology and Clinical Pastoral Education, which led me into the field of Pastoral Care.

My life as a sister has been both fulfilling and challenging, and I thank God for all that I have experienced. It has not been without its spiritual pain which is part of all life experiences. I feel I have been able to give life to many people through my ministry and presence, always relying on a greater power working within me and within the communities in which I shared and lived.