Meet a Sister

Sister Mary Tomlinson, SP, was a divorced single mother working her way up the corporate ladder when she recognized God nudging her toward becoming a Catholic sister. Read her story, from how she told her college-age son she wanted to be nun and his reaction, to her life today as a religious sister and a grandmother.

“I think our most important task is to become more and more like Jesus, and in that way to spread that to others. And you can’t do that without being fed. And the Eucharist is one of my prime ways of getting that nourishment,” says Sister Barbara Reder who currently ministers as a pastoral associate at St. Malachy Parish in Brownsburg, Indiana.

Sister Marilyn Baker shares about her life and call as a Sister of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in these short video segments.

Sister Claire Hanson is happy living out the Sisters of Providence mission of love mercy and justice in service among God’s people.

“I spent 40 years as an early childhood teacher and loved every day. I was fortunate to have lived in five different states during my teaching years which gave me wonderful opportunities for service, community life and making friends,” she said.

Sister Therese Whitsett has spent more than 30 years serving the Hispanic population of the United States. In her life as a Sister of Providence she can look back and see God's Providence guiding her along the way.

"As Sisters of Providence we have a very profound love and respect for one another. We pray daily, respect all human beings, collaboratively serve others including the poor, sick and underprivileged, care for the earth, challenge one another, support each other in good times and bad, accept each other despite our imperfections, celebrate each other’s successes, accompany one another in our disappointments, strive to be the persons God has called us to be, value the wisdom of various generations, are quick to forgive, honor the life and work of Saint Theodora Guerin and constantly discern God’s will," says Sister Anne Therese Falkenstein.

Download Sister stories – Sister Rebecca Keller   Rebecca “Becky” Keller was in her mid-20s. She had graduated from Purdue University and was teaching elementary school. Yet an idea remained with her that she couldn’t shake. She knew little about…

I honestly had never thought about being a nun until several people independent of each other asked me if I had ever considered it as a possible vocation. Though my initial response was that the thought never crossed my mind, the questions would never leave me.

Download All Things Possible – Sister Maureen Fallon Q. Tell us about your early life: your family, where you grew up, your priorities, your interests, your values? I’m an Irish Catholic Chicagoan, which defines a whole culture in Chicago. My…

Q. Why did you choose to become a Sister of Providence? A. They were friends of my family. I was never privileged to have Sisters of Providence as teachers because we never lived in an area where they ministered. My…