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...

“Spirit seeking light and beauty, heart that longs for thy rest, soul that asks understanding…” (Janet Stuart, RSCJ)The first months of 2020 have been pandemic stricken...and panic-stricken. We've been isolated in homes, some lonely, some frustrated, some fearful, but all of us dealing with more silence than we're probably used to. As I write this, I’m tapping into contemporary saintly spiritual guides who walked their pilgrimage through our noisy world in sacred...

Two days ago I exited our temporarily closed Pauline Book & Media Center and a twenty-something-year-old woman bounded up to me excitedly and asked, “Do you work at the Catholic bookstore?” I responded with a big smile, “Yes!” She asked, “Are you hiring?”  I replied that we weren’t, and she quickly rejoined, “Do you know anyone who is?” Promising prayers was all I could do, though I wished I could do more. And once again, I was ...

Dear Friend,Happy Easter to you! I’m thinking of you who have been our friends for so many years. We sisters have met you in our centers, online, on the phone, on social media, through our newsletters, on YouTube—in so many ways and in so many places. In these days we are isolated in our homes, but still not far apart at all. The Word of God and the hope of Easter bring us together in spiritual communion. Dark days are punctuated by the Light of Christ who has conquered darkness...