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| Back (left to right): Mother Teresa Christe, Sr. Marie de Lourdes Front (left to right): Sr. Mary Rose and Sr. Maria Faustina. |
Mother Teresa Christe: The Lord took me by surprise!
I grew up in a large family in Los Angeles. I had
seven brothers and two sisters. My mother was a devout Catholic.
I felt directed toward the married state. I had a life
full of activity; we owned horses, I liked ice skating. As a teenager, I
dreamed of getting married and moving away from the big city to Montana, where
I’d have 10 horses and 10 children.
Although I had read about women religious, I had never met
one. It was a dormant period in religious life when I grew up; if I did
see a sister, I did not recognize her because she did not wear anything to
indicate her vocation.
In the 8th grade, my parents sent me to a Catholic boarding
school in northern Idaho. It was there that I first encountered sisters
in full habit. I was scared to death when I arrived, because I thought
the nuns would be hard and strict. But, they were the most kind, warm and
sensitive people I’d ever met. I was happy there. I learned to live
in the state of grace and have fun.
My respect for religious life grew, but I didn’t feel the call.
At 17, I got my first job, and began making my own money. When I went to
Mass, I thought I’d be happy because for the first time I could put money into
the collection basket that I’d earned myself.
But, when the basket came around, I had an unusual and
dramatic experience. I pulled the money out of my pocket, looking at it,
then the crucifix. I felt a profound sadness. I said to Our Lord,
“You gave me your whole self, and all I can give you is a few dollars.”
I had the sense that I wanted to put my whole self into the
basket. I knew God wanted more from me.
I went on a high school retreat, and listened to a priest
speaking on vocations. He said that we were all like a tree, which bears
fruit from the use of our time, talent, and treasure. As we grow into
adulthood, we give to God from that tree.
However, if you are called to religious life, you give God
the whole tree. He gets to plant it where he wants, and pick from it what
he wants. The whole tree belongs to him. Some are called to give
that whole tree.
I told a woman religious that I loved children, and of my
desire to have my own. She told me about spiritual motherhood, and said
that if I was called to religious life, I’d have more children than I could
imagine.
I entered the convent after high school. I thought I
would be unhappy there, but I experienced the joy that one experiences in a
true vocation.