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St. Francis and S. Therese Jilk, Rochester
Franciscan, were not formally introduced during her
childhood on the Birch Echo Valley farm, but she learned
the values of Francis, concern for creatures, all of
creation, the importance of reconciliation, from her
parents and the way they lived. She was struck by the
story of the Wolf of Gubbio and Francis’s way of making
peace even with a wolf; the “Saturday School Sisters”
who told it were the first Franciscans she knew. Again,
the impression they made, the oneness of all of us and
the cosmos, had roots in her parents.
She was able to attend St.Mary’s School in Winona for
junior high school, and the Sisters there wore joy as an
insignia. Theirs was a caring kind of instruction, much
deeper than the academic; it recognized who she was as a
young student. She heard them singing,
saw them bounding down the stairs, and thought, “This is
a happy way to live!” Their influence at play, their
happiness in whatever they were doing--she witnessed
S.Bartholomew’s joy in making cookies and sharing them.
At Cotter High School, S. Therese recalls with deep
gratitude the positive, life-learning influence of S.
Jonathan, the kindness of S. Gilbert.
When life as a Franciscan beckoned, she followed despite
a desperate homesickness; her mother gave birth to her
brother Peter, and her much-loved sister Barbara died of
a brain tumor during those early years.
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Not much was told about Francis or Clare in the
novitiate time, and most prayer was rote and prescribed.
Scripture didn’t enter into the picture until after
Vatican II. But then changes came—of rules, prayer,
dress, daily schedule. A greater closeness to Francis,
to Clare, to the person of Jesus, enriched her life with
deeper personal prayer; it grew and continued as she
taught small children, worked as a pastoral minister,
became example and mentor to so many, relationships
still intact. In 1988 she and her classmates celebrated
25 years of sharing Franciscan life, and rewrote the vow
ritual they had spoken in 1963. Instead of the stark,
unadorned sentences of that earlier time, they said:
“In gratitude to You, O God, for being with us on our
journey,
we stand before this faithful assembly of Your church,
to renew our vows as Rochester Franciscans.
Poverty, to become ever more dispossessed
of anything standing in the way of Your life in us;
Chastity, to become more loving of You, O God, of others
and of ourselves;
Obedience, to hear more clearly what You are asking of
us.
You prompt our desire to live in fidelity, and You
provide the grace to carry it out.”
Now these women, keeping in touch more daily than
before, are being transformed by countless sacrifices in
Eucharist and Word…and the profound influence of
Francis.
“The Lord gave me some sisters—to journey with, to
grow and learn with, to share community life.”
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