By Sr. Romina Sapinoso
It’s been three months since I started novitiate with the Sisters
of Charity of Cincinnati. This is HUGE. Novitiate is the stuff many sisters get
lots of their stories from. You know, the stories they don’t tire of telling
each other and us, younger ones. I personally love listening to sisters in the
community share how their novitiates compared to mine, or more precisely, how
DIFFERENT their novitiates were compared to mine. I’m pretty sure that all
sisters, old and young alike, agree that it’s a good thing the novitiate has
evolved. After all, most of our sisters entered in circa 19??. In
keeping up with the changing times, it is but natural that we would have a new
and updated Novitiate 3.0, 2016 version. The way I see it, the operating
systems have been significantly upgraded while striving to keep the essentials
of formation in tact. These last three months in the “nunnery” have given me
the opportunity to engage in dialogue and learn much valuable information,
build many new relationships, be amazed and wowed by the lives of the sisters,
and last but definitely not least, share many good laughs with these wonderful
women of God. Though my experiences so far probably don’t hold a candle to the
stories that were shared with me (and don’t yet elicit as many fond memories
and laughter), they definitely have blessed me with a special appreciation for
this time. So here are the top three things I have come to embrace in three
months of novitiate:
1. Doubt and questions about what in the heck you
are doing here are okay. I love the stories of doubt and later clarity in
their own discernment that sisters impart with me. One of my favorites is from
Sister Annina, 100-year old wisdom figure to me and to many others in the
community. I once asked her during my retreat that she directed if she ever
thought about leaving religious life. She said, “Every single night of my
novitiate.” She wasn’t kidding. She did pack her trunk every single night,
ready to leave the next day. One of the other sisters in her band always asked
her to stay “just one more night.” Annina ends the story with a huge bright
smile and sparkling eyes as she says the words, “And here I am, 83 years
later, still a Sister of Charity!” I would certainly add, “And a
most inspiring and delightful one at that!”
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| With Sister Annina Morgan |
2. Go back to basics. On
a particularly discomforting week of discernment, I spewed out my doubts and
fears, uncertainties and questions on my discernment journey to my spiritual
director. Wise as he is, he told me to picture a kite. Everybody experiences
some amount of delight when they see a kite soaring mightily against a clear,
blue sky. His point was, we rarely notice that this kite, in order to not be
ravaged and blown away by unpredictable winds, is firmly tethered to the ground
by an almost invisible string. He asked me, “What is your string? What
keeps you afloat yet firmly anchored to solid ground? When you know your
foundation, all other questions become secondary.” This suggestion from
him moved me to look back at how my journey got me to this present time and
place. It made me look carefully at the bigger questions and not be bogged down
with the little ones, always trusting and opening to the movement of the Spirit
within. I went searching again for reminders of what he referred to as my
foundation. And lo and behold, surprise, surprise, it’s God.
3. You can and should ask the difficult questions
about a religious vocation. That’s part of a healthy discernment!
Early on, I’ve made a commitment to be genuine and honest in this discernment
process, to ask questions and seek out the community’s and my own answers to
them, with the guidance of the Spirit. And you know what? The sisters
have too! I am blessed to be journeying with folks who, though not
perfect, are real and realistic. Sisters are human and embrace their humanity.
This makes them way cooler than I ever expected. Seriously though, I
can be confident that they do not give me answers that will sound good but
those which they know will help me see the lived reality of religious life to
better inform my process. Words cannot say how grateful I am to be on this path
with such awesomeness (sisters).
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| The Bayley House Novitiate Community |
I’m ONLY a quarter of the way into my canonical year. Or I can
also say, I’m ALREADY a quarter of the way into my canonical year. In any case,
it has been just a remarkable pilgrimage so far. I can say with certainty that
this time has truly been and continues to be a gift for me. I am assured that
God knows the desires of my heart and I myself, am being made aware of them
during this period of genuine discernment. Wherever the road leads, it is
my sincere hope that I can look back at this year and say, we (myself, the
community, and God) held fast to the truth of this journey together.
In our
little town of Emmitsburg, our students were aware of the history, but didn’t
realize what they were a part of. They
could tell the stories of St. Vincent dePaul and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton or
even St. Catherine Laboure, but they did not know today’s story of their
legacy. They didn’t realize they were
now part of a larger Vincentian Family that included priests, sisters, and lay
people of all ages and races. I felt
called to open their eyes to how wide this family spread. I wanted them to get a chance to glimpse
inside the Motherhouse in Paris or a rural village in the Congo. 
