“The Felician Difference” Vocation Reflection
By: Sr. Mary Anita Bienia
My vocation began when I made my First Holy Communion. Sr. Ernestine assembled us in the classroom prior to our First Confession and said, “Remember to ask Jesus what He wants you to be.” I never forgot it and did what she asked.
My parents, the Felician Sisters, my parish pastor and siblings influenced me. My mother wanted to be a sister. When she died I found her Polish prayer book and saw a holy card of our Foundress. The card was wrinkled from being held as she said the prayer. My mother wanted one of her daughters to be a sister, I guess.
My pastor gave me two spiritual books to read, instructing me to read one page each day and I did. The books were entitled “Imitation of Christ” and “Introduction to a Devout Life.” I had two older sisters and I found a leaflet in their bedroom and read it. It encouraged me to become a sister. When my older brother would come home from the seminary in the summer, I would go to daily Mass and confession with him. I would help the sisters at the convent and in church when needed which helped me get to know their lives better. How blessed I was to have such encouragement and examples when I was growing up.
When I entered the community, I was taken out of college to train as an X-ray technologist. Later, I studied to become a medical laboratory technologist, working in our hospitals in Florida, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. I was a shy person and my work in these hospital settings helped me to become more out-going as I continued in hospital ministry. I asked Jesus what He wanted me to be, and He has led me faithfully ever since.
This reflection was shared as part of National Vocation Awareness Week. Discover more stories of vocation from our sisters.
