Meet Sister Ellen

"My membership in the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph has given me the opportunity to develop my gifts and to share them with others"

"I entered the world under the eye of Sister Vincentia," says Sister Ellen, describing her birth in 1933 at St. Michael's Hospital, then under the direction of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto.

Ellen attended St. Joseph's College School, where the teachers impressed her and she felt called to join the congregation upon finishing high school.

Vatican II

For 14 years, Sr. Ellen taught elementary school. Then came the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and her life changed. The Vatican Council directed religious communities to return to their roots. The earliest Sisters in France lived in small groups within their neighbourhoods. And so Sr. Ellen lived in a house with five other Sisters. "I set aside my habit. I moved from the big motherhouse and I left elementary education for the study of theology."

In love with theology

In 1969, studying theology took Sr. Ellen to Manhattan College in New York. "I fell in love with theology," she says. When she taught theology at the University of St. Michael's College, her students included seminarians, Sisters and lay people preparing for ministries. As well as teaching, Sr. Ellen wrote three books on the modernist movement.

Formally retired from teaching, Dr. Ellen is Professor Emerita while continuing to teach, counsel students and write.

Commitment to women’s equality

2002 brought the celebration of her 50 years with the Sisters of St. Joseph. In 2005, Sr. Ellen received the Woman of Distinction award from the YWCA, see image at left, in the area of religion and education for “a life of devotion to women’s equality."

"My membership in the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph has given me the opportunity to develop my gifts and to share them with others through my ministry of theological education," said Sr. Ellen, “ I am grateful for this and for the Sisters with whom I live in community who continue to inspire me."

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