Celebrating 40 Years of Caring for Aging Religious

We have been joyful donors to SOAR! for 26 years and are delighted to know that our donations have made the retirement years of these elderly religious a little safer, comfortable and pleasant.  These Sisters did so much to positively affect the lives of their students.  We were both taught in Catholic schools in DC and MD by various orders of religious communities.  Vincent attributes his career success to the writing abilities learned from the Sisters and Brothers in elementary and high schools and is extremely grateful to those religious for their devotion in preparing students for their futures.  Our lives were truly touched when our sons began their education in our parish school.  The Sisters helped us raise our sons and will forever be members of our families. 

Last May, some of my classmates celebrated our 60th anniversary of graduation from Notre Dame High School in Puerto Rico. I am sure that an impressive part of our reunion was recalling the beautiful memories of the wonderful Sisters of Notre Dame who taught us there. These years remain freshly in my mind and I pray for these Sisters every day; they abandoned everything to serve the Lord and spread His Word.

One Sister in particular, Sister Agnes Patrice, remains significant in my life. She gave me a missal 60 years ago and I still treasure that book to this day. SOAR! is a wonderful way to give back because we are, in a limited sense, contributing to the physical welfare of these blessed Servants of Christ who through their teaching and actions were instrumental in the formation of who we are today.

It is a pleasure for us to donate to SOAR! Our gifts acknowledge a “Debt of Gratitude” we owe to our religious teachers acknowledging all the ways they have enriched our lives. Bob was educated by the Marianist Priests and Brothers and Adele by the Ursuline Sisters and the Sisters of Notre Dame. Their influence gave us a strong foundation on which we built our marriage and our family.

And we love your newsletters and read every line. We’re delighted to see how our donations are being used.

We are delighted to donate to SOAR! because we care about our elderly religious very much. The lives and ministries of these religious are a priceless gift to the many they have served through the years. They have touched countless souls including ours for which we are grateful. We have updated our will to include SOAR!  We want our religious to be given the care and dignity that they deserve. We encourage others to pray about this and to see if God is calling them to donate or increase their donation to SOAR! 

It is enjoyable to hear from SOAR! occasionally to learn how our donor gifts make such a helpful, delightful difference in the lives of retired religious. I was taught by the Franciscan Sisters out of the Pittsburgh area and their teaching and example served as a strong foundation for my faith. I especially remember Sister Patrice who taught me in 4th grade and I’m grateful for all she did for her students.

Because of many religious women, I received an outstanding education. In elementary school I had the Sisters of Mercy. Several religious communities taught us in high school including the Sisters of Mercy, the St. Joseph Sisters, the Daughters of Charity, the Sisters of St. Dominic and a French community of sisters. These religious orders of women gave us an outstanding education along with being so tolerant of the escapades of our youth. The education we received gave us a “step up” in the world and enabled us to go onto many professional careers. I’m 94 years old now and appreciate even more the education my sister and I received. God bless these wonderful women; that’s why I am happy to help retired religious through SOAR!

I had the opportunity, while my wife was stationed in Japan for 4 years, to get to interact on a monthly baiss with an older Japanese Carmelite cloistered nun named Sister Elias. She was a university student during WWII and had lost a younger brother during the war and suffered many hardships. What she taught me was to love your neighbor, even when a neighbor might be your country's enemy and to remember that we are all one family in Christ.

Recently I was on a retreat at a spiritual center run by the Sisters of Life. I was able to share with one of the Sisters, Sister Mary Grace, my struggles with my job, the loss of my mother and life in general. Sister was so understanding, compassionate and understanding. It was an amazing experience for me, for which I am truly grateful.

It was when I attended St. Dominic Academy, Caldwell, NJ that I first met Sr. Gerardine. I had impaired vision, that progressively got worse, then led to full blindness. Sister Gerardine encouraged me, told me not to give up hope, she did not 'write me off'. To this day we remain friends which is blessing in my life.