How is Mary our mother? Consider what happened to Sr. Denise, one of the sisters in my community. She shared with me:“A few years ago, my mom passed away suddenly. It was a difficult time for me, for we had been very close. Moreover, there had not been any time to say goodbye. In the following days, I experienced not only the deep pain of grief, but a stark emptiness. My mom was gone, and I felt very alone. One day, as I was helping to clean her apartment, I found her rosary tucked into th...

Hello!My name is Sr Emily Beata. I am a Daughter of St. Paul, and I currently serve as the vocation director for our community in the United States and English-speaking Canada. Vocation work is a huge responsibility, but also a huge privilege. It means that I spend a lot of time thinking and praying about discernment, vocations, religious life, and God’s call and presence in our lives. It also means that I get to hear from and speak with many (many!) young women who are seeking to know and...

TODAY, ON THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MARYWE CELEBRATE WITH SR. KHRISTINA GALEMA, FSPON THE GIFT OF HER LIFE TO THE LORD IN PERPETUAL PROFESSION “Now you belong forever to this family of the Daughters of St Paul”Today it is right that your house should echo with a new song of thanksgiving for this sister of ours who has listened to your voice and made herself over to your holy service. From the Solemn Blessing of the New Perpetually ProfessedThis is a picture o...

My favorite recollection of my perpetual profession were our candles on the altar. The three of us making final vows together each processed down the aisle with a lit candle representing the gift of our lives given to the Lord. They were then placed near the altar. We intended to collect our candles after the profession Mass and save them as remembrances, but in the excitement of the day (and all the picture-taking) we left them lit and went downstairs for a festive meal with family an...

Stubborn determination and a competitive spirit can bring a young boy a lot of places… it could spur him on to turn his team around in a sports game; it could drive him to study hard in school; it could get him into some trouble with friends… but rarely do we think about these qualities helping a young boy towards sainthood.Maggiorino Vigolungo was born on a farm in Benevello d’Alba, Italy on May 6th, 1904.  While his family was not wealthy, they were hard-working and de...

Belonging.  The search for it can haunt us.  Br. Andrew Borello was someone who faced this question many times in his life, and each time, found that Home in Christ.He was born Ricardo Borello, on March 8, 1916 in Mango, Italy.  When he was still a baby, his father died in WWI, leaving a wife and two children behind.  His mother remarried, and so little Ricardo and his older sister Maria moved to a new home, adjusting to a new father.  When Ricardo was in his teens, both...

Teresa Merlo had a heart the whole world could fit in.Born February 20, 1894, into a farming family in Castagnito d’Alba, Italy, Teresa (as she was called then) was the second of four children. She was a loving, capable child, but never quite as healthy as other kids her age. Worried about her health, her parents decided to get her a tutor rather than send her to school with her brothers. From her parents and her tutor, Miss Chiarla, Teresa learned her school subjects, essential life skill...