For vowed religious who live in community — who have dedicated their lives to simplicity, prayer and active ministry — this time of quarantine and social distancing presents its own challenges.
There have been adjustments: distance learning for those sisters who are teachers, extra prayers for an end to this pandemic, more tables to maintain the six-foot rule, and remembering how to sew for the creation of face masks. Still, the calling for the religious sisters has not changed. The objective remains the same, to bring the Gospel to all.
Photo by Dave Hernandez
“We continue our lives, doing whatever we can do,” said Sister Ambrogina Aldeni, superior of the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy Motherhouse in Newfield, where she lives with 10 other members of her community.
The community’s 30 acres includes its lush, green grounds and woods; the convent; and Our Lady of Mercy Academy, an all-girls high school staffed by the sisters.
Many of the sisters are older and retired, Sister Ambrogina said. Others work in education, prison ministry or pastoral ministry. Pre-COVID-19, they would travel to their respective schools, offices or parishes. Now, they remain under one roof.
“The house is big, so we are apart,” and practicing social distancing, the superior said. They gather together during communal prayer (to recall Pope Francis’ Prayer for the Pandemic, and prayer intentions for all suffering) and meals.
Before COVID-19, Sister Ambrogina would visit those shut-in their homes. Now, she engages with them in phone calls.
She has taken advantage of this time for more fresh air walks outside, engaging in “private time and reflection.”
“This time is now forcing us to be silent, better hear the Lord’s voice, and trust and hope in his mercy, that he will take us through this,” she said.
Three of her housemates, including Sister Mary Cronin, the coordinator of Prison Ministries for the Diocese of Camden, are currently using this time of lockdown to make face masks for the incarcerated, a task that required Sister Mary to re-familiarize herself with a former favorite pastime.
“I haven’t used a sewing machine in 30 years,” she laughed. But, she added, “as soon as I held the string in my hand, I knew what to do.”
In addition to helping the vulnerable behind prison walls, she is keeping “pretty busy” during this time, including walks on the grounds and playing the convent’s piano, keeping her fingers fresh for when she gets back to her work tickling the ivories at Sunday services.
She has hope for the future.
“I’m putting all this in his hands,” she said, speaking of God’s providence. “In his time, he will take this away from us.”
In Cherry Hill, at the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Infant Jesus’ Provincial House on Kresson Road, Sister Jerilyn Einstein, delegate superior, said the five sisters in residence are “’trying to keep our spirits up and make the most of this time.”
“We are spending more time in adoration, and more time together in prayer and community, with live-streamed daily Mass — we’re getting closer in fellowship and deepening our spiritual life,” she said
Most of their work is in education, ministry to the sick and pastoral ministry. Now, “the lack of social contact is tough,” Sister Jerilyn said.
As principal of Guardian Angels Regional School in Gibbstown, she applauds the work of the sisters and all educators who are engaging students in remote learning.
For those sisters who visit the sick, they now practice social distancing on residents’ porches, wearing and passing out face masks.
Sister Jerilyn finds consolation in this liturgical season that has included the prevalence of the coronavirus.
“We went from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, and now we are preparing for the upcoming Pentecost, where Jesus said to his Apostles, ‘Peace be with you.’ His peace overcame their fear,” and he is working the same way in us, she said.
Down the road, the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception have dealt with their own challenges. Two of their sisters were hospitalized with COVID-19, have recovered from their respiratory conditions, and are now improving at the convent.
Disposable tableware and sanitary measures have been put into place during meals, and a fourth table was installed in the dining room for the 22 sisters to better keep to the six-feet guidelines.
The Blessed Edmund Early Childhood Center on the grounds is now closed, but the sisters are hard at work with distance learning.
“I miss the children,” said Sister Margaret Kamien, who teaches 4-year-olds at the preschool.
The only physical interaction she and the other teachers have now with the students and families, she said, is the time when the parents pick up lesson plans at the campus, or when she and her sisters walk the neighborhood to drop them off at student’s homes. In their habits walking through Cherry Hill, they find a pandemic offers new ways to evangelize.
More time at home also means more time for organizing, and a recent Saturday afternoon saw the sisters re-shelfing the books in their convent library.
The relationship between her order and their surrounding community has also strengthened, Sister Margaret said, as neighbors frequently drop off home-made meals. “It’s a nice gesture,” she said.
She said she recognizes this time as an opportunity for all to “embrace their neighbor,” and she is hopeful that these days will lead hearts to “get back to God.”
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