While anticipating and celebrating the feast of the Ascension, Francis-can Sisters of Christian Charity again welcomed young women for a Vocation Discernment Retreat at our Motherhouse on May 18-20, 2012.

Wondering what young women would find uplifting in this retreat experience? Continuing the remembrance of the 800th anniversary year of St. Clare’s call to walk in the foot-prints of Jesus as the first feminine follower of St. Francis, retreatants first of all focused on the mystical second letter of St. Clare to St. Agnes of Prague. You, too, might consider reading this letter between two

women who truly desired to grow in their relationship with God.

With the sun shining brightly, Satur-day was a perfect pilgrimage and pic-nic day to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, Champion, WI. The Novices―Sisters Monica Martin, Re-gina Rose Pearson, and Leslie Gonia joined us for the Franciscan Crown

(rosary) and provided some concrete conversation about Franciscan life and discernment helps. After all, it was not that long ago that they, too, were on a voca-tion discernment retreat.

By Sister Julie Ann Sheahan

May Vocation Discernment Retreat

Sister Monica Martin made her first profession of vows at an afternoon Blessed Trinity Sunday Lit-urgy celebrated by Bishop David Ricken on June 3. Sister Louise Hembrecht, Community Director, re-ceived Sister Monica’s

vows. Sister’s parents, two brothers, godmoth-er, and numerous Community members wit-nessed the event.

During a morning breakfast in Sister Monica’s honor, Sister Louise reflected on the profes-sion to take place: [Sister Monica,] “God will consecrate you to Himself. As you know, reli-gious consecration, the profession of vows, is

not a sacramental action within the Church. It is rather a continuation, a perfection of Baptism, when the Blessed Trinity began dwelling within you. How fitting it is that you profess your vows on the feast of the Holy Trinity. May you always be aware of the tremendous gift that has been given you. May you live your vows out of a sense of love for tremendous love, Love Itself, dwells within you.”

Above, Sister Monica pronounces her vows and

(right) receives the black veil of a professed Sister.

Sister Monica Professes Vows

Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity June 2012

Volume 46, Issue 6

Communigram

Sister Carletta Christianson, who assists in the Communications department at Holy Family Con-vent Motherhouse, Manitowoc, WI, tells the interesting story of her apostolic ministry in our Fran-ciscan Sisters of Christian Charity community as follows:

“For the past four years I have been at the Motherhouse ‘reliving the past’ in a sense. In 1971 I was assigned to the Motherhouse to begin a Communications depart-ment. At that time it was what is now a report room for the St. Rita’s first floor staff, with only paper and a mimeograph machine. The photos I took had to be pro-cessed in the darkroom connected to the physics lab on the 2nd floor. In time the first floor got too small so I moved to a basement room, and I also acquired an offset press. That served well until the Academy closed. At that time I requested the physics lab to serve as a Communi-cation Center, where it presently is. Now the darkroom was part of it.

No more running up and down the stairs.

Shortly before I left in 1989, I was able to get a computer. Before that, the SAMPLING would be typed on a composer at the college and pasted together. It was long and tedious. After the computer came, I was able to make up the MEMO and SAMPLING and oth-er jobs in a fraction of the time. Now I am back working two days a week in Communications in a much more up to date room with equipment and speed I never would have dreamt of when I left. It is most enjoyable.

When we got our ‘new’ paging sys-tem in the early 70’s I was able to go to the telephone company in Milwaukee to learn how to run the system. Then I helped train our early lay people, Nancy Senglaub and Carol Georgeson, how to op-erate the switchboard. Now I am back with a different system than the one we had, and someone had to train ME in its use. I spend a lot of time making use of the

knowledge! It’s a bit more sophisti-cated than the first one was.

All this came after my years of teaching and being an elementary school principal. Quite a different life! (Sister Carletta taught all levels of the elementary grades, except 1st grade, and was Principal at St. Wendel’s, Cleveland, WI and at St. John Vianney School, Kailua, Ha-waii.)

During my teaching years I was fortunate to spend four years in Hawaii. One of the highlights there was spending a day on Father Damien’s leper colony on Molokai. It was not lush like most of the Islands, but rather desert-like. It was a thrill to be there, even though the realization of what had gone before caused mixed emo-tions. Those with active leprosy were transferred to Pearl City, out-side of Honolulu. We visited them, too. One of the ladies, Agnes Kamaka, saw us with our shorter habits. ‘Are you half-sisters?’ she asked. They were used to the Fran-ciscan Sisters on Molokai who had not yet changed their habits.

Page 2 Communigram Volume 46, I ssue 6

By Sister Kay Elmer

Sister Carletta (left) received a traditional

welcome to Hawaii in August, 1967. Pic-

tured with her are Sister Roman Lingle and

Sister Arlene (Rose) Virlee.

Sister Carletta folding worship aides for a

summer program.

Schooling was a big part of the preparation for my later assign-ments. Besides graduating from Silver Lake College, I went to grad-uate schools in Michigan, Arizona, Kansas, Hawaii, state of Washing-ton, and Wisconsin. Finally I went to Creighton University where I received an M.A. in Theology, with an emphasis on Christian Spirituality. That gave me a background to do retreat work and spiritual direction. My work at Marquette University in Mil-waukee gave me some back-ground help in communications.

While in the Communications department I belonged to the National Franciscan Communi-cations Conference. The meet-ings were held in various cities throughout the country. For one year I was a member of the steer-ing committee. When the meeting was in Cincinnati the committee members met with Joseph Cardinal Bernadine, who was one of the speakers at the convention. We had a delightful meal with him and I felt very honored to be in his presence. As a result of our meet-ing in Los Angeles I was accepted by Franciscan Communications to spend the summer working on some of their projects. It was a thrill to have my name added to the credits on one of their film-strips on the Eucharist. It was a privilege to work with such profes-sionals.

Another highlight of my years in the Conference was helping to pre-pare for the 800th Anniversary of St. Francis’ birth. We had celebra-tions in various parts of the coun-try, including one here at the Motherhouse. Father Larry Jan-

owski from Milwaukee (Pulaski Franciscan) and I planned and exe-cuted the celebration at our Moth-erhouse. We were hoping for an attendance of 800, but ended up about 200 short. Never-the-less, it was a great day.

After I left Communications I asked to be a housekeeper ‘someplace.’ This lasted for 17 years, the same number of years I spent in education as a teacher, principal, and teacher organist as well as the number of years serving in Communications up to that point. All of my religious life―except for 7 years―have been spent within 13 miles of the Moth-erhouse.

Now I am back at the Mother-house and enjoying every minute of it. I have time to read while still trying to be useful, especially in the Communications area and in the paging office. I also have time for extra prayer periods. What will come in the future only God knows, but I’m sure it will be inter-esting and I look forward to it. Nothing in my life was ever dull and boring; I’m anticipating that what lies ahead will be the same!”

Silver Lake College Hosts ‘Teach Us to Pray’ Do you feel the need to take time from your busy schedule to be nour-ished in your faith? Are you longing to deepen your relationship with Christ? Silver Lake College of the Holy Fami-ly, sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, is hosting Teach Us to Pray. Come. We invite you to join us.

A June 22-23, 2012 immersion experience, Teach Us to Pray is centered on the topic of prayer. Bishop David Ricken, Bishop of Green Bay, WI, and a team of gifted presenters and artists are planning an energizing, insight-ful and practical exploration of the topic of prayer through art, poetry, music and teaching.

Please consider joining us on Friday night, Saturday or both. Come and be awakened in your faith to a renewed understanding of prayer. Be fully alive in your faith!

If you have any questions please call Shelia in the Green Bay Dio-cese Department of Education at (920) 272-8276. Friday night (includes reception) $20; Satur-day event ($30); Full event $45

Accommodations available — single $46, double $62

Deadline for registrations is June 18.

Page 3 Communigram Volume 46, I ssue 6

Sister Carletta’s mother, Rose, seated center, her

sister Beverly and grand-nieces Annette and

Elizabeth.

Missionaries Gather in Gila Bend

Page 4 Communigram Volume 46, I ssue 6

“The Wolf of Gubio’’ Presented by 4th Graders

On Sunday, May 6th all of the FSCC Sisters who are serving in Arizona gathered at an Italian restaurant in Gila Bend, Arizona. It was a most enjoyable time of reconnecting and sharing stories with one another. Even though we live in the same state, we rarely gath-er because of the distance. This was our second annu-al Arizona FSCC gathering and hopefully there will be many more in the years to come. .

Yuma, AZ ― To make this 800th anniversary of St. Clare memorable for her Immaculate Conception School 4th graders,Yuma, AZ, Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity Sister Maria Goretti Scandaliato decided to reenact Poor Clare Mother Mary Francis’ rendition of ‘The Wolf of Gubio’. Sister Maria Goretti shares pho-tos and comments on this impressionable moment in her students’ lives. The [Poor Clare] Sisters have performed the

play many times at the [Our Lady of Guadalupe,

Roswell, NM] monastery, and I wondered if I’d ever

have an opportunity to teach and direct it with my stu-

dents. It is a difficult play, and I never dreamed 4th

graders could handle it, but handle it they did — and

very successfully!

The cast of 5 students voluntarily came for practice

each Saturday for the past couple of months and two

moms helped me set up the scenery. The children per-

formed it May 11 for the 3rd-8th grades, teachers,

staff, family and friends. They actually memorized the

entire play. I think Mother Mary Francis would have

been proud of their performance. The nice thing, too,

the children have a special love for St. Francis now!

Submitted by Sister Maria Goretti Scandaliato

Submitted by Sister Elizabeth Benvie

The Sisters making retreat at Chiara Convent during the week of May 6-12, 2012 received an added blessing of gracious service with a smile at their main meal each day. Sisters Theresa Cingh Nguyen, Thi Nhu Le, and Tuyen Ngoc Le, all students at Silver Lake College, took great delight in serving food and assisting with clean-up after the meal.

Submitted by Sister Mary Ann Nugent

Service with a Smile

Page 5 Communigram Volume 46, I ssue 6

Happy 85th Birthday Sister Bernadone

Manitowoc, WI― Earlier this school year we featured Sister Bernadone in the Memo for completing 65 years of teaching. At that time she received the Teacher of the Year Award from Roncalli for teachers on the Lakeshore.

May 5th was Sister Berna-done Fagan's 85th Birthday. Colleen Piaschowski and Sister Jan Villemure, who work with the same pro-gram in Study Skills classes at Roncalli did some under-cover work with the stu-dents, planning a surprise party for Sister. The stu-dents decorated the room with balloons, ribbons, and

posters. Original artwork filled the blackboard. Colleen ordered 85 cupcakes from the Whitelaw bak-ery. The brass quintet you see in the picture came to play for Sister, while a room full of teachers, staff and students sang. The students greeted her, visited with her, and

ate the 85 cupcakes in no time at all. The students thanked her for the work she has done for them. One student who is a senior, said it this way, “Sister, my birthday pre-sent to you is I will graduate on time, thanks to your help.” You could see the deep appreciation the students have for all the help they have received from Sister Berna-done. She even had Spanish greet-ings from the students who are ELL learners at Roncalli and come to study skills for extra help. We have been taught that we should all be life long learners. We Francis-cans know Franciscan Sisters are never too old to teach for we are life long teachers.

Submitted by Sister Jan Villemure

Open House to Tour New Patient Tower

West Point, NE― A special Open House for staff, boards, and guests of Franciscan Care Services was held on

Thursday, May 17, 2012, to tour the new St. Francis Memorial Patient Tower in West Point, Nebraska. The tower

includes four floors with 52,000 sq. ft. of new construction. Renovation of existing space will begin on an addi-

tional 29,000 sq. ft. in the hospital and clinic included in the current bid.

Pictures: (1) The new, main entrance of St. Francis Memorial Hospital. (2) .After Deacon Vince Maly, Chaplain at the hospital began the

opening ceremony with a prayer, CEO, Ron Briggs spoke on the beginnings of the Hospital Project and why the new addition. Mayor Marlene

Johnson congratulated all those who were instrumental in such a progressive project and (3) Senator Lydia Brasch said her relatives over the years

have profited from St. Francis Hospital and she is proud of this new facility. (4) Members of the staff cut the ribbon. (5) Sister Laura Wolf, repre-

senting the Health Care Office of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, Manitowoc, WI spoke and she is shown visiting with the Board

President, Bill Kreikemeier. Submitted by Sister Sharon Paul

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Plentiful Happenings at St. Francis Convent

Page 6 Communigram Volume 46, I ssue 6

Manitowoc, WI ― May was a busy time around St. Fran-cis Convent. What better way to honor Our Blessed Mother on Mother’s Day, but with a rosary procession from our chapel to the outside Mary statue west of our building. After the rosary we held May Crowning. Sis-ter Imelda Ann Dickrell carried the crown and Sister Judanne Stratman crowned the statue of Mary.

To give the statue a little more prominence the work-men built a circular brick wall around the statue and Sister Paulus Maresch planted flowers. What a beautiful setting to stop and pray your rosary. We hope you have the opportunity to visit our grounds and spend some time in prayer.

This year Sister Bonita Morin cel-ebrates her 60th Jubilee. To help her celebrate with her fellow Jubi-larians the Sisters at St. Francis held a Jubilee Tea on May 17. Each Sister attending was greeted by a hostess and entered the dec-orated cafeteria to a table set with china tea cups, and a beautifully arranged buffet table with punch, small tea cookies and bars. Every-one joined the celebration sharing and enjoying one another’s com-pany. Before sending our guests off we wished them well with the traditional Blessing of St. Francis.

All year thirteen Sisters from St. Francis Convent and seven from the Motherhouse have been corresponding with the second graders from Holy Angels School in West Bend, WI. After exchanging pictures and messag-

es we finally had the privilege of meeting face to face. On May 25 the second graders took a field trip to Manitowoc to meet their Pen Pals. The visit started with meeting the Sisters from the Motherhouse and a tour of the “Big house!” Then it was over to St. Francis for a picnic lunch, ice cream treat, and a visit with the Sisters there. It came to an end with a quick tour of the house on the way out, a warm farewell, a bag of goodies for everyone, even the bus driver, and back on the bus for the trip home. We believe our little friends had a wonderful day. Who knows, maybe a few left with a tug at their hearts to a priestly or religious calling.

Submitted by Sister Elizabeth Ann Miller

May Crowning at St. Francis Convent.

Sister Mary Lou

Loonsfoot serves ice

cream Dixie cups to

the children from West

Bend, WI.

Sister Jubilarians present at the tea: seated l to right -Sisters Gratia Hosfeld, Clarita Ryan, Xa-veria Wittmann, and Juana Lucero. Standing l to r: Sisters Shirley Spilker, Mary Felice Wellman, Colette Hoadley, Bonita Morin, Estelle Vanden Heuvel, and Renita Tadych.

Quilting Quandaries and Culinary Capers

Page 7 Communigram Volume 46, I ssue 6

Sister Jerianne Stelmach, Sister Natalie Binversie (Novice Directress) and Novic-es (Sisters Monica Martin, Regina Rose Pearson, and Leslie Gonia) tell the story of their recent Project Linus quilting quandaries and culinary capers. Sisters Natalie, Regina Rose, and Monica took photos while Sister Leslie tooled the final draft of the posting below.

Once upon a time in a land far far away from Manitowoc, well, not that far, we were near Poynette, WI five daring souls set out on a quest to find quilting secrets of old. This was no ordinary mission as none of us had ever quilted. Fortunately, by the grace of God, we were mentored by two noble quilting wizards, Jean and Dottie. Inspired by the goal of bringing joy to children who are suffering, we spent the week living out the saying; those who sew shall also rip. Though the journey was fraught with challenges: pin pricks, miss sewn patches, dog ears, and knots among other things, we also had lots of fun.

After our tour of the countryside our first bit of fun was meeting some of Jean’s granddaughters, including the triplets who were

excited about Sister triplets (the Novices). It was wonderful to learn from two experienced quilt-ers. Our fun was not limited to the sewing room, we never knew hun-ger as each of us took a turn in the kitchen with Sister Jerianne our mentor chef.

Of course, we found time to pray and attend Mass each day. We were able to experience three different par-ish communities: St. Thomas in Poynette, St. John the Baptist in Waunakee, WI and St. Patrick in Lodi, WI. The parishes were dynamically different but one thing they had in common was a welcoming spirit. In the parking lot at St. Thomas we tried to trade vans with a parishioner, we thought we’d add a new van to our fleet (actually we ac-cidentally got into someone else’s van.) We also went to breakfast with Jean one morning and had a tour of her shop.

In our spare time we did some swimming, played basketball, played games, and watched Dancing with the Stars. Go Donald Driver! We each successfully

completed a quilt, some of us with more help than others, and had a productive cooking experience. It was a week of good memories, good food, and good company. Thank you God!

Kentucky Derby Fun

Manitowoc, WI ― Sisters from St. Rita’s Health Center joined in the fun and games of the Ken-tucky Derby, on Thursday, May 10. Each wore a homemade fancy hat, carried a fan and lots of play money to bid on the horses one through six.

The jockeys were Sisters Mary Golden, Cosmas Miller, Mary Frederick Gramann, Julia Van Denack, Michael Majeskie, Te-resa Luetkenhaus, Nathanael Jenks, Cecilia Byrns, Magdalen Sipple, John Bosco McKee, Clarita Ryan, Mary Ann McElroy and Dolores Gou-dreau.

The betting winners were Sis-ters Nathanael and Cosmas for

Round 1; Sisters Priscilla Sim-mons, Juana Lucero, Cecilia and Teresa for Round 2. The jockey for Round 3, Sister Dolores, took home the Blanket of Roses in the shape of a horseshoe.

For lunch we had finger sand-wiches in the shape of horses and squares served with lemon lime punch. The afternoon was enjoyed by all.

Submitted by Joann Herman,

Activity Coordinator

Sister Dolores

took home the

Blanket of Roses.

Congratulations!

The Communigram is published ten times a year by:

Communications Department Holy Family Convent 2409 S Alverno Rd Manitowoc, WI 54220