Meet Sister Teresa

God has surely blessed me and shown me the way

Beginnings

At the time of my birth, my father, a Roman Catholic, was hoping that I would be baptized in his religion. My mother was a High Anglican and my two brothers and I were baptized in her religion.

As a teenager, forever researching other churches for meaning in my life, I was slowly drawn to the Catholic Church.

One day as I was walking along Côte St. Catherine Road, "Someone” compelled me to climb the many steps to St. Joseph's Oratory. There I knelt before the statue of St. Joseph. God's hand was in this and many more events leading me to start instructions to become Catholic and finally to enter religious life.

The Search

I began visiting different religious convents in Montreal, the city of my birth, but they did not "turn me on." Unbeknownst to me, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto operated St. Patrick's Orphanage, just a block away from where I worked. One staff member had both an aunt and a sister in this congregation. After having an interview with one Sister and meeting the others, I knew this was the congregation for me. Even so, it was hard for me to leave my family as I departed for the Motherhouse in Toronto to start a two-year novitiate.

Community Life and Ministry

During my long life as a religious Sister, I have served in many ministries including nurturing children in an orphanage, fulfilling clerical duties at our motherhouse and in hospitals, working with the elderly and nursing. But one of the most vital aspects of my community life is sharing love and support with the Sisters I live with. God has surely blessed me and shown me the way.

To read more Sisters' Stories, please see Meet A Sister