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Sister Maria Corredemptrix ’14
Sister Maria Corredemptrix ’14 (Emma Madden) was only 10 years old when she first felt God’s calling. “I was before the crucifix one evening and suddenly I had a clear understanding that the One before whom I was kneeling was the One who I had to give my entire life to,” she said. “I knew that it was He who had loved me infinitely and had given His life for me and that the only way I could thank Him was to give mine in return.” Sister Maria professed her final vows in September and is now a contemplative nun with the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará (SSVM) religious order. She was assigned to live at a monastery on the Jordan River at the site of Jesus’s baptism. There are two types of nuns, Sister Maria explained: apostolic and contemplative. An apostolic sister gives her life to evangelization of the culture, bringing Christ to every aspect of society through her work and service to the Church. A contemplative nun gives her life to prayer, work and penance in search of “the one thing necessary.” She was first introduced to the order through one of her teachers at St. Mary’s Ryken. “From the first moment that I saw one of the sisters, I knew that it was with them … that God was calling me to enter. There was a supernatural joy that radiated from her that I thought, ‘the joy that that sister has is so great that it can only come from her closeness with Christ.’ ”
Sister Maria’s desire was confirmed when she learned that SSVM sisters are missionaries. Spreading the gospel to the farthest reaches of the world has always been important to her. She and the other contemplative nuns live their daily lives under the exhortation of Christ when He tells his disciples to “pray always without ceasing.” Outside of prayer, the contemplative nuns complete housekeeping tasks and make liturgical items for the Church—all in silence, except for two breaks called “moments of recreation.” Sister Maria said, “We live our days in silence in order to show that ‘in the presence of God, there is nothing more to say.’ ” To abide by that vow of silence, this interview was conducted as a written Q&A.
St. Mary’s Ryken played a pivotal role in helping Sister Maria on her faith journey, she said. She credits SMR’s numerous activities in campus ministry and the theology department, in addition to introducing her to the SSVM, with supporting her choice. Her advice to current Knights considering a religious vocation: “Don’t be afraid of asking what it is that God wants of you, because He is the only one who knows the longings of the human heart and who can truly satisfy them.”
Sister Maria with John Olon and Dr. Rick Wood after she professed her vows in September
Sister Maria is a contemplative nun with the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará (SSVM) religious order.
