Sister Clarita Browning still conversing daily with God

Growing up in the small town of Calvary, Ky., Ursuline Sister Clarita Browning recalls that prayer was a normal part of her day.

“In the evening, Mother would say, ‘it’s time for prayer,’ and we kneeled and prayed,” Sister Clarita said. “It was Mother’s attitude toward prayer that touched me the most. It wasn’t anything that was pushed on us. I knew other children whose parents made them pray, and they didn’t like to pray.”

Attending Mass and saying prayers were always important to her family. Her two older brothers became Passionist priests, and one of her younger sisters is an Ursuline, Sister Marie Goretti.

“In the country, we had to get to Mass 30 minutes early to visit with the cousins and aunts and uncles,” she said with a smile.

This year, Sister Clarita is celebrating 75 years as an Ursuline. She remains active in the Powerhouse of Prayer, where she continues to talk to God “out of her head,” meaning in conversation rather through specific prayers.

“I ask myself, ‘What am I talking to God about? Why am I doing this? What would my life have been like if I hadn’t?’ I am so grateful that God took care of that early in my life,” Sister Clarita said.

The Browning family took part in the 40 hours devotion before the Blessed Sacrament, and when she attended Mount Saint Joseph Academy, she could join the Sisters in that prayer, she said.

“We had a lot of models who showed us that prayer was an important part of life,” Sister Clarita said. One of her role models was her classmate, Sue Emmick, who following graduation joined the Carmelite monastery in Baltimore and took the name Sister Veronica.

“After supper, she’d leave the dining room and go to the chapel,” Sister Clarita said. “I’d go to the study hall, but I’d wonder what she was doing. I thought it was so wonderful at her age that prayer meant so much to her.”

During a senior retreat while she was at the

Academy, Sister Clarita said she began to feel a tug at her heart that led her to join the Ursuline Sisters.

“I became aware that it was God,” she said. “I had been watching the novices and postulants all my senior year. I thought it was so interesting that these people would leave their homes and families to come live this life.”

She said she didn’t feel holy or prayerful, even though she prayed all the time.

“I could sit by myself and pray. I just sat before the Lord in my room, or when I was studying,” she said. “I wasn’t using a book; I was just talking to God. It made me feel so close to God. It always took me back to what I wanted. I knew it was something I needed, that it would make me a better person.”

During her years of ministry as a teacher, professor of education, and parish minister, prayer meant a lot to Sister Clarita.

“I’d find myself going to the chapel, or sitting in the yard looking at the trees and animals, and thinking about how good God is,” she said.

She came home to the Mount in 2002, and enjoys attending morning and evening prayer with the Sisters.

“It’s wonderful. It helps me to pray with the other Sisters. I find it very sustaining,” she said. “We need each other – as support, as models, as friends. We need prayerful people.”

Now at age 94, Sister Clarita’s eyes are too weak for her to read on her own, but she continues to call on her lifetime of conversing with God to pray.

“I just place myself in the presence of God. I want to be here, I want to be in touch with God, to see if he has anything for me to do,” she said. “I miss the help I get from a book. I do the best I can, and God knows the rest. I know it’s between me and God.”

Sister Clarita wants people to know how grateful she is – for the education, opportunities and support of her Ursuline community, for her family and friends, and for all the ways God has touched her life.

“I want everyone to know that I have a wonderful relationship with God, through all my ups and downs.”

Friends can write to Sister Clarita at 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356.n

We hope you enjoy our “Sister Sisters” featured at left and below...The Brownings of Calvary, Ky.

Meet Sister Marie Goretti – She enjoys books, croquet and Canada

Z Best gift you ever received: “The best gift I have ever received is learning to read. There are all kinds of things that I have that are gifts from God, but I love to read. I have always liked it. At home, my parents had a bookshelf with a lot of old books in it. They were good stories. I used to go upstairs into that room and get into that corner and read from those books.”

Z Favorite thing about your childhood: “I grew up on a farm and we had all kinds of opportunities to experience work in the field and different places. We had a big yard, and we had a croquet game set up in the yard for a few months during the summer. I enjoyed that more than anything. We used to have more fun playing croquet! Some of our neighbors would join us and we would cheat with each other. That made it a lot of fun that we tried to get ahead of each other. I got pretty good at it, but I wouldn’t say I was an expert.”

Z When you were a student, what was your favorite subject in school? “It seems like I always liked the math class and did well in it. But I also liked good literature and good stories.”

Z Person you admire the most: “The one person who I admire the most and have learned so much from is (Monsignor) Bernard Powers (left). He was around when I was working at the Mount. I had him as a spiritual director and he really did bring me alive to God. I couldn’t imagine that I would ever feel that happy with God. He was so helpful and such an inspiration. He is at the Carmel Home now and I haven’t seen him for quite a while. Sometimes I think I’d like to see him and tell him how much that meant to me. He is a good man.”

Z Favorite place you have ever been: “The most unusual place I’ve ever been is Canada. When I was missioned in Paducah in my 30s, there was a teacher who was from Canada. We became good friends, and she took me and Sister Marie Michael Hayden to Canada where she lived. They showed us such a big time and it was really a good vacation. I had never been any place like that. It was so different from what we have – it was beautiful.”

Z Morning person or night owl? “I am a morning person. I have more energy and am more interested in things in the morning.”

Z Favorite author: “One of my favorites is Thomas Merton, and I also like Henri Nouwen.”

SISTER CLARENCE MARIE LUCKETT, 92, died Feb. 14 at Mount Saint Joseph, in her 72nd year of religious life. She was a native of Greenbrier, Ky. Sister Clarence Marie was a friendly person who served wherever she was needed. She witnessed the love of Jesus to all those she met. Sister Clarence Marie was a teacher for 30 years in Kentucky, then ministered to Hispanics and served in parish ministry and outreach. For the majority of her years as a Sister, she made beautiful quilts to support her Ursuline community, completing more than 50 quilts for the Ursuline Quilt Club. She led the craft room at Maple Mount from 1985-92. Survivors include the members of her religious community; her brother, Benjamin Luckett of Louisville; and nieces and nephews. The funeral Mass was Feb. 17, with burial in the convent cemetery. Donations in memory of Sister Clarence Marie may be made to the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356.