Vocation Awareness Week Highlights Adventures of Religious Life

Three new Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament are experiencing new things and using their skills in creative ways since accepting God’s call to religious life.  As the nation celebrates National Vocation Awareness Week Nov. 3 – 9, they invite young people who think they may have a call to religious life to enter the adventure of exploring God’s plan for their lives.

Sister Audra Magdalene Marie Hoffmeister, Sister Ashin Anastasia Roby Kalladanthyil, and Sister Sara Cecilia Ferreira professed their first vows to the community Aug. 15 at Cypress Springs Mercedarian Prayer Center in Baton Rouge.

Sister Cecilia, who grew up in Swansea, Massachusetts, was raised Catholic, attended Mass with her grandmother, and went to religious education classes on the weekends. But she did not see a religious sister until she was in high school. At that time, she was in a relationship with a guy. However, Jesus was the one who really occupied her mind and heart.
Top Right Photo: Pictured with Bishop Michael G. Duca, are from left, Sister Ashin Anastasia Roby Kalladanthyil, Sister Audra Magdalene Marie Hoffmeister, and Sister Sara Cecilia Ferreira.
Above: Bishop Duca is pictured with the Mercedarian Sisters community.

“The running joke during the eight years of this relationship was if I ever ended up leaving, I will join a convent. And sure enough, that’s what Jesus wanted,” said Sister Cecilia.

During COVID, Sister Cecilia spent a lot of time in prayer and adoration. One night she scrolled through Facebook when an advertisement from the Mercedarian Sisters that had been popping up on her page for months reappeared.
 
“I kept dismissing it saying, ‘I’m not discerning religious life, I am going to get married …’ And one night I decided I had to open it up,” said Sister Cecilia.

The ad’s discernment guide asked, “Do you want to spend more time in adoration? Do you love Mary?”

“At that moment I asked Jesus, ‘Is this what you are calling me too?’” said Sister Cecilia.

She contacted the sisters in November 2020, and the following April she attended a “Come and See” weekend retreat.

“There were a couple of things that week that showed me I was home. And sure enough, a few months later I entered in August of 2021," Sister Cecilia stated.

Sister Anastasia, who was born in India and grew up in Sunrise, Florida, received her call to religious life when she was in ninth grade. When she was in middle school three years prior, her mother urged  Sister Anastasia to pray the rosary daily so she would not fall prey to negative influences.

“The bus ride to school was pretty long. That was the time I prayed the rosary, and I was pretty faithful to my promise to my mom,” stated Sister Anastasia.

She “zoomed through” the decades and she and her sister competed to see how quickly they could complete a “Hail Mary.”

“Our lady is like a ninja, and she worked really quietly in my heart and soul, and I began to slow down,” Sister Anastasia said with a smile.

She added “I always experienced the presence of her – Our Lady – and she was so sweet and tender. I enjoyed my time with her.”

After the sisters received their black veils, Bishop Duca presented them with the Book of the Constitutions.​A spiritual mentor gave Sister Anastasia the book “Come and Follow Me” by Father Stefano M. Manelli, FI.

But she struggled with the call because she wanted to marry and have children. Having a crush on a boy was often a “weekly experience.” But Jesus continued calling her.

One day she was on the school bus when she prayed, “Jesus, if this is not just in my head, if this is for real, you have to take my heart for yourself and, in turn, give me your heart. All that I want is for my heart to be yours.”

That morning, she was talking to a guy friend whom she had feelings for when those feelings dissipated.

She realized a year later that her tendency to have feelings for boys “had not come back.” She felt the Lord say, “I heard your prayer, and yes, your heart belongs to me,” and so she entered the order.

Sister Magdalene was raised Catholic but didn’t encounter religious sisters until high school.  She was involved with a youth group and often encountered the Lord, especially in Eucharistic adoration. She was open to religious life but was focused on marriage.

While in college at Ohio State University, Sister Magdalene was actively involved in campus ministry through the St. Thomas More Newman Center and the St. Paul’s Outreach group.

“I had a call to deepening my relationship with Jesus throughout college, and because of that I felt a call to do mission work after I graduated,” she said.

After graduating with a degree in engineering, Sister Magdalene spent two years serving in a children’s home in Honduras.

After returning from Honduras, Sister Magdalene “felt lost.” She had an engineering degree, but she experienced “reverse culture shock” as she adjusted to life back in the United States after spending two years in a third-world country.

Sister Magdalene’s sister was discerning a vocation in a house for religious women. One night they hosted an event for the priests and religious men and women in the Diocese of Cleveland. Sister Magdalene attended and the Mercedarian Sisters were there. In talking with them she felt “loved by Jesus.” She went on a retreat the following spring. Jesus made a “mark on her heart” and she couldn’t ignore it. 

After the retreat, she still struggFrom, left, Sister Sara Cecilia, Sister Audra Magdalene Marie, and Sister Sister Ashin Anastasia smile before bringing up the gifts during the Mass.led because she had started a new job, moved to a different city, and bought a car. But Jesus prevailed and she entered in 2021.

The night of the sisters’ first profession, there was a strong thunderstorm, but they noted the Lord dramatically illustrated there are storms along with “sweet smelling roses” in life, even while following God’s will. But Jesus leads them to victory. 

This was noted in the apropos way Jesus’ face was brightly lit up in the stained-glass window depicting his calming of the storm behind the chapel altar. After the sisters finished their vows, the storm ceased.

The Sisters are currently serving and furthering their formation.  Sister Cecilia is finishing her master’s degree online at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, and Sister Magdalene and Anastasia are finishing up their master’s degree in theology at St. Mary’s Seminary Graduate School of Theology in Cleveland.

The sisters invite young people who feel they possibly have a call to a religious vocation to listen to the voice of the Lord.

Sister Anastasia noted that “life is like an adventure,” and she thoroughly enjoys delving into “the mystery of it all” because she is giving all of herself to Christ.

Sister Magdalene said, “Be prepared if you feel that tug in your heart and do something about it … If we take a step, he will work with that.”

Sister Cecilia advised, “Just allow yourself to be amazed and see how the Lord will fulfill every desire.”