Sr. Victoria Marie Indyk, CSSF, associate professor of nursing at Madonna University in Livonia, works with some nursing students in the simulation lab.Livonia — “That Love may be loved:” this is the mission of the Felician Franciscan Sisters.
“We live that,” said Sr. Mary DeSales Herman, CSSF, who has been a Felician Franciscan Sister for 65 years.
Their technical name being the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice, hence the familiar term “Felician,” these sisters are part of Our Lady of Hope Province, which covers all of the United States and Canada with more than 700 members.
Quoting the writing of Sr. M. Angelica Spychalska, CSSF, who wrote about the Felicians’ foundress, Bl. Mary Angela Truszkowska, Sr. Herman says the spirituality of their order comes from Bl. Mary Angela’s desire to do reparation for the sins of the world.
“Sr. Spychalska wrote that Bl. Mary Angela ‘trusted in Love and inflamed with its fire, she wanted to inflame not only her sisters but also a wounded and forsaken world so that Love may be loved,’” said Sr. Herman, who is the director of Felician associates — lay people who embrace the Felician charism — in the Livonia area.
Beginning Nov. 21, the province will celebrate its 140th anniversary of serving and ministering in North America.
Sr. Mary Giovanni Monge, CSSF, director and CEO of Angela Hospice, chats with a resident and family member during the weekly Thursday “high tea.”A New Continent
The congregation, founded in Poland in 1855, sent the first five Felician Sisters to North America in 1874.
“The sisters came at the invitation of Fr. Joseph Dabrowski in Polonia, Wis.,” said Sr. Mary Janice Ziolkowski, CSSF, adding that in the early years of immigration to North America, the Polish people struggled with finding parishes that spoke their own language.
Sr. Ziolkowski said the sisters set up an infirmary, provided a caring orphanage, and offered education for the people in their territory. The mission blossomed, and the congregation grew with new novices desiring to follow the Felician calling.
Today, the Felician Sisters in Livonia serve in a number of capacities, including Ladywood High School, the Montessori Center of Our Lady, St. Mary Child Care Center, Madonna University, Angela Hospice Home Care Inc., and Marywood Nursing Care Center.
Higher education
Sr. Rose Marie Kujawa, CSSF, president of Madonna University, said the Felician-founded school follows the Franciscan tradition from its core.
“When I began 50 years ago, 50 percent of the faculty were Felicians,” Sr. Kujawa said. “That has changed substantially, but we have kept the sense of tradition by working from our Franciscan values.”
The university, which reported a head count of about 4,500 for the 2013-14 academic year, draws students from 60 countries and 10 states. Founded originally as a teaching institution, its most popular programs today include social work, child development and computer technology.
“Our Franciscan values are ‘respect,’ ‘peace and justice,’ ‘reverence for creation,’ and the ‘Franciscan intellectual tradition,’” said Sr. Kujawa, explaining that these themes show themselves in numerous aspects of the students’ experiences at Madonna.
For Sr. Serafina Maria Dixon, CSSF, director of information systems at Madonna, working at the university has given her the opportunity to see the fast-paced changes in the information technology world — while working with a deeply faithful staff.
“It is an exciting time for us to see how our students are learning so well,” Sr. Dixon said. “We start our meetings with prayer; we value our family atmosphere for the good of all. We are preparing people to really serve.”
Quickly progressing at Madonna is the nursing program, which added a nursing simulation lab in 2012, featuring fully functional models for the students to use before working with human patients.
“We really promote service (in the nursing field),” said Sr. Victoria Marie Indyk, CSSF, associate professor of nursing, explaining that a popular part of the nursing program involves a mission opportunity in Lourdes, France.
Compassionate care
Sr. Mary Giovanni Monge, CSSF, director and CEO of Angela Hospice Home Care Inc., knows that Angela Hospice is a special place.
Caring for patients of all ages, from babies through aged adults, Angela Hospice takes the Franciscan spirit of compassion seriously.
“The patients here know that they’re dying,” Sr. Monge said. Their goal is to help the patient and the family through the process, whether it’s assisting them in saying goodbye, or providing later bereavement care.
Angela Hospice offers services both in-home and at the hospice facility, with nearly 500 volunteers. Their bereavement care, which lasts 13 months, is available even to those whose loved ones were not patients with Angela.
In the midst of their many and varied ministries, the Felician Sisters make sure to balance their active life with their contemplative life.
“Prayer is an important part of our daily life,” said Sr. Monge. “And it keeps us peaceful, too.”
Felician Sisters’ 140th anniversary
Felician convent chapels across North America will hold a special day of prayer Nov. 21, the official beginning of their province’s yearlong 140th anniversary celebration. The Livonia sisters invite the laity to join them at their convent for an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from 1-8 p.m., with a holy hour from 7-8 p.m. within that time. It will be at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary convent chapel, 36800 Schoolcraft Road, Livonia.
