LAuRIe mANDeLKOW

Letter to my daughter— the sister

Though her daughter’s desire to enter religious life didn’t come as a total surprise, a mother still had questions.

SISTeR KIm mandelkow, O.S.B. professing her vows.

by lauriE mandElKow

deAR kiM, i have something i should have said to you a long time ago but never have, so now i find it time to do so. Before i go on i want to tell you how very proud i am of you and of

Laurie Mandelkow is the mother of four children and one grandchild, with two on the way. She lives with her husband, Bob, on a farm near Red Wing, Minnesota and works for Bic in Red Wing. She and her husband are active at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Red Wing. the life you have chosen. i also want you to know that i love you. You are a very strong woman who has set goals and strives to achieve those goals.

When you finished high school and decided to go to college nearly five hours from home, i was sad to see you go, but i  also knew you had to spread your wings. At your commencement ceremony your dad and i were so proud of you—the first of our family to graduate from college and with a double major in music and religion and a minor in German! We weren’t sure where this path would take

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you, but we were willing to wait and see.

mom, I’m going to be a nun

Then one day you called and said you were entering the sisters of st. Benedict. You said you would be flying home with another sister who would help us answer any questions we might have concerning religious life, the Benedictines, and what this would mean for you and for us.   kim, i wasn’t incredibly surprised when you called because you had been leaving signs along the way directing us to religious life. You had studied religion, spent time with sisters, and you worked for the church. still, i never thought the day would actually come when you

would join a religious community.

But come it did. You were here with sister Anita. she seemed very nice; we were, however, a little leery. We called a family meeting and all of us sat down around our dining room

“The love the sisters showed for one another and for you was so strong that i knew i had nothing to worry about. i could see you were very happy.

table to ask a few questions: Will we ever see you again? Can you come home? Can we come there to visit? Are you sure you want to be a nun? (Yes to all of these.)

What does a Benedictine sister do, we wondered? do they pray all day? do they wear a habit? do they change their name? do they lose their identity? do you really want to live with other sisters and share all your belongings? do you have your own room? Are you sure you don’t want to wait for “Mr. Right” to come along, get married, and have children? Will you have a job? Are you sure (again) you want to be a nun?   it all seemed so different. What about when we die—will your share of the estate go to the sisters or can you keep it? What about when you die? Will you be buried there? so many questions, so many questions.

You and sister Anita answered them all, and we felt better know-

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ing more about religious life, but we were still worried. it was such a big step. From the first time you played piano for Mass when you were in grade school we knew we were blessed with a very special daughter who had a light to shine. i knew that God had given you the gift of music for a reason. He had a special plan for you. He wanted you to share your talents. of course we wanted that for you, too, but did you really want to be a nun? You have always had so much love to share—surely there was another way for you to share that love.

I now know you’re in the right place

Then the day came for you to enter

the monastery. Your dad, growing up in the Lutheran faith, was not sure about everything and chose not to go to the ceremony, so your aunt and i  went. The sisters were so wonderful and welcoming. i knew right then that you would be ok. The love the sisters showed for one another and for you was so strong that i knew i  had nothing to worry about. i could see you were very happy. When i  came home, i told your dad that he had to visit. Men are welcome there, too. He would love the sisters and the beautiful monastery. He would understand why you wanted to be there. He would understand why you are so happy.   six years later i see that the monastery is where you can share your gifts and your love. i know now

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God had planned that for you, and i am happy to be able to be a part of God’s plan—to have you, take care of you, and then let you go to move on to where you can share God’s love.   since that day we have been to

the monastery several times to see you. We always leave knowing you are happy and in a good place. We know you haven’t changed. You’re still our daughter. We can still call you kim if we want to—it doesn’t have to be “sister kim.” i can still

You’re still a part of our family. We didn’t lose you to the sisters: We share you with them.

mONASTeRy Immaculate Conception, Ferdinand, Indiana, Sister Kim mandelkow, O.S.B.’s new home

call or e-mail. You can still come home, and we can still do motherdaughter things. You’re still a part of our family. We didn’t lose you to the sisters: We share you with them.   kim, remember we love you very much and we are so happy for you, for what you are doing and what you have become. We are very, very proud parents.

With all my love, Mom =

Meet the class of ’11

According to The Class of 2011: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood, an annual national survey of men being ordained priests for u.S. dioceses and religious communities, the average age of ordained men in 2011 was 34, with more than half between the ages of 25 and 34. those figures follow a trend over the past five years of younger newly ordained priests. the class of 2011, though, includes men from a variety of ages and backgrounds, from the deaf to refugees from Vietnam, grandfathers, military veterans, and clergy from other Christian churches. the survey, conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at georgetown university, also found that many of the newly ordained were influenced by parish priests, Catholic education, service as altar boys, and church environments.

—VocationNetwork.org SpiritCitings blog

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