At a time when fewer young people are choosing to become priests and nuns, two 100-year-old Felician Sisters say they have no regrets answering God's call to serve Him.
Sisters Mary Jerome Kurczewski and Mary Maximilia Szarnowski, who live at St. Joseph Care Center on the grounds of the Livonia Province of the Felician Sisters and celebrated their 100th birthdays in November, described their vocation as a beautiful life — one full of opportunity.
Sister Maximilia said with all the education she received, she has enough credits for a doctorate degree. “I had to take every course under the sun,” she said, adding she was trained to be both a teacher and a nurse.
Sister Jerome, who was a teacher and a librarian, said with all the luxuries young people have today, it's almost impossible for them to want to exchange them for a life of poverty.
Yet, she said, “If they have God, they have everything.”
Sister Maximilia said the shortage of priests makes the problem worse. “The more you present God, the more drawn people are to him,” she said.
A duty
Sister Jerome was born in Detroit on Nov. 26, 1911, to Polish immigrants. The second youngest of seven children, she decided to become a nun at age 15. “I just felt pulled to it,” she said, adding several family members, including four aunts and an older sister, were nuns. “I felt it was my duty.”
Sister Maximilia was born in Cedar near Traverse City on Nov. 12, 1911. Her father was born in Germany, her mother in Milwaukee. There were 16 children in the family; she was the youngest of six girls.
Sister Maximilia decided to become a nun when she was preparing for her First Communion. Her teacher, who was a nun, told the children they would get whatever they asked for on the day of their First Communion, and then gave, as an example, becoming a nun. Sister Maximilia decided to make that what she asked for “because sister said it.”
While Sister Maximilia described serving God as a “beautiful life,” she said it wasn't always easy.
Like being in the Army, she often was moved from one location to another with little or no notice.
She taught at 24 schools all over Michigan and in South Bend, Ind., — many of them like St. Damian in Westland (1982-83) for just a year at a time.
Always moving
She remembers teaching a class of particularly talented students in Michigan and then being told to get ready, she was moving to a school in South Bend. “I cried,” she said. “The kids cried.”
The next class was unruly, yet they also grew to love her and a few students went on to become nuns. “They called me their best teacher,” she said.
“God puts you where he wants you,” she said, adding she worked until she was nearly 90.
An avid reader, Sister Jerome remembers her older brother pulling her in a wagon to the library when he was 7. He would set her in the children's room and then go check out books for himself, but he would always be sure to get one for her too.
Sister Jerome loves all kinds of books — westerns, history books and biographies — and she rereads them several times. She's currently reading In the Spirit of St. Francis, which she said was published in 1954 but is still relevant today.
She worked at 21 Michigan schools, including St. Michael in Livonia and St. Damian in Westland. She often worked in the libraries of the schools. Two of her former students from the Bay City area, Sisters Mary DePaul and Florence Marie, now in their 80s, live with her at the St. Joseph Care Center on the Motherhouse campus.
‘God's grace'
She attributes her long life to “God's grace — nothing more.” Her advice to those who want to live a long, satisfying life is to “have a daily relationship with God.”
They can do that by talking to him, she said, not simply reciting prayers. “He is a person,” she said. “He knows what we want, what we need. He is a God of love.”
The two sisters are not the oldest to ever live at the Motherhouse. The oldest were Sister Ludmilla Stender, who died at 108, and Sister Regis Burzynski, who died at 104.
But they are the first two to turn 100 in the same month and year, said Sister Thaddea Meyers, local minister at St. Joseph Care Center.
Their birthday celebrations included visits from former students and relatives, including a niece and her family who came from Cedar as a surprise for Sister Maximilia.
The two sisters said they don't feel any older after turning 100. “No different than any other day,” Sister Jerome said.
Asked how she liked her birthday celebration, Sister Jerome said she wasn't done. “I'm still celebrating,” she said.
ksmith@hometownlife.com (313) 222-2098
No comments:
Post a Comment