A Day in the Life of a Sister

Editor’s note:  In articles over the past 18 months, we have featured sisters of the various women’s religious communities and public associations with a presence in our diocese.

In the eighth and final installment of the “Day in the Life of a Sister” feature articles, we spoke to Sister Mary Angela of the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus convent in Dickinson.

The sisters announced their intent to come to Dickinson in the fall of 2021 and moved into the convent (located next to St. Patrick’s) in September 2022. The Handmaids’ work focuses on emulating Mother Mary, evangelizing, helping parishioners experience the Church as family, educating youth about the Catholic faith and growing their own love of God through deep prayer. 

Sister Mary Angela grew up on a fifth-generation farm and ranch south of Napoleon, the middle of five children. "I grew up in a Catholic family and my mom and dad really lived the faith. I learned what true charity is, experiencing and receiving their love and experiencing the Father’s love. We went to Church every Sunday. It was a vibrant family life, not perfect. There was a lot of suffering at different points. In the way my family endured the suffering and was united in the suffering was a huge blessing for me. That formed my heart to receive love.

“I loved sports. I played basketball all through high school, played volleyball and was involved with choir and band a little bit and all sorts of other extracurricular activities.”

When did you hear your calling?

After high school, I got my bachelor's degree in speech and hearing sciences; I was going to be a speech pathologist. I was planning on going to grad school, but during my senior year of college, the desire for that started to lessen and the desire for religious life became stronger. It's a gradual falling in love, you could call it. I thought about it here and there. When my mom asked me about being a sister, I kind of gave her a snarky remark, “No, mom. I'm going to be normal. I'm going to get married and have children.”

Then, I started to desire it. I had gone on a FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) retreat and had a powerful experience there—a lot of healing through the sacrament of confession, extended time of prayer, adoration—and just really experienced God the Father, His love for me and receiving me in those places.

I felt so loved by God after that retreat. I started to pray every day that the desire continued to increase. I started to seek out different religious communities. The summer before my senior year of college, I went on a pilgrimage to France. We went to Lourdes; it was there that the desire became very strong. 

I had heard about the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus from word of mouth. I looked them up on the Internet and I went to their “come and see” weekend retreat in New Ulm, Minn. at our Mother House. It was a very helpful weekend. It was so good to be with the sisters and see how normal they are and how happy they are. I was struck by how they were like a family. That was very important for me. The way the sisters interacted, told stories and talked; it was so clear that they knew each other deeply. Our prayer life was also something I was attracted to.

I thought I would love to go back. I would love to join them, but let’s see what happens. I ended up pursuing a couple of other communities, but wanted to spend more time with the Handmaids so I went back for a few more visits. I applied and was accepted that summer of 2015. I graduated, had a summer at home and then joined the sisters.

On Aug. 22, 2018, I professed my temporary vows. I renewed those temporary vows and I hope to profess my perpetual vows this June.

What is your typical day like?

Our charism is to be spiritual mothers in the diocesan family of the Church. We foster the divine life in all those we encounter.

We wake up early in the morning (4:50 a.m.). We pray a Eucharistic holy hour (at 5:30) and chant morning prayer of the Divine Office. We pray a rosary on a rosary walk at 6:30 and Mass at 7. We eat breakfast together at 7:45 and then we have a time of our apostolate work.

That looks different depending upon a sister’s assignment. Those works consist of anything in the parish life that would make it more of a family. Part of that is teaching in the Catholic schools part-time. We focus on spiritual formation—teaching religion or teaching students how to pray and giving them spaces and ways in which to pray, how to discern God's voice, to encounter the Lord, how to hear His voice.
 
We assist with different things in the schools to help the spiritual life of the students such as helping put on retreats for different campus ministry things. We go to families’ homes and have meals with them. On Sundays, we help the parish to experience different ways that it is a parish family.

It's very evangelistic, growing in relationship with others and helping them to come to know the Lord—very much like a mother. A mother teaches children right, nourishes her children and helps them to grow. Whoever is put before us, we are helping them, teaching them the spiritual life, teaching them about Jesus.

From 8:30 to noon, we do our different works. We have an office/workspace where we do a lot of planning. We go to the schools, or we are out and about meeting with people. It’s three hours in the morning and then we have a silent break where we come back to the convent, eat our lunch, have a time for leisure on our own, but it’s silent. It’s a time to rest or exercise.
 
From 2 until 4 p.m., we do more work. Then we pray another holy hour together where we have silent prayer time, and chant evening prayer together. After that, we eat dinner together. After dinner around 6:30 p.m., we do some sort of recreation.

Every Wednesday night, we help with the faith formation program in Dickinson—teaching parents and kids about the faith. Sundays, we are very much part of the parish life. We go to the different Masses. We’ll be present to people before and after Mass or if there are any parish events, reach out to people and get to know them. 

Saturdays can be spent on different things. We could be putting on retreats. We go to different events in the community. We’ve been doing a women’s morning of reflection once a month for all women from the different parishes. We start with Mass, then breakfast and then a talk with one of us sisters. Then, we have a time of adoration and prayer. Then, a time to just talk.

What is the application process?

A young woman who is interested would go to a “come and see” retreat. Then, if she feels the desire to come again, she would be in conversation with our vocation directress. Then, she would come on a second visit—a little bit longer of a visit—and experience our normal life outside of that retreat weekend. It is very much a personal journey. We have an application to complete. The women join in August and are considered a postulant that first year.

After that, you become a novice. Then, after two years, you profess your temporary vows. It’s three years of formation, before you profess vows. When you are fully professed, and perpetual profession, then you receive a ring.

What do you advise women considering a religious vocation?

To any young woman open to religious life, I would say the number one priority is to encounter Jesus and grow in a relationship with Him and then let Him lead. But then don't be afraid to take those steps of visiting a community. There would be no regrets to be open to it and pursuing it. If the Lord is calling you to it, that is where joy will be. If not, He will make that clear. 

What kind of habit do you wear?

Our habit is unique to us. Mother Mary Clare is the one who received the founding grace for our community, and she also had the idea for the habit. It's simple, but beautiful. The black and the white matches the color that priests wear. The white over the top of the black signifies that we are living for heaven. We wear a belt with a rosary. The scapular signifies our devotion to Mary and living in imitation of her.

What do you do for fun?

We do everything together. Sometimes we play sports or go for a walk. We go to the gym and play basketball. We try to exercise some evenings. Some evenings, we are at families’ houses and spend time playing games, talking or hanging out, playing with the kids. The weekends are open for other things and more recreation within the community—active recreation, playing board games or card games.

What do you love about this community?

With any vocation or living the Christian life, there are hard days. There are crosses. There are joyful days, too. It’s the daily living of a relationship with Jesus to know His love for me more and more. If He wouldn’t be asking me to do this, if He wouldn’t be inviting me and providing me the grace to live this life, there would be no way I could do it. There is so much joy in this vocation. It is truly a gift to be a bride of Christ. 

It's because of the prayer life and that deep intimacy of getting to know Jesus more and more for who He truly is and coming to see how He sees me. That's very transformative for my heart. It’s just falling in love deeper and deeper with Jesus and being amazed at who He is. He’s sustained me and given me the grace and it’s such a graceful life. What I love about the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus is that Jesus has given me the charism in my heart. I have so much peace, an enduring peace, an enduring joy through good times and bad. I feel more myself and fully alive almost every day I live this life. It’s just a deepening and growing to who I am created to be. It’s very life-giving for me and I just see the life around me that the Lord has blessed me, and He is loving others through me.

It's a huge privilege to live so close to God, to live in such a close protected relationship with Him and to really be a witness that He is alive, real and speaking to us—that He is calling us all to heaven. We aren’t made for this life. Just to be a witness of that hope we are all called to that we can live heaven on earth. It’s a huge gift to see when people are touched or moved or inspired. It’s what I desire, to know God and His personal love for them.

What do you mean by protected relationship?

When I say protected, I don’t mean sheltered. As Handmaids, we are not living in the world. We are separated and set apart at some level. When my prayer life is protected, it means it is in my day and nothing touches it. It is the number one priority. Every morning, I pray a holy hour and every day at 4:15, I pray another holy hour. I am always going to pray at Mass. I say protected because it’s a privilege and it’s secured for me. This is precious so it is protected and not violated, missed or neglected.

Do you see your own families?

We do still get to see our families. Our main way of communicating with family and friends is through writing letters which is a beautiful gift. It’s different from the world. There is not that instant communication. It is a sacrifice. That is part of living the life protected. Our priority is to be given to the Lord. Our interaction with our family is more limited. That is a sacrifice at both ends.

We try to be set apart because we are called out of the world. We are called out of the world to live for the world here on earth in a consecrated, set-apart way. We forgo lesser goods for a greater good. I give up my cell phone—that constant communication of being connected with every person—for a greater good. That greater good is union with God. I am less distracted because I gave up that distraction.

Can you explain more about the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus?

The Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus is a religious community. The mother house is in New Ulm, Minn. where it began. That is where most of the novices live.

There is a convent in Duluth, Minn. We have one also near the Twin Cities in Hopkins, Minn. So, Dickinson is our fourth convent. All the sisters come back together at different points of the year. We are very much a part of the whole community.

We are a new community. The Handmaids were officially established as a public association in the Diocese of New Ulm, Minn. in 2010. We are a Public Association of the Lay Faithful with the intent of becoming a religious institute of diocesan right. The latter allows the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus to be public witnesses and teach Catholic doctrine in the name of the Church. To attain this, they must have at least 40 members, half of whom must have perpetual vows.