On Earth as it is in Heaven
How the Daughters of St. Paul are Celebrating God's Creative Love at their Saint Kateri Habitat
The Daughters of St. Paul are an international congregation of women religious, founded by Blessed James
Alberione. Their mission is to spread the Gospel using the most effective means of communication. You may
know them as the #medianuns. The Daughters of St. Paul are present in over 50 different countries
worldwide. For the Sisters living across the USA and Canada, their provincial Motherhouse is in Boston, MA.
And it has recently become a registered Kateri Habitat! Three sisters, Sr. Regina Frances, Sr. Linda Salvatore,
and Sr. Orianne Pietra René came together to share why the convent becoming a Kateri Habitat was so
important to them.
Where do you find inspiration to care for creation?
Sr. Regina: I find the beauty and majesty of nature spiritually nourishing and one of many connecting points with the manner in which God loves us. The order, beauty, rhythm, variety, color and sounds… every sense is engaged. I hope that by tending to God’s creation through the enjoyment and work of my gardening and landscaping, that I am helping others appreciate something of the draw that God as Creator has on me.
Sr. Orianne: I love the creation story in Genesis. Encountering the wonder and sacredness of this creative act of God in Scripture extends into everyday life – I can see that sacred spark of life and creativity in each aspect of God’s creation around me. As Catholics, we hold a sacramental worldview, meaning we believe that God can use physical things to make visible invisible, spiritual realities. He does that with nature, in its beauty and its rhythms, and Jesus points this out repeatedly in his parables. God reveals things about Himself through His creation: in man and woman in a particularly unique way, but in all of creation too. The same way an artist bears their heart through their artwork, God’s heart is reflected in all that He creates. Honoring creation is honoring the revelation of God’s heart.
How do you think the media can be used to spark an ecological conversion, especially among Catholics who may not be aware that caring for creation is a part of our faith?
Sr. Orianne: So many of us now live disconnected from the land but connected to technology. Disconnect from nature has major impacts on us – health and environmental struggles; loss of ancestral and survival knowledge; loss of beauty; and difficulty understanding many of the parables of Christ in the Gospels. When Jesus compares things to planting seeds or tending sheep, we may have a vague idea of what that might entail, but we miss a the nuances that so deeply reveal his heart. I’ve been thrilled to see people in ministry using technology to help people to understand the depth of these things. Books written by shepherds explaining the Psalms about shepherding, social media posts that explore the growth of seeds to explain the Kingdom, and so many other sharings that allow people to take a step into reconnecting with creation in a way that deepens their faith.
Media also allows people to pass down knowledge that may have otherwise been lost about tending creation. Apps that help us identify plants around us, YouTube survival experts, and online organizations like the Kateri Center all help people re-enter and navigate their God-given gift as a part of Creation. Media allows us to foster conversations; to share knowledge, beauty, and inspiration; and to gain the motivation and confidence to engage with Creation and Creator in a unique and irreplaceable way, as the stewards we were called to be since Genesis.
How have you as a community and within your apostolate spread the message of caring for creation?
Sr. Linda: Through our Publishing House, Pauline Books and Media, we printed Laudato Si and distribute it in our book centers. It has been a very special project for us.
Has Laudato si affected how you care for your land/property?
Sr. Regina: Laudato Si has affirmed my appreciation of nature, but Pope Francis’s writings have also made me more sensitive and conscientious toward how to nurture and protect the environment, so that creation may continue to flourish for the generations after me.
Have you given thought to the indigenous peoples who lived on your land at one time?
Sr. Orianne: So much of my own personal knowledge of nature comes directly from the wisdom of the Indigenous peoples with whom I grew up. When I first moved to Massachusetts, I didn’t know what territory we were on, or if the descendants of the original inhabitants were still here. We have several Indigenous Sisters in our community, but none from the MA area. I used a map on Native-Land.ca to find out which Indigenous people originally lived here – the Massachusett tribe. The descendants of the original people whom the English settlers first encountered are living in MA today, at Ponkapoag. I’ve been able to learn a bit about their history and their community from their website: massachusetttribe.org. It would be amazing to be able to meet with some of the community’s elders one day to learn more about their story, about the land we have settled on, and about how we can care for creation and one another in a meaningful way.
When and how did you hear about St. Kateri Tekakwitha?
Sr. Orianne: I first learned about Kateri Tekakwitha when I was a little girl. I grew up in Canada, where, as in the States, she is a saint dear to the entire country. Saint Kateri has always inspired me as a model of courage, of how to live straddling different cultures, of how to live fully committed to one’s faith in the context of one’s personal cultural context. And of course, she has been an inspiration to me of how to pray with nature.
She used to go out to pray in the woods and make crosses out of sticks. She helped me to find God’s smile and voice in the nature around me. In recent years, she has truly become like a sister to me in my faith journey. One of the Indigenous Sisters that I live with has a particularly strong devotion to Kateri; my Sister’s stories have inspired an even deeper friendship with Kateri in me.
What do you love most about your habitat? What would you like to improve?
Sr. Regina: I love helping to bring out the beauty of God’s creation. Our sisters work hard and sometimes don’t leave the property for days at a time. I like to think that my efforts at helping with landscaping and gardening offer them refreshment and an experience of beauty; and that visitors or passersby are inspired by the beauty of God’s creation. Beauty invites us to contemplate its source. In a way, I am proclaiming the Gospel by nurturing God’s creation since nature moves me to praise God’s magnificence. When I’m gardening, I like to think that I am helping my sisters to feel “at home” for a time, here on this beautiful earth — and to begin to connect with God’s marvelous eternal kingdom. To improve our habitat, we would like to add more trees to replace those we have lost and to eliminate the invasive vines that are endangering them.
Amazing…I am soothed by Sr. Orianne’s and Sr Regina’s work and words. As a Native American woman I have to straddle two worlds… and respect myself as well.
i read all the beautiful reflections about THE INDIGENOUS people and I will add all that was said
and do believe and admire it all.
I want to recall the time I was stationed in Culver City and Sr Marie James and I had the privledge to go to celebrate the Liturgy with the Indigenous families every first Sunday of the month. They are a people who are so kind and respectful beyond words .
I loved to hear their stories about their ancestors and children they are close family units who welcome everyone to their table.
Our was celebrated in their usual custom with incense and american indian attire you feel a certain closeness to the liturgy and to creation .something I truly miss. We all joined in to bring a pot luck favorite .ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY !