Devotion to God’s love in the Eucharist

by Maria del Pilar Arroyo

The spirit Sister Eymardine emanates touches my heart in a very deep way.  When I wanted to find out more about her and see in what way she expresses her spirituality, she told me her vocation story.

At her First Communion, Sister Eymardine prayed to God to allow her to be a sister or to let her die.  Passion was her first value in life.  When she was a child she had seen Sisters of the Holy Cross and announced to her mother when she saw them that she wanted “to make caps like that,” meaning the fluted caps that the sisters wore with their habits in the 1920s.  Little did she know that God would answer her prayers literally.

She had visited the Benedictine Sisters of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with her sister and cousin.  She knew very quickly God was not calling her there because she was not attracted to the contemplative work.  She wanted to be more involved in an active ministry.  She knew what she wanted and what she did not.

Sisters Redempta and Eymardine when they entered the Congregation in 1933 and now.

It was by chance that in 1929 at the age of 14 she visited Saint Mary’s at Notre Dame, Indiana.  Her sister was invited by a cousin to come visit the motherhouse.  Since her sister was not able to take advantage of the opportunity, she offered it to Eymardine.  Sister Eymardine spent three days at Saint Mary’s.  While riding down the avenue on their way back home she told her aunt, “If you ever bring me back here, you won’t be bringing me home!”  She knew at that time where God was calling her.

When she talked to her parents, her father asked her to wait one year before he would give permission for her to enter the convent.  So she waited and had faith in God and in the deepest desires of her heart.  On November 5, 1930, Sister Eymardine and her sister, Sister Redempta, come to Saint Mary’s to make their home with the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross.

When she received the habit, she was given the name of Eymardine from Saint Eymard, who started the 40-hour devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.  He founded an order of sisters and priests just about the time Father Basil Moreau had founded Holy Cross.  Since she did not know anything about the saint, Sister Alphonsus, who was her “white veil” — the novice who helped her — gave her his biography.  She was touched by his story and spirituality and felt it was a blessing for her to receive such a name.  His story helped her understand the mystery of Christ’s love in the Blessed Sacrament.  Ever since she has had a deep devotion to the Eucharist.

Sister Eymardine has shared her great devotion to the Eucharist with children throughout her life.

Sister Eymardine says that what attracted her to Holy Cross is that it is a place where she could be contemplative and apostolic at the same time.  She perceived the spirituality of Holy Cross, when she entered, to be charity — love for each other and the balance between prayer and apostolic mission.

For her ministry she stated that she was willing to do whatever the Congregation asked her to do.  She was flexible and willing.  In the Scholasticate, a year of study, the young sisters were asked to flute the caps, and she willingly and excitedly volunteered.  Her thought was that if she was not asked to teach she could at least flute caps, part of the headgear worn with the original habit, thus fulfilling the wish she had made as a child.

She believes that she expressed the spirituality of Holy Cross in her ministry by reaching out to the students and parents with Christ’s love.  In her teaching she was able to share the love she met in her First Communion.

Sister Eymardine has the gift of creativity and one of her gifts was that of being a good resource for activities with first graders.  One of the sisters told her to go to a closet where she would find activity supplies used by teachers in years past.  Her favorite was a television made out of a box that displayed pictures painted on a long piece of paper.  The children loved it.  The following summer the principal requested that the teachers bring back activities they used during the school year so they could share them with the other sisters.  She brought her favorite — the television set.  From then on the activity was used by many of the other teachers.

Over the years there has been a shift in the way community living is experienced. “In the past,” she said, “we were told what to do, but now there is the request for us to express initiative.”  Either way she believes the Holy Spirit is always at work.  There were times she felt she was called to do something but did not approach anyone about it, and later she would be asked to do that which her heart was asking her to do.  Her deep devotion to the Holy Spirit came from Sister Incarnata, who advised her to nurture her trust in the Holy Spirit.

Sister Eymardine has a great trust in God’s providence and believes it comes in situations, people and even in books.  In fact, she trusts God’s providence in everything in her life.  She believes all challenges are opportunities to do God’s will.  All the joys and sorrows, she says, merely “influence each other to help us grow into what God wants us to be.”

Her biggest lesson in life is trust.  The biggest gift she has received is the “continual increase of God’s love and care.”  She feels her greatest impact on Holy Cross has been her prayer for others and her adoration of the Blessed Sacrament even though she may not always see the results of her prayer.  She gives as an example of the power of prayer, Saint Monica and her prayers for Saint Augustine.

The Congregation’s desire to move with the Spirit was her greatest tool.  She has taken the talents given to her by her God and has invested them in the most profitable way.  Her greatest asset is her genuine humility and self-knowledge.

Sister Eymardine serves as sacristan at the Church of Our Lady of Loretto at Saint Mary’s.

While talking with Sister Eymardine I felt a sense of peace, simplicity and love. Her room displays these qualities. There is an atmosphere of security around her and in her room.  Near the entrance to her room there is a simple desk with a phone, lamp and some papers with a few notes.  Her bed is covered with a simple bedspread of a quiet color.  Her window shades were wide open, inviting in all the daylight of a snowy day.  On the walls hung a cross and a couple of simple pictures.  Again, the simplicity of the décor enveloped me in a deep state of relaxation.  I was at peace and felt loved in such a simple room.

As I reflect back to the first time I saw and spoke to her, Sister Eymardine exemplified what I myself desire.  I desire confidence and have a yearning for a peace; I look forward to knowing myself.  She has achieved this confidence by trusting God and devoting herself to God’s love in the Eucharist.  She is a true contemplative in an apostolic life.

She has been willing to do whatever she is called to do.  Sister Eymardine knows herself well and has a genuine humility.  She knew who God created her to be. Deep inside her was the confidence that she could recognize the tools and the road God made for her.  This confidence comes from her knowing God and herself well.  Her certainty that the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross was her home is an example of this self-knowledge.  She was willing to do whatever the Lord wanted because she knew that she was going to be led by God.

The Congregation’s desire to move with the Spirit was her greatest tool.  She has taken the talents given to her by her God and has invested them in the most profitable way.  Her greatest asset is her genuine humility and self-knowledge.

Sister Eymardine challenges me to continue to find myself and to nurture my trust in God.