An Interesting Retreat

Years ago, in Israel, I first heard of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, group of German nuns who had a "branch" house in Jerusalem. I never did visit their Jerusalem house, but I did become friends with a young American woman who spent a lot of time there. In fact, she was thinking of going to Germany and becoming a nun... Eventually she left... I never heard from her again, but over the years I thought about her from time to time and wondered if she ever did go through with her plan.

Then last spring, one of my friends here in Ottawa told me that she annually attended retreats of the Sisters of Mary right here in our city. Intrigued, I signed up to attend.

The retreat happened earlier this month.

Held in a convent I know quite well from other retreats, Maison de Notre Dame de la Providence, the weekend was a joyful time of renewal.

The two sisters who spoke were very low-key... In fact, I was surprised to discover that one of them now heads the sisterhood in Germany. (Prior to that, she had lived in the branch house in New Brunswick.)

Over the course of the weekend, talking to them, I was able to discover that my friend actually did become a nun! Now known as Sister Agape, she lives in a branch house in Paraguay...

I even found a book telling of how this branch house came to be established!

I was so glad to hear about her life!