University of St. Thomas

A Day in the Life... with a Sister in Jesus the Lord
by Nicole Morse/Sr. Catherine Marie

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a sister for a day?  Come with me and walk through a day in the life of a sister right now!

 To begin, I’d like to introduce myself.  My birth name is Nicole and My religious name is Sr. Catherine Marie.  I am a student at the University of St. Thomas, and I am also a member of Sisters in Jesus the Lord, currently a private association of four women.  You are probably wondering what a private association is.  It is usually the first step in forming a religious order.  We have started in response to a request from the Canons Regular of Jesus the Lord in the Russian Far-East.  These Catholic priests are in need of religious sisters who will consecrate themselves to Christ and spend their lives in service of the Russian people, particularly those who are Roman Catholics.

 

You will have to rise very early in the morning, between four and five o’clock.  The first activity of the day is the Liturgy of the Hours.  The Liturgy of the Hours is primarily composed of the Psalms from the Bible; it is a form of public prayer that has been said by clergy and religious for centuries.  In my community, we sing the Liturgy of the Hours, so get your singing voice ready!

Sr. Catherine Marie (Nicole Morse) second from left

 Second on the list for the day is breakfast.  Usually we eat this meal in silence or listen to a recorded conference on some spiritual topic.

 After breakfast, we join our parish for the public recitation of the Rosary followed by daily Mass at eight o’clock.  After Mass we remain in Church and make fifteen minutes of thanksgiving to Our Lord for having received Him in the Eucharist.

 Our work day begins at nine o’clock in the morning.  After Mass, I go to the University of Saint Thomas for class until the late afternoon.  Some of my sisters are taking classes at UST as well and all of us are being tutored in the Russian language.  The work day for my fellow sisters includes answering the doorbell and the telephone, cooking, cleaning, studying, practicing music for Mass, answering letters and emails from prospective vocations, balancing the checkbook, paying bills, writing thank-you letters, and much more.

 We have dinner, our main meal of the day, at noon.  During dinner, we talk about our morning and plan the rest of the day.

 In the afternoon we have a few more hours of work followed by one half-hour of exercise, an hour of adoration, and then recreation.  For recreation we read, sing, play board games, listen to music, or simply enjoy conversing with each other.

 At six o’clock in the evening we pray Evening Prayer, another one of the Liturgy of the Hours, and at a quarter-to-eight we pray the last hour, Night Prayer.  Grand Silence, a period of complete silence intended to help prepare our hearts in stillness especially for the reception of Jesus in the Eucharist, begins when Night Prayer ends.  After Night Prayer we receive a blessing and go upstairs to our rooms.  We have until about nine or nine-thirty in the evening to pray, prepare for the next day, get ready for bed, and turn out the light.

 As you can see, a day in the life of a sister is full, but beautiful.  It is formatted in such a way as to help the sisters to live united in spirit with Christ their Spouse and to live together and serve others in a spirit of Christ-like love, generosity, and self-sacrifice.  The entire day is crowned by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and is consecrated to God by the Liturgy of the Hours.

 Thank you for coming with me and letting me share a day in my life with you.  If you would like to come for a real visit, please call or email—we would enjoy meeting you in person.  Please email us at info@cjd.cc.  You can find out more about a day in the life of a Sister in Jesus the Lord at www.cjd.cc.