Reflection by Brother Barnabas Wilson, Dominican Seminarian
“In the presence of the Blessed Trinity and of Mary Immaculate…”
In 1954, Sister Rose de St. Raymond made her first profession as a Little Sister of the Poor. Seventy years later on June 7th, 2024, at the Jeanne Jugan Residence in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, she stood in the midst of priests, friends, and her sisters. During Mass for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, she renewed her religious promises. “I, Sr. Rose de St. Raymond, renew with all my heart my profession… and promise God to observe faithfully the vows of Chastity, Poverty, Obedience and Hospitality which I made forever in the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor.” As a brother volunteering at the Residence for the summer, I had the privilege of serving at the Mass and witnessing her renewal of vows. I could see very clearly that Sr. Rose’s life is a total self-gift, which every religious aspires to make after the model of Christ.
In their ministry, Little Sisters follow the pattern of Saint Jeanne Jugan, their foundress. St. Jeanne began her ministry to the elderly and infirm by giving her own bed to a blind widow who had nowhere else to stay. St. Jeanne had the eyes of faith, and knew that the poor woman she served was Christ in disguise. In the poor and elderly, she heard Jesus’s words to Zaccheaus; “Come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house” (Lk 19:5). Welcoming the elderly into her home was welcoming Jesus. For St. Jeanne, one widow soon became two. After founding her Congregation, it only took a few more decades for her mission to spread across the entire world. It has been a privilege of my religious order, the Dominican Friars, to assist at the Little Sisters’ Homes across the country. Several of our friars have also received care from the Little Sisters.
The Mass on June 7 was a time to thank God for the gift of Sr. Rose. Over seven decades, Sr. Rose’s ministry has touched the hearts of thousands of residents. She herself is from the Bronx, New York, and first met the Little Sisters at their home there. The Little Sisters cared for her grandfather. After praying at his bedside, Sr. Rose first heard the call to join the Little Sisters. She saw that they were a gift to her, and so she aspired to become a gift to others. She made up her mind.
A second confirmation of Sr. Rose’s vocation came when she was in her postulancy, just before her first vows. While some of the sisters had other duties, Sr. Rose was tasked with staying at the bedside of an elderly Little Sister during her last hours. She saw the dying sister’s faith when she gazed upon the crucifix, looked up to heaven, and then passed. Part of the vocation of a Little Sister is to be present with their residents when they close their eyes to this world and open them to eternity. Sr. Rose knew, “this is what I’m here for.”
With 30 years spent at the Little Sister’s Home in Totowa, New Jersey, and years of service elsewhere, Sr. Rose personally cared for hundreds of men and women at their most challenging time. For her renewal of vows, the chapel was full of her residents’ families. Monsignor Richard Liddy, the homilist for the Mass, remarked that “even my mother was in her care.” Indeed, all seven concelebrants and the visiting bishop, all who traveled from New Jersey to honor Sr. Rose, had family who had been her charge! She was not just a help to the residents, but was also a comfort to their families and friends.
In a short thank-you message, Sr. Rose shared that “religious life as a Little Sister of the Poor is such a great gift from God.” The vowed life is a promise to God of all we are. It is a promise to live as Christ did during his earthly life—poor, chaste, and obedient to the Father. We offer ourselves, empty ourselves after Christ’s example, so as to be more and more God’s instrument in the world. Through their vows and by welcoming Christ-in-disguise into their homes, the Little Sisters turn their homes into temples of God’s presence. The Little Sisters realize the great desire of the Psalmist: “One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: To dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, To gaze on the Lord’s beauty, to visit his temple.” (Ps 27:4) He is their great reward.
As a Dominican brother approaching only his first anniversary of vows, seeing Sr. Rose on her 70th anniversary was a sure sign to me of how amazing God’s plan is for each of us—if only we say yes to him! We are all called to follow Christ by giving ourselves. Sr. Rose said “yes” to God all the way back in 1954, and she continues to say “yes” in 2024. Her example should be an inspiration to all of us, that we too should not hesitate to say “yes” to God. When we give ourselves, God gives us himself.
