Experience Together

Living Together in FaithLiving Together in Faith

The doors of Theresa Center at Sancta Maria in Ripa have been opened to several women religious from the Lovers of the Holy Cross (LHC) from Hanoi, Vietnam, so they may live together in faith with the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND).

Sister Thu Do, LHC, has lived at Sancta Maria in Ripa since 2012. She is working on her doctoral program in higher education administration at St. Louis University. This past summer, she had an internship with the vice president for academic affairs at Notre Dame of Maryland University, which is sponsored by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, and lived with SSNDs in Baltimore.

The LHC sisters pray while walking the grounds of Sancta Maria in Ripa every evening.

The LHC sisters pray while walking the grounds
of Sancta Maria in Ripa every evening.

In late April, LHC Sisters Nga Tran, Linh Do, Ngoc Nguyen and Hong Bui also came to St. Louis to live in the SSND community and continue their education at St. Louis University. In Vietnam, two were nurses and two taught kindergarten.

Each one lives with a different community, or group of SSNDs, at Theresa Center. Although most of their time is spent together in studies and prayer, they spend as much time as possible with the sisters in their local communities and with staff at Theresa Center. They connect with their mother superior in Hanoi regularly using Google+ Hangouts.

“We had a very structured day at our motherhouse in Vietnam. Here, when we join the other sisters for prayer and Mass every day, it helps us to feel comfortable, like we are in our convent in Vietnam,” Sister Linh explained.

Taking a break during English lessons, (seated from left) Sisters Linh Do, MarieClare Powell and Ngoc Nguyen, and (standing) Sisters Hong Bui and Nga Tran.

Taking a break during English lessons, (seated from left) Sisters Linh Do, MarieClare Powell and Ngoc Nguyen, and (standing) Sisters Hong Bui and Nga Tran.

Sister MarieClare Powell from Chatawa, Miss., spent the summer in St. Louis teaching the four sisters. Sister MarieClare, a former math and science teacher, first connected with LHC sisters after returning in 1999 from Hungary, where she had taught high school. She was asked if she would teach two sisters of the Lovers of the Holy Cross from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, who lived in New Orleans.

Following that, she traveled to Ho Chi Minh City to teach 70 sisters from October 2002 to March 2003.

“Sister MarieClare has been a very patient teacher with us,” Sister Linh said. “We have learned a lot from her. Everybody has been helping us. They have been very enthusiastic to help us!”

How would you “open the doors” for someone from another culture?

Photo credit: Linda Behrens, Staff

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