They have been called to do “insignificant” work in the eyes of the world, and now three fully professed religious Sisters of St Paul de Chartres have promised to do God’s work for life, reports The Catholic Leader.
Sr Theresa Maria Dao Thi Xuan, Sr Teresa Francis Pham Huu Hoang Trieu and Sr Teresa Monica Nguyen Thi Loc, made their perpetual profession on May 30 at St Bernardine’s Parish, Regents Park.
All three women were born in Vietnam, but both Sr Theresa Maria and Sr Teresa Monica met the Sisters of St Paul de Chartres in Australia.
Sr Teresa Monica Nguyen, Sr Theresa Maria Dao and Sr Teresa Francis Pham made their perpetual profession as Sisters of St Paul de Chartres on May 30. PHOTO: Emilie Ng/Catholic Leader.
Sr Theresa Maria was a student in Melbourne when she met several young sisters at a bus stop.
The chance encounter inspired her to leave her university studies in pharmacy, and her family in Vietnam, to pursue a life with the sisters in Australia.
Ten years later, the 30-year-old is now a sister for life.
“It’s come to this stage, as I reflect deeply, I only want to say thank-you to God for the graces and giving me the courage to say yes to this vocation, because I cannot imagine I could be anywhere else that could make me find the fulfilment in life and the happiness as to be His bride, and to be learning to be a spiritual mother to the people that God entrusted to me,” Sr Theresa Maria told The Catholic Leader.
As a Sister of St Paul de Chartres, an order dedicated to doing work not so common among other congregations, she’s been called to work with young babies in a Montessori atrium, right through to accompanying people on their deathbed.
“My friends are usually aged under 10 or over 70,” she laughs.
Sr Teresa Monica also met the sisters in Australia but, unlike Sr Theresa Maria, she was not actually in the country.
The 33 -year-old was living in Vietnam when Sr Teresa Lau, from the Brisbane community, paid a visit to her parish priest.
She had never heard of the Sisters of St Paul de Chartres, despite there being more of them there in Vietnam than anywhere else in the world.
“I messaged Sr Teresa in Vietnam, then joined the convent,” Sr Teresa Monica said.
“I did not know anything about the Sisters of St Paul de Chartres at that moment.”
The long discernment period has given Sr Teresa Monica a chance to reflect on God’s mercy in her life.
“Sometimes I think, who am I and what am I that God called me to this stage of life, and to walk in this path of life?” Sr Teresa Monica said.
Sr Teresa Francis’ has a similar disbelief in being called to religious life.
The former computer programmer was “nearly a pagan” who at one point felt more drawn to Buddhism than Catholicism.
“To get to this stage, to me, it was a really, really a miracle from God to me,” she said.
During her formative years in the convent, Sr Teresa Francis has also had to adapt to a new career as a nurse, which she believes would make her father proud.
“My dad always loved us to become a doctor,” she said.
Sr Teresa Francis supports other sisters at St Paul de Chartres Residential Aged Care in Boronia Heights, which was established by the sisters in 1989. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when aged care and nursing homes were forced into lockdown, the sisters were some of the only familiar faces for the residents.
Sr Teresa Monica said she never knew she could care so deeply for another person until she worked in aged care.
“Just for me, one word is the simplicity, to be with them and to be able to be present with them; it really, really touched me,” she said.
“That is my job, that I feel, maybe people think it’s not much to do with, but for me it’s a joy to be in here and share with people in this way.”
This is an abridged version of an article by Emilie Ng in The Catholic Leader. Read the full story here.