VIRIDITAS: SOUL GREENING
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
As a temporary professed sister, I used to dread applying for our yearly renewal of vows. One in my group was thinking of joining the cloistered nuns, and so was I. However, one year my superior said to me, “Em, Em, you need to renew your vows.” She continued to say, “I even wrote a letter to Jesus and put it under the statue for you.” Hearing that really touched me. Without prayer, and the prayer of my sisters and others, I would not be here today.
There are four remaining in my group that are celebrating their 25th anniversary of religious profession this year. We are spread out across the globe: one is in Italy, one is in the Visayas, one in Mindanao and I am here in Hawaii. We used to joke when we were postulants, 12 in number, that we were like the Twelve Apostles. In novitiate, we wondered who were the five foolish and who were the five wise, as we numbered 10 like the virgins in the parable. As our numbers dwindled, it is important to remember that every time you waver, just go back to your vocation story.
Growing up, I attended a public school. I remember in third grade seeing two figures in white standing on the other side of the national highway. I did not know whether they were priests or whatever. But, from just seeing them, I wanted to be like them and to dress in white. When I went home and told my dad he said, “Whatever makes you happy.” He was always so supportive. One of the quotes I have held since sixth grade is, “Get wisdom and you will have a bright future.”
A funny story occurred in elementary school when we used formal theme books to write in. I remember that the first assignment was to write my autobiography. Beginning with first grade, I wrote that I wanted to be a civil engineer. By third grade, I had changed my mind and wanted to become a sister. However, I did not know how to express it. So, I wrote the Filipino term “madre.” In checking my work, my teacher corrected it and wrote the word, “nun.” My understanding of “nun” was that it meant “nothing.” As I needed to rewrite the essay, I chose another profession because I did not want to be nothing. My grade dropped and I wondered why my teacher did not want me to become a madre. Only later on I realized what a nun was!
Although I wanted to continue studies at the public high school with my friends, my parents decided to put me in Maryknoll High School in Panabo. The school was run by the Dominican Sisters.
In my third year of high school, accounting was one of our subjects. I was so good at it that even the smartest student in our class couldn’t match me. So, I said, “Dad, I am going to be a CPA and help my younger brothers and sister, and after that become a religious sister.” But God has God’s ways. And now as I look back on the past 25 years, I am really grateful for my community, my relationships with others, and most importantly for prayer.
Sister M. Emilie Basitas is a Dominican Sister of the Most Holy Rosary of the Philippines. From Carmen, Davao del Norte, Davao Region, she came to Hawaii in 2005 and was assigned at St. John the Baptist School, Kalihi, and St. Elizabeth School, Aiea. She is the oldest of four and has a younger sister who is a Franciscan Sister of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
