Category: Ursuline Spirituality

By finding our center in Christ, we can find comfort and inspiration in these troubled times. Four of our Sisters offer their wisdom to help you.

From Sister Pauline Dalpe
When words are unable to express the times we are living in, I turn to words that inspire me and pray with Thomas Merton.  

Here’s a prayer I especially like:


My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

From Sister Dorothy Kundracik
This time is a gift to us to call old friends and renew the bonds that were set aside in our “busy schedule.” We can Bring peace amidst the hardship.

I’ve been able to work from home for SCOPE as supportive services to the home bound.

The longer this isolation goes on the more seniors appreciate that they are not forgotten. More persons prayed or asked for prayer lately. Individuals will even call me when they are in need. This has been a very satisfying ministry.

From Sister Diane Toth
This is my favorite quote, Ezekiel 26: “I will take your heart of stone and turn it into a heart of flesh.”

During this time of quarantine, I find myself edgy and judgmental. I curb the impulse to think negatively.

What would my next encounter with a person look like with a heart of flesh? I tell myself to listen, care and make a difference.

From Sister Darla Vogelsang
“One of the marvelous facts of life is that every ending carries within itself the potential for a new beginning.” 
Mary Borhek

This quote speaks to me of the changes that we are facing during this universal pandemic, leaving us to wonder what is not going to be in the new normal. Change brings endings. But there is the potential for new beginnings ahead if we keep our focus on Christ, who is both our origin and our destination in life, as we now know it and hope it to be.

For some women, the call to be a nun is a gradual nudging over years.

For others, it’s like a lightning bolt.

Sister Marie Maravola falls into that latter category.

“I was working in a dark room developing x-rays. Suddenly, I felt this overwhelming experience of God in my life. He spoke to my heart, as clear as anything. I knew at that moment I wanted to be vowed religious. I cried. Then I gathered myself and felt such a peace about me.”

Like most women in recent years, Sister Marie didn’t enter right out of high school but was in her late 20s. When she decided to become an Ursuline Sister [she professed her final vows in 1993], Sister Marie also decided on a career change, leaving the medical field and pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education.

“Anyone who knows me knows I love babies and children. But I had to take a social work class and fell in love with it. I excelled in those studies and loved everything about it,” she comments.

Sister Marie went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from Youngstown State University and became a Licensed Social Worker in the state of Ohio.

“When I got that call to be a Sister, I knew I wanted to be an Ursuline,” Sister Marie says, noting she’d had Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown as teachers. Sister Therese Ann Rich, she adds, taught her to play guitar.

“I felt very connected to St. Angela [founder of the Ursuline order]. Before the term social worker came about, Angela was a social worker. She was working with the incurables and for the education of young girls. She was a caretaker.”  

And, fun fact, Sister Marie and St. Angela Merici shares the same birthday – March 21.

Sister Marie ministered as a social worker for a number of years at local senior healthcare facilities. But when the Antonine Sisters in North Jackson contacted the Ursulines, looking for someone to serve as a Pastoral Minister at their senior healthcare facility, Sister Marie was a natural fit.

“I do one-on-one visits with residents,” she says. “A lot of what I learned in social work and my experience working as a social worker in long-term care rolls over to pastoral care. A lot of it is attending to the needs of the people, being present to the people.”

Sister Marie shares this story: “Right now, I’m meeting with a woman who’s very sad. She’s mourning the loss of her husband. It’ll be a year in August. Now her children are preparing to sell her home. She also lost her eyesight to macular degeneration, so she feels like she’s losing everything. She’s not sleeping at night. I went in to talk to her and let her know how sorry I am for the losses she’s experiencing, and also to let her know to look for the things she still does have, to not lose sight of the bigger picture. She still has living to do.”

The transition to living at a senior care facility is difficult for many older adults, Sister Marie reports, because it’s not made out of their choice but often by their families out of necessity for safety and health concerns.

“The Antonine Village is a wonderful place,” Sister Marie states. “People choose it because it has a chapel. I have a resident who did so because she’s a very religious person. It gives her great comfort to have the chapel and also that Sisters are there to serve in the capacities we’re there for.”

Sister Marie ministers with over 50 residents on independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing floors.

“I also do a lot of reminiscing with the residents. They love to sing. Especially the people down in the memory care unit. Music is one of the things they remember,” Sister Marie says. “For independent and assisted living, we do a lot of sharing. We talk about their childhoods and when they were married. Their stories are fascinating. They have so much to share.”

Since some emigrated to the United States as young people, and others traveled for work and fun, Sister Marie helps them renew those experiences in a 21^st century way.  

“We tune into YouTube videos,” she explains. “Since they can’t travel anymore, we’ll travel to different places. We’ve traveled the world! I always have opportunities where we learn something.”

Working for another community of Catholic Sisters, Sister Marie has the opportunity to share her deep faith as well. She started the St. Anthony the Great Rosary and Prayer Group (some members are pictured here), and an Ursuline Sisters’ spiritual treasury for Mass at the Chapel.

“I love it. I love the older population. They have so much to offer,” she says. “It has been fulfilling.”

The gospel story that greatly influences Sister Marie’s ministry, she says, is that of the woman with the hemorrhage.

“She thought if she could even touch Jesus’ clothing, she could be healed – and she was!” Sister Marie notes. “He said, ‘You have been healed by your faith.’ I pray for the healing she experienced. She’s my prayer partner.”

Sister Isabel Rudge’s warm smile illuminates her face when she discusses her ministry. It’s clear she takes St. Angela Merici’s counsel to “be like a piazza” to heart.

Our founder’s instruction to be hospitable and engaged in our communities, just as people are in the inviting Italian spaces called piazzas, has been central to several of Sister Isabel’s ministries. Especially recently.

For the last four years, Sister Isabel has ministered as part of our hospitality team, welcoming visitors to both the Ursuline Education & Wellness Center and Motherhouse.

 “I enjoy what I’m doing. It’s wonderful!” she comments. “I’m meeting new people, and they are meeting somebody they know is a Sister. I like them to feel welcome to whatever program they’re attending, whether it’s something that we sponsor, somebody’s music recital or a birthday party.”

Sister Isabel’s ministries have taken her down different paths, but the need to share St. Angela’s charism of compassion has remained a constant.

Sister Isabel has ministered as a teacher at St. Nicholas School in Struthers, St. Patrick School in Youngstown, and Ursuline High School, where she also served as an administrative assistant. She left teaching to serve with the Marriage Tribunal for the Diocese of Youngstown, where she ministered for several years. She then served on the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown Leadership Team for several years before becoming both Pastoral Minister and Director of Religious Education at St. Columba Cathedral Parish, Youngstown. 

In 2016, Sister Isabel “retired” from ministry outside of the Motherhouse for health reasons. That’s in quotes because the change hasn’t slowed Sister Isabel much.

In addition to serving on our hospitality team, Sister Isabel is also the Motherhouse Coordinator.

“I direct things when we’re [the Sisters] going to have a something special. I fill in at the reception desk and check all the doors at the center and in the back of the house every night to make sure that everything is locked.”

While she’s very busy, the change in ministry has its merits, Sister Isabel observes.  

“Several months ago when the impeachment trials were on, I was able to watch. I enjoy following politics, but I’ve always been too busy to do something like watch the entire proceedings. I was able to this time,” she says with a chuckle.

Sister Isabel’s interest in politics was influenced by her mother. Her desire to find her life’s vocation as an Ursuline Sister was influenced by the Holy Spirit and the many Sisters she had as teachers.

“I remember thinking, ‘Someday, I want to be one of those Sisters,’ and my mother had been a teacher, so I was interested in teaching, too,” she says. Sister Isabel first entered the convent while a senior in high school and made her final profession of vows in 1953 – almost 70 years ago!

She received her Bachelor of Science in Education from Youngstown State University. During summers and a sabbatical year, Sister Isabel furthered her studies through St. John College in Cleveland, Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Marquette University, Milwaukee.

Spend time with any Ursuline Sister and you find a common theme that’s echoed by Sister Isabel as well – how being an Ursuline Sister has led to a lifetime of joy.

“I really enjoyed every single one of my ministries,”  she states.

Since this health crisis began, we Ursuline Sisters have endeavored to do what we’ve committed our lives to doing — being a witness to God’s love through ministry to those in need.

Through our websites, our social media pages and eNewsletters, as well as personal outreach through phone calls and emails, we have offered several messages to inspire hope, comfort fears and offer prayer.

Here a links to some of the material we’ve offered. We hope that you and your family are safe during the pandemic, that you have the supplies you need while sheltering at home, that those in your family on the front-lines have the supplies they need for protection, and that you all remember we are praying for you — not only during this pandemic but always.

Sister Darla Vogelsang’s message for “Hanging Tough” in tough times.

A prayer to the Blessed Mother offered by Pope Francis.

Father Michael Graham’s Prayer for Uncertain Times.

A Meditation for the Anxious from Eric Clayton.

Popular prayerful and inspirational memes from our social media pages.

This is a prayer Pope Francis offered to the Holy Mother:

O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick.
At the foot of the Cross you participated in Jesus’ pain, with steadfast faith.
You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need.
We are certain that you will provide, so that, as you did at Cana of Galilee, joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the Father’s will and to do what Jesus tells us:
He who took our sufferings upon Himself, and bore our sorrows to bring us, through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.
We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God.
Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.

By Fr. Michael Graham, S.J., president of Xavier University

May we who are merely inconvenienced remember those whose lives are at stake.

May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable.

May we who have the luxury of working from home remember those who must choose between preserving their health and making their rent.

May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close remember those who have no options.

May we who have to cancel our trips remember those who have no safe place to go.

May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market remember those who have no margin at all.

May we who settle in for a quarantine at home remember those who have no home.

As fear grips our country, let us choose love.

And during this time when we may not be able to physically wrap our arms around each other, let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors. 

Amen.