Not a common sight

When was the last time you saw a nun...and one wearing a habit?


The new sisters that are to teach at our neighborhood Catholic school campus and work in our diocese just arrived from Michigan, so the ladies (& young ladies) at our parish greeted them with a welcome shower. Until now, the teaching sisters in these particular schools had dwindled down to...none.


These ladies are a joyful and fun bunch! The average age of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist is 26 years old. They even play soccer in their habits...after they remove their Rosaries and (usually) don proper shoes.


Each one of them told us where they're originally from and their story of when they became interested in becoming a sister.

Fun fact: This order of sisters has ties to the guy who started Domino's pizza. In 12 years, he helped them grow from 4 sisters to now 99...and counting.

Other fun facts:
Two of the eight sisters are twins, one sister is originally from Austin, and two were homeschooled. Cool!

The sister on the left is originally from Austin and was homeschooled.

Okay, quiz time.
Is there a difference between a "sister" and a "nun"?

Yep...but in normal everyday conversation, not really--sisters and nuns call themselves by either name.
Short answer: Nuns live in monasteries, sisters work in their communities.
Long answer: Nuns make perpetual solemn vows, and sisters profess perpetual simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience...the difference has to do with patrimony, but that's a longer answer!

As their gift to us for the occasion, they sang a beautiful chant. Lovely.



I visited with one of the sisters' identical twin sister--who is not a "sister". Got all that? She's a local physician who is due with her first baby in December (we also have the same doctor). After I mentioned I was from the Twin Cities, she told me a story about the wife and baby of one of her medical school friends who was from there. You can read about the story on this website. I've never experienced postpartum depression but have had friends suffer from it. It's something that should be talked about, and this site does. What a story it is.



While I was visiting with all of the vibrant sisters, I thought I had seen this one before. I just couldn't place where or when.


Sure enough, it was on TV. These sisters also have a religious education program for youngsters on EWTN, the national Catholic TV station. Here she is on the cover of her DVD.

Turns out a couple of the other sisters who just moved here have done different grade levels in this series as well.

Behind her in this photo, you can see some of the plans for our soon-to-be-built new church that Joe has been working on so hard. He'll be overseeing its construction, which is planned to begin fall '10.


As I was leaving with the girls, Mary Kate reminded me to ask one of the sisters a question for Jimmer. His question was: "Are you sisters going to be taking people's spark plugs out of their cars?"

(I had to remind the sister that we had just watched The Sound of Music not long ago. The nuns removing the spark plugs from the Nazi's vehicles was the kids' favorite part!)