Sisters of Life

There is an article in the Wall Street Journal written by William McGowan about the Sisters of Life, a wonderful order of nuns dedicated to promoting and protecting the sanctity of life. These sisters assist hundreds of pregnant women a year. They also reach out to women who suffer from the trauma of a past abortion and those who choose to put their children up for adoption.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

According to the coordinator of the Visitation Mission, Sister Magdalene, some of the women seeking counsel have “all the means in the world” but feel that their social and professional lives, as well as their marriage prospects, would be over unless they abort. “But pregnancy is a wake-up call,” she explains. “It tends to stop them from doing what they might imagine they’d do without a second thought. We believe it’s a moment of grace.”

Half of those counseled by the Visitation Mission remain at home. Others are placed in private homes or in maternity facilities run by other religious orders. And then there are the women who move in with the nuns, in the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen.

There the women can stay as long as six months prior to giving birth and up to a year afterward, some holding down jobs, others studying. Meanwhile the sisters go about their lives of prayer, contemplation and occasional rollerblading. The nuns “rely on providence”—i.e., donations—for food, baby clothing and strollers. They excel at recruiting “Josephs” for heavier household chores. “Our motto is that no man leaves without doing us a favor,” says Sister Rita Marie, the local convent superior.

You can read the whole article here.