Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei, S.V., reflects on the dignity of human life and the mission of the Sisters of Life during her keynote address at the Women’s Support Center’s Celebrate Life Banquet, drawing on powerful encounters that illustrate how grace can transform even the most difficult circumstances. (Photo by Catherine Fenelon)
Cardinal John O’Connor founded the Sisters of Life after a visit to Dachau, where he placed his hand in one of the crematoria used for burning Holocaust victims. Deeply pierced in his heart, he cried out, “Good God, how could human beings do this to other human beings?” From that moment on, he vowed to do everything he could to protect the sacredness of human life.
Keynote speaker Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei, S.V., shared this story of her order’s founding at the 15th annual Celebrate Life Banquet benefiting the Women’s Support Center of Milwaukee.
The Sisters of Life are a contemplative/active community of women religious who profess the three traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience plus a fourth vow to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life. They were founded in New York in 1991 by Cardinal O’Connor and received formal approbation as a religious institute in 2004 under Cardinal Edward Egan.
Held March 14, at the Ingleside Hotel in Pewaukee, the event drew about 330 pro-life guests and included cocktails, dinner and auctions.
According to Jackie Wild, Executive Director for the Women’s Support Center, the event was very successful.
“We all had a wonderful time being together as a pro-life community. Sr. Mariae inspired us greatly with her talk. Fr. John Burns led the opening prayer; Fr. Charles Luke led the closing prayer and led us in the ‘Ave Regina Caelorum.’ Archbishop Jeffrey Grob was also in attendance and blessed us all at the end,” she said. “People enjoyed bidding on some wonderful homemade pies, jams and syrups put up for auction as well as a relaxing vacation stay in Florida and a delicious dinner with Bishop Hying in the shadow of Holy Hill. Overall, it was an inspiring and gracious time together. We raised over $75,000 for our work at the Women’s Support Center.”
Founded in 2007, the Women’s Support Center of Milwaukee is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving women and families in the greater Milwaukee area. It works to help women and families who find themselves needing either emotional or material support, especially in the case of an unplanned pregnancy. Their mission is to help women choose the healthiest choice for themselves and their babies.
The organization helps women and families in need by offering free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, baby supplies, breastfeeding and childcare classes, natural family planning classes and more.
Organizations like the Women’s Support Center that serve the cause of life are doing God’s work, explained Sr. Mariae. She went on to explain that one day, when she was helping out at the Sisters of Life Visitation Mission, which serves women with crisis pregnancies, the doorbell rang.
“I opened the door to three high school senior girls who told me they just came from Planned Parenthood and wanted to know more about our program,” she said. “I invited them in, grabbed some cookies and sat down to listen. One of the girls was three months pregnant and shared that she said a prayer to God as she went to her abortion appointment that morning, ‘God, if you don’t want me to do this, you have to give me a sign.’ She was waiting for her abortion procedure, but felt restless, and so she went to the brochure rack. She picked one up, began reading it and started crying. By some miracle of grace, one of our brochures had made it into the rack. She knew it was an answer to her prayer that morning.”
For the next two hours, Sr. Mariae listened to the girl speak about her dreams, fears and pressure to have an abortion. In the end, the girl had a baby girl, graduated high school with honors, graduated from college and married a wonderful man.
“I didn’t know what I was doing, but God did,” she said. “If we are willing to give God permission, step out in faith, that’s all he needs to pour out life-changing graces. No matter the challenges ahead, love will be there to lead us through.”
In a poignant story, Sr. Mariae talked about an agnostic physician who, while a resident doctor, performed an abortion. Once the procedure was completed, he spoke with the patient’s sister to let her know it was done.
“Before he could walk away, the sister of the patient asked him one question: ‘Was it alive?’ He knew in his heart that if he said no, he would be lying, and that if he said yes, he had just killed someone,” she said. “That was the last abortion he performed.”
The doctor went on to dedicate his practice to serving life, delivering over 3,500 babies during his career as an OB/GYN. He married a Catholic woman and later entered the Church. They raised a large family of eight children, two of whom became Sisters of Life. He passed away on the Feast of the Holy Innocents.
“It would seem in God’s merciful designs, the little innocents that he once destroyed would be the very ones to welcome him into eternal life,” said Sr. Mariae, adding, “It was particularly powerful for me to watch the grace of this journey over the years, as this man was my father.”
