Sister Gabriel Brandt, OSB's Vocation Story

hi my name is sister Gabriel Brandt I grew up in Edwardsville Illinois about 20 miles east of st. Louis Missouri how did I ever get to Arkansas I'm asked this question a lot as I tell my story you'll see what drew me to Fort Smith I went to a Catholic grade school taught by the poor handmaids of Jesus Christ their mother house was in Donaldson Indiana I was very close to the sisters through the 8th grade I went to a public high school because we did not have a Catholic High School in Edwardsville I attended CYO meetings our Catholic youth organization I graduated from high school in 1946 my dad died in November of 1948 at the age of 50 middle did I think or dream that in 10 years I would be led to Fort Smith Arkansas this is how God works in our lives when he calls us to follow him more closely my high school years were very painful because my dad started staying away from home and drinking to excess I have one brother who is three years older than me and those sisters sad to say my brother started doing the same as my dad drinking and spending everything he earned that made my mother very dependent and possessive of me we had a Franciscan priest helping out in our parish and at one of our CYO meetings he said he would be leaving and would it be alright to transfer his subscription to a magazine to me I of course said that would be great this little magazine in my affiliation with another group of sisters was the turning point in my life this magazine subscription which is now called spirit and life published by the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde Missouri ran out after a couple of months and when I renewed it I commented on a particular article on vocations that was in the June issue I got a very lovely response to my letter and also an invitation to come to Clyde Missouri for a visit I actually did arrange to go there and loved it in fact I went to Clyde three times either for a weekend in April or May for some time for prayer the third and final visit there was in April of 1957 on this occasion they were expecting four sisters from Billings Missouri and a priest and asked me if I would mind waiting until they arrived for supper of course I didn't mind a bit they arrived and the sisters were very happy looking I was sitting alone at another table sort of wishing I could join them in their happy conversation so the next morning my place was set at their table and I learned later that one of the four sisters asked if I couldn't sit with them see how God paves the way for us just what I was hoping for I was privileged to show them around after breakfast because I had been there before I was delighted to do this one of the four sisters sister Jenna Rose met me later in the hall and asked me if I was planning to enter there had she not started questioning me and awakening the vocation I was already truly seeking only God knows where I would be today when I said no to her question she just said nicely may I ask why I told her because they were much too strict for me they were a semi clyster group of nuns and you couldn't go home for any reason even when your parents died this strict rule has now been drastically changed thank goodness I told her that my dad had already died and if I couldn't go home when my mother died our got very sick I couldn't take that bet very nice they opened the door for her to tell me about their order these four sisters were on mission in Billings Missouri teaching school there and belong to st. Scholastica monastery here in Fort Smith when I asked her where it was and she said Fort Smith Arkansas I immediately said oh I never wanted Arkansas that's much too far away she persisted in telling me that there was a direct train from st. Louis into Fort Smith and she would be at the station to meet me if I decided to come sometime well to make a long story short this was in April of 1957 I was here in Fort Smith in July of that same year and spent a week I really felt drawn here and began making plans to come back maybe in a year I had joined a retirement fund with the company I worked for and had another year before I would get all the company benefits I didn't want to lose all of that and wanted to leave it for my mom's care it wasn't all that much but was a lot in those days I worked 10 years for Sinclair oil company was secretary to the general manager and his assistant the last two those of those 10 years I had always dreamed of either going to the convent which I never ruled out or having an office of my own I was blessed to have both dreams fulfilled the company was expanding and built some new offices when these were completed I was privileged to have my own office between the manager and his assistant it was a wonderful feeling to have arrived at that part of my dream what more could I want I loved my job and had wonderful people to work with however God apparently had other plans for me just when I thought I had everything going for me I have this strong desire to go to the convent and drawn to go back to Fort Smith I spent a year making plans to leave since I couldn't very well talk about things with my mother because without her crying I went seven times to Billings to see sister generals and talk convent things Billings was 250 miles one way from my home so that was 500 miles roundtrip 7 times was I in earnest at one of the trips sister Jenna Rose let me try on her and the veil that we wore in those days she took pictures of me with some of the other sisters and sent me copies oh when I showed my mother the pictures with me on it I asked her if she knew anyone on there she spotted me right away and later told me she knew then that she couldn't stop me from going each time I went to Billings to visit for a weekend I felt so good and strong in my determination but coming home was always a sad experience I know my mother would have done the very same thing had I told her I was getting married are going elsewhere to work perhaps this was God's Way of testing me to see whether I really was going to follow his call or not shortly after I came back from one of my visits to see sister generals at Mass one morning one of the responses was if today you hear God's voice harden not your hearts that kept haunting me and coming to mind so much to this day whenever I hear that are read it in Scripture my mind goes back to that hard year when I think back and listen to others tell their story for the most part it seemed so easy for some with me being the only girl in the family I think it was more fear and lack of security on my mother's part I always say the day I left home God gave me an abundant supply of His grace or I would never have made it I had my own car and planned to bring it to the convent so that made it again hard I had no plane or bus schedule to meet so I just said I was going to leave at nine o'clock that day is still very vivid in my mind my mother's sister was kind enough to come over and stay with my mother until I got away I really think that was the hardest thing I ever had to pull through I backed out of the driveway rolled down the window and said to them I'll see you in 61 which was three years from then this was the ruling at that time well my mom and my aunt were on this depp's and crying so hard my heart was about to break this was August 30th 1958 and I was planning to drive to Billings and pick up sister Jenna Rose who is going to drive with me knowing I would be nervous which I was after I went a block or so I wondered if I should go back and see if they were still out on the steps but I couldn't make myself do that so I just drove on that was probably the devil tempting me to go back you think don't know what I would have done if they would have still been there we made the trip here fine when I entered on August 30th 1958 that was the opening day of the Academy after initial formation years I taught typing and shorthand for two years in our Academy which is the center now after making final profession in 1964 I taught fifth sixth seventh and eighth grades in Atkins Arkansas and we had to close the school in 1968 I was then appointed populate er which consisted in being in charge of purchasing and overseeing all of the maintenance and construction projects in 1979 I started another work took the LPN class at scene edward mercy medical center graduated and worked there until 1985 after which i was again appointed as procurator until August of 2001 now i'm infirmary assistant in our infirmary working with Brenda Pereira who is the director we work together very well I go as companion to the doctor with some of our sisters and my nursing experience is very helpful in bringing back information from the doctor there's been a trend in religious vocations when I came twenty nine was considered old I thought I was just well broken in in recent years women who have entered here have been in their late 30s 40s and 50s now vocation directors are encouraged to visit colleges to younger women who feel drawn to a religious life in community I sometimes think back and wonder why God made it so hard for me in all due respects to my brother he took very good care of my mother in her older years when I couldn't be there we had to put her in a nursing home for the last year of her life and this was doubly hard on both of us mom lived to be 94 won rewarding remarked my mother made to my brother toward the last was she looked at him and said you got a lot of me in you that really pleased him it was strange because she always held on to me for support but favored him because one of the ladies in our parish told her that my brother didn't need it he needed her but I didn't and she took her seriously in closing a couple years ago when I was visiting in st. Louis after one of the masses the priest said let us move forward under the canopy of God's grace that's what I did when I made changes in my life and that's how I got here you know the song Amazing Grace but one of our employees saying one day and it went like this there's no other word for grace but amazing how true on August 30th 1978 20 years after I left home my mother wrote the most beautiful letter expressing how sorry she was for making it so hard for me after reading the letter I went to find sister generals and the two of us sat wept tears of joy for such a tremendous letter saying that God more than took care of her after I left if any of you who listen to our read my story are prompted by the Holy Spirit to look into following God's call for a deeper life of prayer and work in his service don't let go of it call us or come and see how happy you can be as a Benedict and sister living a monastic life of Prayer in work I wasn't sorry I did and maybe you have similar challenges that are keeping you from making a decision thank you little more you

Channel: StSchoMonastery

Views: 15,343

Rating: 4.8150287 out of 5

Keywords: Benedictine, sisters, Catholic, vocations, monastic, discernment, career, religious

Id: Q25G-IdD1XM

Length: 14min 5sec (845 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 02 2010