Responding with courage and personal sacrifice to the call of Christ in the Church, our foundresses lived out their desire to become women of prayer, community and service
SSMO Constitutions, Article 1
Dear Friends,
Advent Greetings! May this Advent season bless you with a deeper understanding of the sacred history of our faith before the birth of Jesus. I hope you will have ample time to read, study, and pray with the Scripture reading of each day of Advent.
Blessings,
Sr. Charlene
Meet our Sisters – Sr. Rita Rose Stohosky
Sister Rita Rose Stohosky’s desire to be a Sister began in the sixth grade.
As she went through school, Sr. Rita Rose thought more seriously about her faith and religion, and her desire to learn grew.
That desire has lasted a lifetime as Sister Rita Rose Stohosky celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, her 70th year with the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon in 2023.
Sister Rita Rose says every day, she gets up and asks God, “What are we doing today?” She says her conversational prayers help her consistently listen and follow His will. She ends with encouragement for others, “always strive to stay close to God.”
Visit Sister’s Jubilee page to read more about Sr. Rita’s inspiring journey.
Discernment Opportunities
Vocation Events for December
The SSMO Vocation Committee will be in Oregon and Washington this month.
Check out our events page for specific dates and locations.
If you happen to be where we are, please join us.
Please pray for our safe travels.
Thank you.
Questions:
Visit Five Formation Steps to learn more about the intentional and patient transition into religious life.
After discernment with a Community, what are the stages of integration into the Community?
You should visit the Community as many times as possible, making each stay longer as you begin to discover more and more about the vision, spirit, ministry, and prayer life of the Sisters.
Each Community will have a variation on the timing of the stages from introduction, getting acquainted, requesting to enter, and beginning the paperwork.
Myths about Religious Life:
Myth: Entering religious life is a last resort.
Fact: New members to religious life report having several career, education, and personal life options available to them. In 2019, research confirmed that more than 70 percent of entrants to religious communities have at least one bachelor’s degree before entering, with approximately 25 percent having graduate degrees.
Roughly nine out of 10 people professing perpetual vows say that they were employed before they entered religious life. Most also have ministry experience in a parish or social service setting.
*Source: National Religious Vocation Conference and VISION Magazine
Quotations from the Saints
“It often happens to me to be hardly able to use my hands from the fatigue of baptizing – often in a single day I have baptized whole villages.”
St. Francis of Xavier
“The Giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic His giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.”
St. Nicholas
“Where there is no love, put love, and you will draw love out.”
St. John of the Cross
