Answering a Call

by Sister Gabriella Doran, CSC

For each of us there has been a plan — a call from God in our lives.  From the time I was a little girl I knew I wanted to be a sister.  How this could ever be accomplished I had no idea!   The Sisters of the Holy Cross, who taught me, always seemed to be a mystery.  The black and white habit worn by them was an even greater mystery.  How did they get it on?  Did they ever take it off?  How did they keep it clean?  These were questions for which I had no answers.  On the other hand, I never asked anyone, let alone any of the sisters, for the answers.

Our home was about four blocks from the school and the sisters’ convent, and a half a block from Saint Joseph’s Hospital where the sisters ministered to the sick.  It was common to see sisters walking around the hospital or past our home.  The hospital sisters wore white and that fascinated me.

As a child I would play with the neighborhood children on the beautiful lawn at the hospital.  All went well until we heard one of the sisters clap her hands and tell us to move on and not play on the lawn.  If we saw her coming we would run before she clapped her hands.  As I look back now, the sisters never did have a sign that said, “Keep Off the Grass.”

They were always so friendly.  A few of the teaching sisters would stop and visit when my parents were sitting on the porch or if we were playing ball in the street.  This always impressed me.

After graduating from Saint Joseph’s Grade School in 1936, I wanted to continue my education at Saint Joseph’s Academy, which was staffed by Holy Cross sisters.  The academy was located on the west side of South Bend next to Saint Patrick’s Church on Taylor Street.  My parents agreed to send me there at the cost of three dollars a month.  This was a great deal to give me at that time for it was during the depression.  I can remember my mother putting this amount aside each month along with $15 for my father’s life insurance.  She always said if anything happened to him it would take care of us. At that time Dad had a job with the W.P.A. cutting weeds along the highway between South Bend and Walkerton, Indiana. 

As a sophomore I transferred to Central High School since my brother, Joe, was there and he wanted me to follow along.  I persevered for the year but was not too happy.  I guess I missed the sisters at the academy!  During this year I read an article in Our Sunday Visitor about the Juniorate of the Sisters of the Holy Cross.  This was a high school at Saint Mary’s for girls who were interested in becoming sisters.  I wrote without my parents knowing this, and received an answer from Sister Annette, who was in charge.  I kept watching for the mail at home so no one else would receive the letter.  A letter from Saint Mary’s was not commonly found in our mailbox.  Fortunately for me, it came when I was home during the summer.

In the letter Sister Annette invited me to come see her at Saint Mary’s, so I went on the bus one afternoon without telling any family member.  Sister Annette told me at the time of my visit that I would have to tell my parents about my desires.  That was the hard part!  How would I tell them that I really wanted to go to the Juniorate when school started in the fall?  Much talking and convincing took place the next few weeks.  When I look back now, I wonder how it all happened.  I was the only girl and what it would cost my family never entered my mind.  I just knew what I wanted!

Sister Annette had said if my parents could not afford it not to worry, for the sisters would take care of it. My mother finally agreed to go out with me to visit Sister Annette. Somehow I felt she did not like Sister Annette very well, for she thought she was trying to talk me into something that I knew nothing about.  I knew that my parents, as well as my two brothers, Joe and John, were having a hard time with all of this.  My brothers never said much about my decision, and I am sure they were as confused as my parents.  We never had a sister or a priest in our family, and this was so new to them.  After much planning, as well as quiet and tense moments, I was finally ready to go to Saint Mary’s for my junior year as a Juniorate. 

My life there was similar to the high school girl in the academy on the campus.  We had our own living quarters in Bertrand Hall but we attended classes with the academy girls.  We followed the same schedule of rising, morning prayer and Mass as the sisters on campus.  We did wait on tables in the dining room where the academy girls ate.  This was a new experience for me, but I enjoyed it.  Once in a while Sister Annette was able to get tickets for us for a Notre Dame football game.  We had our vacation holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter at our own homes.  Living in South Bend made it easier for my family since we didn’t have to travel far to visit each other.  We depended on the city bus since my parents did not own a car.  Gradually my family was getting used to all this, for I loved it and was happy and that was important to them.

Before the end of my junior year it was decided by the sisters that the juniorates who returned for their senior year would enter the novitiate after the Christmas holidays when the second semester began.  My parents were opposed to this, since they wanted me to have a high school diploma before I entered the novitiate.  Of course, I wasn’t too happy about this, and in the end I returned to Saint Joseph’s Academy on Taylor Street for my senior year.  I did enjoy being back at the academy in town where my former classmates were.  I’m sure they thought I had given up the idea of being a sister.  My parents did promise that if I still wanted to go to the novitiate after I graduated I would be able to go.  I took part in every activity as a senior that year and enjoyed it all.

The night of our senior prom was a great event.  I had served on the committee and worked hard with others to make it a very special time.  I can remember telling my mother the next morning that we had such a wonderful time but there was something missing that I wanted in my life.  Of course, she asked me if I still wanted to go to Saint Mary’s.  When I told her yes, she asked me to wait another year.  At this I almost became angry since she and Dad had promised that if I waited a year and graduated then I could enter the novitiate.  June and July were hard months that summer since I knew what I wanted and at the same time felt lonely about leaving home and not having their support.  My brothers said very little about my going, but as I look back, I knew they didn’t understand my decision either.  Joe was 18; I was 17; and John was almost 16. 

August 1, 1940, came and I was ready to leave home and go to Saint Mary’s to begin my novitiate.  Dad left for work early that morning.  He had asked Mother what time I would be leaving and she told him it would be around 1:30 p.m.  He told her he would be home around 5 p.m.  Neither one of my brothers wanted to go with us on the bus when we left.  So Mother and I took a rather silent bus ride to Saint Mary’s.  Soon after my arrival and time to settle in, it was time for my dear mother to go home.  She never told me how hard it was for her, but I can well imagine.  In a couple of weeks I was assigned along with other postulants to do some chores in the laundry.  A South Bend lady who worked in the laundry wanted to know who the Doran postulant was.  She proceeded to tell me how my mother had cried all the way back to South Bend on the bus the day she took me to the novitiate.  That certainly was not a good day for me.

As time went on, my family saw that I was happy in Holy Cross, and they became reconciled to my wanting to be a sister.  Our visits, even though short, were good and peaceful.  Within a year after I left home World War II broke out and both my brothers volunteered for the Navy.  Again, my parents must have gone through much suffering, but God cared for Joe and John during the war and both returned home safely.

After six years I made my final profession in 1946.  From then on I was permitted a vacation of 10 days at home each summer.  These were happy times with my family.  In time, my brothers were married and there were nieces and nephews to enjoy.  My family made visits to the schools and convents where I was assigned and I always looked forward to these times.  As a Sister of the Holy Cross I have taught for 33 years in our Midwestern schools in Illinois and Michigan.  In 1972 I began a new ministry with older adults.  I assisted Father Louis Putz, CSC, in establishing the Harvest House in the South Bend-Mishawaka area.  For five years I worked at R.E.A.L. Services in Saint Joseph County as a caseworker for older adults.  I then spent two years at Saint John's Medical Center in Anderson, Indiana, as coordinator of gerontology services.

My community asked me to return to South Bend in 1983 to work with our retired sisters as the assistant superior at Our Lady of Holy Cross Convent.  I gave three years of service to this ministry.  Then in 1986 Holy Cross Health System entered a new phase of ministry in South Bend by acquiring nursing homes.  I applied for a pastoral care position at Saint Joseph Care Center West, on the west side of the city, and served as director of pastoral care there until 1999.

Since then I have been involved in our Congregation vocation program as an outreach person in the Midwest. I have set up some programs in the grade schools where our sisters once taught.  We are enthused because this sister-presence is giving some of our older sisters an opportunity to meet and talk to students who have never known sisters before.  It is also my goal to encourage some of our priests to set up their own parish vocation committees.

For the past six or seven years I have been involved in an on-site prayer ministry program.  A group meets at the site where a homicide has taken place to pray for the victim, the perpetrator and the families.  I also serve on several committees to protect the health and welfare of older adults in the community.  In addition, I have been working to obtain a full-time chaplain at the Juvenile Justice Center in South Bend.  Funding has been obtained and we are getting closer to that goal. 

I answered the call to Holy Cross almost 60 years ago.  I have always been happy as a sister, and never once have I felt it was a mistake to choose this life.  God has been more than faithful to me, and with the support of my family, friends and community during these years it has been possible for me to live a religious commitment.

I thank God for all he has given me — for the parents who gave me life, providing Baptism and the opportunity of receiving the other sacraments of the Catholic Church; for the Catholic education they provided for me under the Sisters of the Holy Cross; for all the advantages of education and spiritual opportunities that the community has given me.  I am deeply grateful and pray that all people may continue to be a support to one another as we continue our journey to God.