1 Franciscan Way

One of my students asked me yesterday if I was going to see my family over Thanksgiving break - and was sad when I told her that I would be celebrating the holiday with my community. I explained to her, as best I could, how close we are in community; that these times when we think of family and friends are particularly significant when we share them with the women with whom we have committed our lives to Christ. I am not sure that I convinced her. But as I sit here preparing for the feast and watching the young Sisters in my local community cooking, laughing, and doing all of the preparations for a "family gathering," I see the reality in all its splendor. There's Sister M. Mercedes doing a Dominican Republic version of Italian Wedding Soup; Sister M. Catherine converting heaps of donated Panera bread into her mother's stuffing (I am assured that it won't be quite as good as the real thing); Sister Mary George making a Missouri Pumpkin Pie Cake; and Sister M. Ther...

Dress-up time is special for every little girl. Inevitably when I would dive deep into my toy box at home growing up, I would pull out my special princess dress. I loved being a princess and pretending my knight-in-shining armor would come and sweep me off my feet. Now, as I walk around the rooms of our Day Care Center, I recall the many memories of my childhood play-time through the actions and laughter of the children. It still reigns true that every little girl desires to be a princess and in most of the eyes of their fathers, they are. The devotion of Christ as King wasn’t a familiar aspect of the Son of God in my years before entering the convent. While on mission as a novice (in Washington, DC), I became mesmerized by the mosaic of Christ the King on the sanctuary wall of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. What drew me to this magnificently huge and majestic image? It was as if he was looking down on his “subjects” with such a penetrating gaze. He s...

Hi again from the sunflower state! Now I have traveled on to visit our Sisters and young women at Benedictine College, my alma mater too! What a joy to visit the campus again and to see the changes and growth of the school. Along with talking with some beautiful young women, I was here to support my Sister as she played her Music Senior Recital. She had to play the piano for an hour, music memorized! It was amazing. As she was playing I was thinking about how the Lord cannot be outdone in generosity. Here is a young woman who has given her life for the service of the Lord. When she entered the convent 7 years ago, she placed her gifts and talents and LIFE at the foot of the cross. She surrendered (and continues to do so) her will to the Will of the Lord. Yes, she entered because the Lord called and she responded with offering everything. Did she know she would be able to study music, one of her loves? No. Did she think she would be playing a senior recital for her family and fellow Sis...

Hi! My name is Sr. M. Consolata and I'm the new (well, not so new, it's been two months now) Vocation Director. Did you know that part of what I get to do is to travel? Yes, right now I'm in Kansas! Last month I was in Ohio. This past weekend, Louisiana came to visit me in Alton, Illinois. What a blessing to meet young women from around the country! As time goes on I look forward to sharing more with you and hearing from you too! For now, you can check out my hello to the students at St. James Academy in Lenexa, KS. Disclaimer: Movie was made on the run on K-7. Enjoy! Feel free to send me a comment or email! God bless you and Be NOT afraid!!

Saint Elizabeth was a princess, the daughter of the Andrew, the King of Hungary. As a small child, she was sent to the court of her betrothed husband, Louis, Prince of Thuringia, whom she married when she turned thirteen. Theirs was a happy marriage and they had three children. Louis died young, leaving her a widow. She spent the rest of her life in special care for the poor and sick, tending them herself. Elizabeth died at the age of twenty-four. Elizabeth is one of the principal patron saints of the Third Order, and is particularly venerated in Germany. Her care for the poor and needy of every condition makes her a fitting patron for our congregation. Our apostolic mission to make the merciful love of Christ visible to those in most need finds in her a ready model and an exceptional intercessor. When our Province was founded, she was chosen as our patroness. With our service to the sick poor and later to the children, we have taken up her work in the modern time. Her feast is c...

The question frequently arises "Why Saint George?" Our adoption of this early martyr as one of our principal patron saints was a providential "accident." Our spirituality focuses on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the original name which we chose was "Sisters of Saint Francis of the Sacred Heart of Jesus," but another congregation had already adopted that name. Saint George was the patron saint of the parish church in which our Sisters lived and worked, and so, with a practicality that was native to Mother M. Anselma, we simply adopted him as our patron. Very little is really known about Saint George. He was a Roman soldier, who left the army after his conversion to Christianity. He was later martyred. There is a beautiful legend about him, which accounts for most of the artistic representations one sees of him. It is said that there was a village terrorized by a dragon. The villagers would provide the dragon with victims in order to save the rest of the vi...

The jar is visibly seen amongst the piles of projects, papers, and books. The five year old children are busy playing with their dolls and tools. I peep my head in the door to see if their little eyes will catch a glimpse of my movement. One tiny step, two, three, and a GIANT leap as the kids scream, “SISTER SKITTLE MONSTER!!! GET HER!” Defeated again. When the children at Saint Francis Day Care, where I am office manager, discovered my love for Skittles, it wasn’t long before I had a nickname amongst the Pre-K class. When I first began to snack on the candy amidst my duties of passing out notes to parents, the children were determined to let me know that the candy was theirs. Soon, it became quite a game as I would sneak into the room and swipe the jar open before being noticed. Like the Cookie Monster, I couldn’t resist getting my hand on the Skittles. The kids would swarm around me, demanding that I put the jar down. It wasn’t until I offered them each one (yellow, because it is my ...