Viriditas2: Soul Greening
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
When one moves to a new residence, there are a number of adjustments that need to be made. The most important of these for us Franciscan Sisters is that of managing the schedule for our prayer life. Saying prayers together is integral to our lives. Even though we no longer live in a convent, we still say prayers in the morning and the evening together.
Living in an assisted-living facility for seniors is very different from living in our own convent. As we no longer have our own chapel, we gather in the hallway to pray and go to St. Ann Church for Mass. Recently, Father James Joseph, the chaplain at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base, started coming over to the residence to say daily Mass for us. We feel so lucky and grateful to have him.
Another difference is that in the convent, each of us had our own duties like cleaning, decorating for feast days or other special days, etc., which we needed to complete on our own time. Here, we don’t do anything like that.
Once in a while I might ask one of the employees, “Do you need any help?” It is just a natural reaction for me to offer my assistance. But they will say, “No.” Because we are now paying to stay here, they won’t allow us to help.
We thus have lots of time. I partake in whatever activities are offered. These include things like playing games, watching visiting musicians, singers and hula dancers entertain, etc.
I feel like I talk to a lot more people now. At the convent, all you see is the sisters every day. Now, we need to be present to others. Some of the other residents love to hear about how we live as religious. Everyone wants to know about Kalaupapa. So we share our stories, and sometimes about our faith.
I am very fortunate that my relatives and good friends are very generous. They bring me things like certain foods or snacks or send such in the mail. After sharing with the sisters, there is often more left, so I share with others. In a way that’s another form of ministry as some residents do not have relatives visiting. So by sharing, they are really appreciative too.
My personal prayer has become stronger through these adjustments. Although I say a lot of different prayers in addition to the daily Office, I also pray the St. Marianne novena. This novena is particular to our congregation as Mother Marianne Cope is our sister and also a saint.
The novena started out informally as a prayer typed out on a piece of paper that was given to the sisters when we were living in our convent in Manoa. I realized that we did not have any prayers to her, nor a novena in her honor. So I wrote it out. Syracuse later got wind of it and formalized it adding on the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be, followed by “St. Marianne Cope, pray for us” which had been prayed, but was not written on the paper.
Today, I still say the novena throughout the year for a number of different intentions.
Sister Theresa Chow is a Sister of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities. She is 96 years old, and 76 years professed. She resides at The Plaza in Kaneohe.
