Special to The Message
On Sept. 14, the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, received two knocks on the door of Providence Hall as two women entered the Congregation.
Both Ann Duong, 43, and Maite Rodriguez-Mora, 48, knocked on the hallowed entrance door of the Motherhouse and were welcomed by General Superior Sister Dawn Tomaszewski and other Sisters of Providence for the official ceremony.
By entering, both Ann and Maite have entered the postulant phase, or candidate for admission, into the Congregation. This marked the first time since 2014 for the Congregation to see more than one entrance when the Sisters of Providence welcomed both Sister Anna Fan and Sister Tracey Horan.
For Maite, the experience was more than 10 years in the making.
“Twelve years ago, I met Sister Jeanette Lucinio,” Maite admitted, adding Sister Jeanette encouraged her to consider religious life at that time. “But I was going through hard times, and I couldn’t come (to visit St. Mary-of-the-Woods).”
However, after several years of contemplation, Maite began to reconsider religious life.
“Two to three years ago, I yearned for religious life again,” she said. “So, I began exploring.”
As Providence would have it, Maite was working at the Conception Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Conception, Missouri, where she was reacquainted with Sister Jeanette, who was there recuperating from a broken arm.
Sister Jeanette eventually convinced Maite to come to the Woods to visit with the Congregation. That visit was the icing on the cake for the Puerto Rican native.
“I was here for a week and my heart was at peace,” she said. “You could see the joy and love.”
Ann’s journey to the Sisters of Providence was much different. For 21 years, she was a Sister in the Sisters of Mary Queen Congregation, based in St. Louis. She had ministered as a pre-school teacher for 16 years in the area and as a volunteer youth coordinator in many parishes.
But she was searching for something more. And she found it in the Sisters of Providence.
“I searched my soul,” Ann said.
After speaking with Sisters of Providence Director of Vocations, Sister Joni Luna, as well as Sister Editha Ben, who is now the Sisters of Providence Director of Postulants in the United States, Ann elected to visit St. Mary-of-the-Woods.
She stayed for two months.
“I visited and explored the community,” Ann said. “Sister Editha provided advice for a possible transfer.”
Now, the two will begin immersing themselves in the Sisters of Providence Congregation history and much more.
“They will explore prayer life and community life with the Sisters of Providence,” Sister Editha said. “And they will visit nine different Sisters of Providence ministry sites. This will be almost a year-long process.”
After a year in the postulancy and continued discernment, both Ann and Maite will be eligible to enter into the first year of the novitiate. At that point, both will receive the title of Sister.
Women who are interested in religious life are invited to the Sisters of Providence next Come and See weekend retreat from Nov. 1-3. Learn more about the Sisters of Providence at Become.SistersofProvidence.com or contact Sister Joni at 361-500-9505 or [email protected].
