 

 

 

by Mary Brandt

“You shall love the Lord your God with all
. your heart, with all your soul. and with all
your might.” This is the iirst directive oi the
ten commandments oi the Hebrew Bible
, eligious sisters, generally reteri-ed to as
nuns or sisters, oi the Catholic Church have
tormulated a peculiar and unique response to
this Biblical instruction, and have devised an
ancient and symbolic way oi lite. There are
tour Franciscan nuns in the Grinnell cams
miinity. Living and working at St Francis
Manor as well as Grinnell General Hospital
they till an important. but relatively unknown
role

Sister Stanislaus entered the Franciscan
community in 1918 when she was 13 years old.
She has earned advanced degrees in both
teaching and nursing and has dedicated her

, Iite to both nrotessions AS spokesman tor the
ﬁoursistersatSt Francis, she recently gavea
briei look into her lite as a nun,

The enclosure oi women in religious
communities dates back to the iourth century

ewhen St. Basil founded a nunnery in Egypt to
" which he sent his mother and sister tins
dicative of things to comet, Blessed Elizabeth
Seton rounded the iirst American community
oi nuns in was, the Sisters ol Charity. At the
present time there are approximately 180.000
women in are separate orders in the us
alone,

The three vows oi poverty, chastity, and
obedience are the essence or what a nun
represents Each religious order has its own
peculiar spirit and interpretation oi the vows,
as established by its founder, cinbodied in its
Rule. and sanctioned by the Church.

The iirst vow, that oi poverty, is not as

. striciasit has been Today, Sister Stanislaus
@omted out. there are no communities in
tininediate peril oi starving For instance,
since Vatican 11 all sisters have been given a
525 per month allowance which is tor the
gister's own personal spending money This
tmount is not monitored by the mother
superior nor does it need to be accounted lor.
“But since we havC everything provided tor
us there Isn’t much we nccd to spend money
on except maybe ior small gitts tor tricnds."

The second vow is obedience. Whereas
earlier this promise meant absolute seli—
denial and subjagation to Church authority
Sister Stanislaus asserted that now it is
common tor the modern nun to know the
reason tor the order. although she is expected
to obey regardless. “it used to be that the

(Mother House would just send wherever
Qou were needed. but now they ask you where
you want to go .. While admitting that
obedience is sometimes the most diiiicult

a nun ina

 

to every day. ”

Sister Stanislaus—

world

“I wanted to get away from the world.
I had more time for prayer in the convent—
prayer is one of our big things you know.
Prayer and the Mass is what I look forward

Changing

 

 

 

 

 

element ol the vows. sister Stanislaus was
quiCk to point out that since we all move Sister Stanislaus is one oithetwo nurses at

ithin a tight orbit oi obedience anyway. the Manor. Her day begins at 5.30am. with
moving Into the Church‘s l'calnl just involves Prayers and preparation {or the schedule
~toyiul obedience," ahead. She is on the ward at 5:45. taking about

The [mat vow a nun makes is to chastity an hour oil, from 7-00 until it 00, to attend
Sister Stanislaus explained that this is simply Mass at SI Mary's Upon her return she has
thegiving ofone’s lotalselitothc Church. ‘ breakfast, and then returns to work, seeing in

the needs oi her patients. dispensing
medication and calm warmth She is on call
at night (she and the other three sisters live
on the third ﬂoor at the lilaiiorl

sister Stanislaus works all year round
except tor the annual twoweek "retreat“
every sister attends. usually to her Mother

Grinnell ConcertL Program Presents:

THE

WOLV€RIH€§
Clhiilc

JhZZ
ORCHEgTRA

Let the WOLVERINES CLASSIC JAZZ
ORCHESTRA take you back 7 all the
way back to the Roaring 20’s. It was zt
time of postwar expansion, prohibition,
radio shows, speakeasys, gangsters, The
Charleston, and Big Bands.

 

The excitement created by those big bands populdlizcd the only original AmcllCil musw lorm

big bands played it hot, and the people danced all night long.

Appearing in NORTH LOUNGE

a *‘-'~--SATURD;AY, OCTOBERyQ

Jau. lhosu

House (the headquarters of the order) This
llme, She explained. is used by the sisters {or
rest, prayer. conferences. and time to spend
for oneself.

The eldest of nine children. Sister
Stanislaus wanted to join the order when she
was 16 tat the time. 16 was the usual age of
decision, although now women are ens
couraged to secure a college degree before
entering the convent). but her mother needed
her at home, “I had nothing to sacrifice and
everything to gain from entering the con-
Vent," Speaking oi ber calling, Sister
Stanislaus asserts that “I wanted to become a
nun. Ihave always wanted to dedicate my life
to God in this way. I read the lives of the
saints. Ialso went to Catholic schools must of
my life, although I did attend country school
when I was very little Sol had Contact with
the nuns in school

“Teaching sisters do have an impact on
prospective candidates. You get to know
them, they talk to you and tell you about the
life they lead You get interested and decide
to do this. . . I also had an uncle who was 3
Dominican priest and some cousins who were
sisters, 1 Just thought it was a great lite and
that's what 1 wanted to do ”

SisterStanislaus speaks oi tier protession oi
vows as “leaving the world " Upon taking her
tinal vow-s. alter a period oi novitiate, a nun
becomes “dead to the world” both legally and
symbolically. As such she rennunces all
things temporal and devotes herself lolally lo
her spiritual work. Because she entered
during the Depression years Sister Stanislaus
speaks of a desire to escape from “hat she
describes a “horrible world. I wanted to
getaway from the world. I had more time for
prayer in the conventiprayer is one ot our
big things you know. Prayer and the Mass is
wiiat I look iorward to every day "

She speaks too of the belief in a personal
calling. realized through prayer. “it you pray
a lot, God speaks to you God helps you
dectdeiyuu don‘l decide something all by
yourself He calls some people to the married
liic Just as no calls some people to religious
orders."

Sister Stanislaus related ltcr reasons for
choosing the Franciscan order oi nuns- “I
liked the particular philosophy. St Francis of
Assisi was a wandering mtmk who believed in
treedom auct enlightenment. Franciscans
have always been treer and less cloistered.
even before Vatican ll. Lite was never as
strictly regulated tor us For instance when l
uas in Washington. D c tgetting lier masters
degree in medicatsuvgieal iiursingi we could
always do things like going to the movics
while some of the other nuns couldn't." Does
she t'ecl she's missed nut on life" “Oh no . I
keep up pretty well ttii everything,"
“Sometimes I had doubts about whether I
made Ihe right decision Stunctllllcs I‘d do
such dumb things. you know. i was titraid
they'd kick me (lut.but somchou they tlitJn'l.”

continued to page 5

Eyes Examined
Phone 236-7502

JENSEN

OPTOMETRISTS

Earl J. Jensen, 0.0.
Clark J. Jensen, 0.0.

Across from Posl Office
ClosedThursday pm.
and Sat. p.m.

WANTED

Crafts people with wares to
sell (must be handcrafted)
for Crafts sale on

Noliember 13
$5.00 per 3 "x8 fl. table
Contact

Don King

1363771
822 Film Avenue

 

