Tweet the Midwife

Tonight at 7PM Central I will be watching (and live-tweeting ... more on that below) Call the Midwife.

For those not in the know, Call the Midwife is a British television show broadcast in the US on PBS which tells the stories of a community of Anglican Sisters and lay midwives who minister to the people of London's East End in the late 1950s. The current series ends on May 18th.

It is an excellent period piece, in my humble opinion, painting a vivid picture of life on the margins in this particular neighborhood in London and the very real women who sought to meet the needs of people living in or near poverty. It also delves into the cultural shifts of this era, in particular for women. The situations and people depicted are very real, not caricatures, but with real depth and complexity.

While the show features a community of Anglican Sisters, I will admit to being particularly fascinated by the series because it causes me to imagine what it must have been for my own Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace living in the UK at this time in history, some of whom were in fact midwives or nurses.

Flash forward to the 21st Century ... inspired by my friend Julie Vieira, IHM of A Nun's Life Ministry, I've started live-tweeting Call the Midwife. That is, as I watch the show, I use the hashtag #callthemidwife on my personal twitter account (@susanfrancois) to comment on the show. In particular, I find myself commenting on aspects of the Sisters lives which are depicted so very well.  For example, here are a few tweets from last week's episode!

Last week, my tweets (along with a few other Sisters who were tweeting) received a bit of attention in the twitterverse!

In the end, it's just a bit of good fun and a way to be a witness and share the fact that not only do vowed women religious still exist today, we can even be a little bit silly.

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Band of Sisters

Last night I went with a band of sisters--a group of young nun friends from Giving Voice who are living in Chicago--to see the new documentary film, Band of Sisters.  The film by Mary Fishman is premiering this week at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, where it's been seen by sold out crowds so far.

Given the recent spotlight on Catholic Sisters due to the two Vatican investigations, and in particular the hierarchy's criticism of the Sisters' collective focus on social justice issues that impact people who are poor rather than other social issues, it's interesting that the filmmaker decided to focus her story line on the Sisters' faithful response to Vatican II and their creative work for social justice. She's spent the past 8 years immersing herself in the world of Catholic Sisters.  Not only is the end result an obvious labor of love, I also recognized the contemporary face of religious life that I committed my life to in the film.

Julie Viera in the film

My friend Sister Julie Viera, and her partner-in-crime Sister Maxine Kollasch of A Nun's Life ministry, start the film off with a decidedly 21st Century flair ... engaged in their live podcast and internet chat. The two of them sit across from each other at laptops, headphones on, talking about religious life with interested folks across the globe.  While the majority of the Sisters profiled in the film are in their 60s, 70s and beyond, I liked the way the filmmaker frames the story in a contemporary context.  Vatican II called women religious to engage with the modern world, and this continues in new and perhaps unexpected ways today with women like Julie who have only known a post-Vatican II world.

Mercy Sisters Pat Murphy
& JoAnn Persch

The main thrust of the story, however,  is the Sisters' response to Vatican II, and so as the filmmaker said in the Q&A afterwards, this influenced decisions about which Sisters would be featured in the film.  The main thread is the story of two Sisters of Mercy from the Chicago area who advocate for the right of immigrants facing detention and deportation to receive pastoral care while incarcerated.  You see them bundling up to pray the rosary outside the detention center on a blustery day.  You see them walking the hallways of the State Capitol, engaging in thoughtful conversation with lawmakers seeking support for the bill.  You see them doggedly follow up with administrators and legislators after the bill has been passed, ensuring that immigrants receive the access to religious services that is their human right.  And you see them reminding activists that it is important not only to see a child of God in the immigrants, but in the sherrif and immigration agent as well.  Their charism of mercy shines through.  I do not know these two Sisters, but reflected in their story I saw many of the Sisters I have worked with and admire most for their tenacity in following Christ to the margins.

There are many familiar-to-me faces in the film.  Sisters Margaret Brennan and Theresa Kane, both past presidents of LCWR, give context and stories from their personal experience that also touch on the collective experience of women religious in the past 50 years. Sisters Nancy Sylvester and Carol Coston tell the story of the beginning of NETWORK, the group that put on the Nuns on the Bus tour this summer.  Sister Miriam Therese MacGillis of Genesis Farm and Sister Elise Garcia of Santuario Sisterfarm introduce viewers to the universe story and the Sisters' ecological ministry with the people of God and all of creation. There are other Sisters too, not known to me, who share their experience as part of this band of Sisters.

In the end, it is one of the best, wholistic depictions of contemporary American religious life that I have seen intended for a general audience.  Our truth is reflected in a respectful and celebratory way. In the Q&A, one audience member commented that the film was inspiring, and the story and witness of the Sisters made him pause and reflect on how he was responding to God's call to make the world a better place.  If the film comes to your City or town, definitely go see it.  The filmmaker is also happy to hear from folks who are interesting in hosting or helping to organize a screening.

Perhaps the best part of the evening from my perspective was the connections that I made at the end.  During the Q&A, one of the audience members, noting that most of the Sisters in the film were near retirement age, wondered what the filmmaker thought about young women entering religious life today. She responded as I mentioned above that the focus of the story is the response to Vatican II, and so therefore that mandated that the women highlighted would be older Sisters who experienced the renewal first hand.  But she did mention that this is why she chose to begin with the "podcast Sisters," to show that this way of life is continuing.  She also gave a pretty decent layperson's analysis that younger women entering today are in smaller numbers in each community, and so they need to be creative about building connections across communities and use the internet and technology to facilitate those connections.  I saw some of my friends in our row of young nuns nodding our head to her assessment.

GV Sisters at Band of Sisters

Then, one of my friends raised her hand and said that there were quite a number of younger Sisters in the audience.  Our row of Giving Voice type Sisters stood up, as well as 3 younger Sisters in habit in the front row and a few other younger Sisters scattered in the theater.  Afterwards, one of the younger Sisters that I did not know came up to us and asked if we were involved with Giving Voice.  A friend had recently told her about our network of younger women religious, and she was excited to meet some of us.  You could see how excited she was to see a large group of us.  That's always a beautiful moment, when you see someone connect to this vibrant network of young women religious committed to God and the future of religious life. We exchanged numbers and hope to hang out soon.

It was a perfect end to my evening on the town with my band of GV Sisters to see Band of Sisters.

We Do Exist

A young nun friend recently posted on Facebook that she was getting discouraged by some of the nun-related news chatter these days.  Especially discouraging were the comments and presumptions that younger women are only entering more traditional religious communities.  As it happens, women are joining religious life in its variety of forms these days.  Yes, some are drawn to a more traditional habit and structured prayer/community life. But others of us are drawn to the life of love and service that has taken shape in the 50 years since Vatican II.  I know, because I am one of these Sisters.  And thankfully, I know many more women like myself who have entered religious communities like mine.

So, in a moment of Sunday morning creativity, I created a 2 minute cartoon to tell our story.  Enjoy!  And please pray for vocations to all communities of women religious.  There is so much work to be done in service of the Gospel.


GoAnimate.com: We+Do+Exist+...+younger+Catholic+Sisters by SusanFrancois, CSJP


Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Searching for Sister Lucy

If you watched "Searching for ..." on OWN (Oprah's new network), you would have learned about one of our groovy sisters, Sister Lucy. If you missed it like I did, you can learn about Sister Lucy by watching this video by comedian and actress Faith Alper, one of her former students.

"The Search" for Sister Lucy from Matt on Vimeo.

Faith went on "Searching for ..." in hopes of being reunited with Sister Lucy. She'd made a big impact on her as a young girl struggling with school and family issues.

Read more here ....

Sister History

I love history. Studied history in college (as my minor). Grew up going to the Smithsonian on a regular basis, and volunteered there in high school. I even toyed with the idea of working at Willimasburg or becoming a National Park Ranger so I could work at historical monuments.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I heard about this travelling exhibit! Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America opens May 16th at the Cincinnati Museum Center. It moves to Dallas in September and then the Smithsonian in January. I hope it travels somewhere close to where I am at some point!

PS - the Sister in the picture is Sr. Annmarie Sanders, IHM. I met her when I was visiting our Congregation Leaders in Washington, D.C. a few years ago. She's the Communications Director for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and is one of those really nice people!

home alone

I've got a rare evening home alone. I'm taking advantage of the time by watching a Law & Order marathon and working on some file sorting projects ... I've taken over the entire living room.

Anyway I heard this piece of precious dialogue in one of the mob themed episodes ...

My Aunt Nancy knows more about the mob than he does, and she’s a nun.

Ok, time to cut this post short. I don't want to use up my alone time!

Helen Prejean at York Street

Back when I was first telling people I knew that I was leaving my life as a bureaucrat to become a nun, I'd often say something like "More Dead Man Walking than Sister Act" - just to clarify what sort of Sister I was becoming.

Well, tonight I will have the priviledge of hearing the woman who gave me that analogy by virtue of her life of love and service that somehow made it to the big screen. Sr. Helen Prejean is the special guest at a benefit for one of our ministries here in Jersey Ciy - the York Street Project. It's a pricey event, but I was lucky in that somebody gave me a ticket!

The York Street project is located on a City block where our Sisters have ministered since 1885. Over the years the building has been a home for orphaned children, a methadone treatment center, and offices and printing presses for our magazine. Since 1989 its been home to the York Street Project, which consists of four programs: Kenmare Alternative High School, St Mary's Residence for Women, St Joseph's Home for Families, and the Nurturing Place. Each year, these programs provide education, housing, counseling, early childhood development care, and job-readiness and life skills training to more than 250 women and children of Jersey City and surrounding Hudson County.

It should be a great evening. But for now, off to mass and then work. Happy Ascension Thursday!

Nuns on Film

Another reason to visit my bloggy friend Julie's place ... she's got a great conversation going about nuns on film. I haven't contributed to it in a long time, but if you want to check the archives I've got a Nuns on Film series here on the blog.

That's all for now. All is well, all is just also very busy!

The Runner Stumbles

When I was in Seattle over St. Patrick's Day for our Province Assembly, I was able to visit for a bit with Sr. Marguerite Morrissey. She had recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness and was receiving hospice care at our province headquarters. I think the entire province traipsed through her room over those days to say goodbye. She was gracious and elegant as always, even from her perch in her hospital bed. She seemed ready to face what might come her way.

Marguerite trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Art and performed on Broadway before she entered the community in 1953. As a Sister of St Joseph of Peace, she ministered as a principal, in our formation program, and as as administrator of our province headquarters. She also received Masters Degrees in Theology and Theater Arts.

In later years, Marguerite returned to her love of acting. She was a technical advisor and played the role of Sister Immaculata in the 1979 film The Runner Stumbles.

Marguerite was also a woman of justice. She worked to alleviate the root causes of poverty, worked for peace and was a strong advocate for the people of Iraq. I have a friend that recently moved to Seattle and got to know Marguerite through her parish. Even in her late 80's, Marguerite was a dynamo on the parish social justice committee.

We received word this week that Marguerite passed away. The wake is tonight in Seattle and the funeral is tomorrow. I am sorry that I didn't get to know her better and that I won't be there to say goodbye, but I am grateful for my last visit with her in March.

Our community did not have very many deaths in recent years, but so far this year we have said goodbye to women who were quite simply put, giants. Women of faith, original characters who lived life to the fullest. It is an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to get to know them and to follow in their footsteps. Hopefully I won't stumble too much ...

"Might as well"

Natty will be happy to know that I’m resurrecting my “Nuns on Film” series … although I don’t know if I really call the movie in question a “film.” It’s a movie, and a stupid movie at that. But even in the stupid movies of life, there are lessons to be learned.

A recent visitor found their way to this humble spot in the blogosphere by googling “what type of woman becomes a nun.” The answer of course is that all sorts of women become nuns. I suppose a few common denominators would be a love of God and a desire to help people, not to mention the mysterious element of the vocational call.

On the other hand running away from something is not really a good reason to become a nun. This is illustrated in an almost humorous and semi interesting way in the movie Saving Silverman. Yes, I’ll admit it … I just watched Saving Silverman. Or more accurately, I watched portions of it and fast forwarded through the rest. It’s a silly/stupid move … I knew that going in. And it does in fact feature a former trapeze artist who entered the convent after her trapeze artist partner/boyfriend fell to a tragic death. Her reasoning? Since she “knew” she’d never love again, she “might as well” serve the Lord and help people. For the record, “might as well” is not the best motivation for exploring a religious vocation … or anything for that matter. Marriages founded on “might as well” do not tend to last either!

Saving Silverman is filled with inaccurate portrayals of religious life in a effort I think to be funny. Exhibit a) our nun-in-training is wearing a hip hugging habit type thing with a super short skirt. Exhibit b) she lifts weights with the Mother Superior in full habit (although she herself has her mini-habit on) while other Sisters are kickboxing in the corner. The scales are balanced in favor of slapstick over reality. The interesting side note about this is that the producers of the movie did make the effort to find out what religious life is actually like these days. They talked to our groovy vocation director Sr. Jo-Anne in fact. I know this because in appreciation for her time, they blew up a great picture of Sr. Jo-Anne’s novice class in their wedding dresses, right before they got the habit. (Yes that’s how it used to be … no I will not be wearing a wedding dress or a form fitting short skirted habit either!). She told me the story when she showed me the picture last year.

But that’s off topic. What I find interesting is that the most accurate bit about religious life in the movie is the fact that her “might as well” motivation ends up not being enough. Not to spoil the movie for you, but she ends up falling in love and leaving the convent right before she’s to take her final vows.

I really only rented the movie because as I saw it at the video store, I remembered that they’d talked to Sr. Jo-Anne. My curiosity was peaked … and I was almost entertained!

If anyone has recommendations for GOOD subjects for future “Nuns on Film” posts, drop a note in the comments or send me an e-mail.

“You’re gonna make one crazy nun.”

(SPOILER ALERT - seems silly with a movie from 1966 but if you haven't seen the movie and want to be surprised by the twists/turns - skip this post).

I finally picked up “Trouble with Angels” from the library today. It’s the story of two juvenile semi-delinquents sent to a convent school who drive the nuns crazy. At one point, after the Reverend Mother nearly has them thrown out for “the last straw,” she explains to one of her Sisters why she didn’t. Rachel, she says, is a follower, not a leader. And Mary … well, Mary is willful, strong and proud … like herself. How can she be any less generous with Mary than the church has been with her?

Over the years Mary & Rachel cause lots of havoc. But over the years they also come to recognize the value of friendship, compassion and caring. We also see Mary as she begins to see the Sisters as actual people …. funny, angry, loving, hard working, silly … who are living life joyfully and serving God. You can see how she sees that maybe, just maybe, she can be part of this.

At graduation it’s announced that Mary is entering the novitiate. It seems crazy now, but there was a time when this was how it actually happened. Young girls got to know Sisters as their teachers or in other settings, and signed right up. They entered as young girls and grew up as nuns, rather than the way it is now when grown women join the community. Many of the Sisters in my community entered this way.

But even if times have changed, there are some things that never change. At the end of the movie, we witness a melodramatic scene when Rachel gets over her confusion/anger at Mary for “being a brainwashed traitor” and entering the community.

“You’re gonna make one crazy nun!”, she says to Mary. “Will you at least write me?”

“Of course I’ll write,” says Mary. “Just because I’m becoming a nun doesn’t mean I can’t write.”

My friends have been very cool about this whole "nun thing," which while totally crazy makes complete sense. But it’s hard, and many of them knowing me probably think I’m going to make one crazy nun. I certainly hope so … it wouldn’t be much fun otherwise!

This concludes my “Nuns on Film” reflection series. I’ll go ahead and create a drop down menu on the sidebar so you can check out the earlier installments.

Now that’s what I call a scathingly brilliant idea. (See the movie if you don’t know where that comes from).

In this World of Brede

I’m slowly working my way through the classics of “Nun Cinema.” This evening I picked up “In this House of Brede” on video from the library. I will definitely be reading the novel by Rumer Godden of the same name. Beautiful. I hear the book is even more so.

In brief, “In the House of Brede” is the story of an English career woman/widow named Phillipa who answers a call to join a contemplative Benedictine order – the “House of Brede” in the title is “Brede Abbey.” One of my favorite scenes is at beginning of the film. She’s all set to walk toward the gates of the abbey, fashionably dressed and suitcase in hand. First however she turns around and enters the public house, where she proceeds to drink three LARGE glasses of whiskey and smoke half a pack of cigarettes. THEN she’s ready. After all, this vocation business is serious stuff.

Phillipa was called to seek her vocation in this particular place, as were the others in her community. Through prayer, work and common life together in this House of Brede, they came to know and love God all the more. At one point Phillipa, who among her other worldly talents is fluent in Japanese, is asked to go on Mission to found a convent in Japan. She can’t imagine “leaving Brede behind,” where after 9 years she has just begun to feel at home. One of the other nuns helps her to realize that she wouldn’t be leaving Brede behind. Brede is her home. Brede will always be with her. She is Brede. And she can take Brede with her wherever she will go.

It’s interesting. Watching the movie, I realized that of my almost 34 years on this earth, 29 were spent living in one of two places. The first 18 years were in my family home on Seabury Lane in Bowie, Maryland. The last 11 years have been in my duplex apartment in the Hawthorne neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. In between I lived in 2 dorm rooms, 2 houses off campus, and my brother’s house in Switzerland. But those were blips on the map of my stable, geographically rooted existence. Given that, you’d think maybe I’d feel called to monastic life. I seem so much to like to be rooted and grounded to a specific place.

Periodically, seemingly at the oddest of times, my spiritual director would blurt out, glee and excitement on her face … “You could end up anywhere! You never know where you’ll be called to serve.” Regular readers of this blog know that there is some trepidation and dragging of feet on my part when it comes to leaving my parish, my adopted home town of Portland, etc… And I certainly never would have imagined I’d be heading for a time to New Jersey!

But my director was right. If I’m honest with myself, deep down inside there is excitement at the thought that I have no idea where God will be calling me over the next 5, 10, 50 years. What I do know is that God is calling me to freedom, the place where I will best be able to safely, competently, and joyfully serve God & God’s people. That home is not a geographic place, but a community of women. Yes my groovy sisters serve and live in some specific geographic places. And yes I find some of those places more appealing than others. But we are an apostolic community, and part of the apostolic call is being open to where God is calling you. The cool thing is that as part of a religious community working and praying together but in various locales, you are always at home. In a way, the world becomes your House of Brede. I often think back to those two brave Sisters who traveled to the wild Pacific Northwest in the 1890’s to beg (in full habit) in the logging camps and found a hospital. And before them the brave sisters who left England to serve the Irish immigrant women in America. And before them the brave sisters who formed this new community, the Sisters of Peace, whose very name it was hoped would inspire a love of peace.

What I’m doing may be crazy. But I’m following in the footsteps of many crazy women before me!!

nun stories

I just watched Audrey Hepburn in “The Nun’s Story.” It’s a 1959 film based on a novel which is in turn based on the true story of a Belgian nursing sister. I’d never heard of this movie before, truth be told. But I was perusing the video store aisles yesterday and it jumped out at me.

All I can say is wow. And unlike most theatrical and cinematic portrayals of nuns, this one allows you to see the real human struggles and faith journey of Sister Luke from postulant to novice to temporary professed to final profession and, eventually, to realizing she needs to leave the community. There’s lots in between … a detailed portrayal of living the “holy rule” in pre-Vatican II days (lots of kneeling and kissing of the floor – I hear similar stories from sisters in my own community) … training as a nurse … serving in the missions in the Congo … making friends … questioning and wondering how best to serve God.

The ending scene is quite powerful. As the NYT describes it:

The Nun's Story ends with a long, silent sequence in which Sister Luke divests herself of her religious robes, dons street garb, and walks out to an uncertain future. There is no background music: director Fred Zinnemann decided that "triumphant" music would indicate that Sister Luke's decision was the right one, while "tragic" music would suggest that she is doing wrong. Rather than make an editorial comment, the director decided against music, allowing the audience members to fill in the blanks themselves.

Discernment is a life long journey, and when you get down to it that’s what this film is about. We’re all on our own journeys, and if we’re honest we don’t know where our paths will take us. In the journey of faith you need to trust in God, listen to your heart and be open to the Spirit.

In religious communities, people come and people go. That’s a hard thing to come to grips with, especially when you’re in the steps of incorporation. You don’t want to think about the possibility of leaving when you’re just entering! But it happens. The best thing I think to do is realize that we are all indeed on a journey.

Last summer I was privileged to attend a groovy sisters’ former members reunion. In the olden days, when someone left they were never heard from or contacted again. Which I bet is what happened to Sr. Luke once she walked out that door. I’ve appreciated the attempt in my community to heal those wounds and realize that even if they’ve left vowed membership, they are still a part of the story of the community. A number of former members have become associates. And one of my weekend sister housemates is a former member who later became an associate and is now a vowed member again.

Rambling thoughts … which I should stop and get back to some purging and sorting. Times have certainly changed. Sr. Luke took nothing with her to the convent. I’m trying to simplify my life, but I’ve still got clothes and books and paper and such to sort through. Some I’m giving away, some I’m storing, some I’m taking to Novitiate with me. Tough as it would be to really give it all away, it would make it a little bit simpler!