Meet Sister Maria Gemma from Newark, Ohio
Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration,
Immaculate Heart of Mary Province, Mishawaka, Indiana

Sr. Maria Gemma, (Candice Salyer) is from Newark, Ohio and is a former Newark St. Francis DeSales parishioner. She is currently a Novice Sister in her second year with the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration in Mishawaka, Indiana.

Sr. Maria Gemma graduated from Newark Catholic in 2002 and graduated from Ohio Dominican University with a B.A. in Theology in 2006.

In 2005, Sr. Maria Gemma joined St. Paul’s Outreach at the Ohio State University campus where she lived in a household of other faith-filled women. “I would not be where I am today without the support of my friends in St. Paul’s Outreach,” said Sr. Maria Gemma. Saint Paul's Outreach (SPO) is an evangelistic and catechetical lay ministry program that supports university students and young adults in their Catholic faith.

Discernment

Sr. Maria Gemma began discerning a possible call to religious life during her junior year of college, “I thought I might be called to religious life, so I made a list of what I was looking for in a community,” said Sr. Maria Gemma. “My list included Perpetual Adoration and I was looking for a community that still wore habits and had a Marian devotion.”

About that same time, Sr. Maria Gemma ended a relationship with a boyfriend and stopped dating altogether so she could really discern God’s call to her. She also kept a spiritual journal.

“I prayed for grace to do whatever God was asking me to do,” said Sr. Maria Gemma.

She searched online for religious communities and had bookmarked about 50, but ended up only visiting two communities. A good friend, who was a Columbus Diocese seminarian at the time, introduced her to a group of Sisters who were visiting Columbus. She felt a call to visit their community shortly thereafter; they were the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration in Mishawaka, Indiana.

“A friend and I drove to visit the community for a discernment retreat weekend in November, 2005 of my senior year in college,” said Sr. Maria Gemma. “But when we pulled into the driveway, I knew I was going to be there longer than a weekend. I left the retreat thinking that this is where I want to be. When I returned home, I e-mailed Sr. Lois, the Vocations Directress, and asked to enter.”

Entering the Community

After Christmas, Sr. Maria Gemma, drove back to pick up the entrance papers. That is when she started doubting. “I had only visited one other community, but it felt so right for me there. I prayed and realized that I had to trust that the Lord was leading me.”

Sr. Maria Gemma completed all the entrance requirements by April, 2006. She felt confident about her decision although she says she “didn’t know what to expect.”
When Sister Maria Gemma first told her parents about being called to religious life, her mother was concerned because “she felt like she would never see or talk to me again,” said Sr. Maria Gemma. “But she visited me after I entered and she saw how happy I was, and how the Sisters are like family to me, and she had a change of heart.”

She entered as a Postulant on Sept. 17th, 2006. She admits that the first year has its “joys and challenges.” The postulants are learning what it means “to be a bride of Christ,” so distractions are limited, and they have home visits twice a year, according to Sr. Lois.

Contemplative Active Formation

“We call it contemplative active formation with a focus on finding out what it means personally to be a bride of Christ. This is a time of intense preparation,” said Sr. Lois. “This time includes community living, learning about the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, having freedom from distractions, and curtailing extraneous outside activities. This is not cloistering, as we are still active in the world and family can come here to visit.”

Sr. Maria Gemma had to adjust from the schedule of a college student to the schedule of the Motherhouse. “Coming out of college where you have a flexible schedule and often stay up late studying and going to the structure of a community is a new challenge,” said Sr. Maria Gemma. Also, it was very interesting to Sr. Maria Gemma that women who feel God calling them to the same community have very different personalities.

“Being a postulant was exciting and it was and is an interesting process of really learning who you are through prayer, spiritual classes, work, recreation and reception of the Sacraments.”

Life at the Motherhouse

A typical weekday at the Motherhouse includes meditation in the chapel at 5:30 a.m. followed by the Liturgy of the Hours, celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Eucharistic Adoration and prayer of the Holy Rosary and an Act of Consecration to Our Lady, followed by breakfast.

There is light work duty at the Motherhouse followed by spiritual classes, with topics such as Franciscan Spirituality, Canon Law, and Scripture. There is Midday Prayer, lunch, and free time to pray, walk, play volleyball or other recreational activities, or to do homework.

Sr. Lois, Vocations Directress, describes the classes as providing information about the community and “heart knowledge for spiritual development, not academic.”

Late afternoon work duty may include a visit and assistance to retired sisters at Our Lady of the Angels convent. “Our retired Sisters participate in Perpetual Adoration from the hours of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. We have one Sister who is 102 years old who still prays for one hour in the adoration chapel,” said Sr. Lois. “The graces that come to us from adoration help us to continue to follow God’s will.”

The Sisters pray the Rosary, Evening Prayer with Benediction, and have dinner, followed by time for recreation, Night Prayer, and free time with lights out by 9:30. There is adoration all night and Sisters volunteer to pray for one hour. On weekends, there are no classes or work duties.

Perpetual Adoration

The Sisters in formation (postulants and novices), and those involved in apostolic works during the day, participate in Perpetual Adoration during the evening and night hours.

“Perpetual Adoration is the gift or charism from the community,” explains Sr. Lois.

One of the joys for Sister Maria Gemma is adoration. “Getting up in the middle of the night for adoration is difficult, but it is so wonderful to be with the Lord in the quiet of the night. You never know what the Lord will do with you.”

Apostolic Works

The apostolic works of this community include heath care and education. The Sisters of St. Francis serve 12 hospitals in Indiana and Eastern Illinois and teach in many grade schools and high schools and operate the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne, IN.

Sr. Maria Gemma is spending January through March, 2009 in Lafayette Indiana with Sisters at a mission house (convent) where she works at an elementary school with a sister who is Principal and another who is a teacher. This apostolic activity helps Sr. Maria Gemma, and other novices, discern how they are called to serve as a Sister.

“It is important to see what life is like outside of the Motherhouse,” said Sr. Maria Gemma, “and to decide what ministry we are called to. I am not sure if I am called to teach at the elementary or high school level.”

Sr. Lois agrees. “Apostolic works for our Sisters challenge us to ask, what does the community need and what are the gifts God has given us?”

A Life of Prayer and Service

Sr. Maria Gemma and two other novices are preparing to take first vows on August 10th, 2009.

When reflecting back on her three years of formation with the Sisters, she comments that “there is sacrifice, but that the joys far outweigh the sacrifices 100 to 1.”

Advice to Women Discerning God’s Call

Sr. Maria Gemma encourages women who are discerning a religious vocation to have fidelity to a prayer life, attend daily Mass, and to frequent Confession and Adoration.

Sr. Lois encourages women who are discerning to visit a few communities, “but women find us through the Holy Spirit.”

In looking back, Sr. Maria Gemma says reflectively, “If I had not been in SPO, I may not have heard God call me as soon as I did. Making a commitment to pray every day, and being accountable to that, is so important. Journaling was also very helpful, and when I re-read my journals from college, I see how clearly God was calling me to religious life.”

When asked about any surprises in community life, she replies, “Everybody is not a perfect saint. There is always room to grow and we are always striving for it.”