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Sister Leonie Therese of the Sisters of Life says it was after college that she was drawn to the sisterhood after praying in her parish chapel.
“I had signed up for the middle of the night holy hour and that was where I could sense Jesus inviting me to consider religious life,” she told me on a recent visit to their North Philadelphia convent. “From there I was kind of asking the question, okay Jesus but where? I wasn’t really familiar with any of the religious communities.”
Shortly after that she was praying outside of the Planned Parenthood in St. Louis and she got the notion of being part of a pro-life religious community. She didn’t have to wait long for the next direction.
“A friend that very day mentioned the Sisters of Life to me. So that’s how I was drawn.”
She spent six years in New York before being sent this year to Philadelphia, where she will accompany and support pregnant women with whatever their needs are, over the phone or in person.
“Listen to what they’re carrying and connect them with resources or housing or material things or just providing emotional and spiritual support,” Sister Leonie said. “Sometimes they just need somebody to talk to—a sister. And most importantly we pay for them. We bring them Jesus.”
The Sisters of Life in this chapter are based in this facility in North Philadelphia, very close to the Temple University campus. But they are very mobile throughout the region.”
“We are out and about, driving quite a bit. We do go and speak throughout the Philadelphia area and share the message of life.”
Sister Leonie says she has been blessed with a huge support system from those closest to her.
“That’s a huge blessing. There’s a sacrifice in it. It can be hard but seeing the grace that God has for each person in it when a person is called to the vocation. He gives grace to the family as well.”
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