Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis

Posted by Elizabeth Eilers Sullivan, Visitation Alumna

I came across this writing of St. Francis de Sales. I found it particularly appropriate as we joyfully

St. Francis de Sales

anticipate our summer Come & Sees, and also with graduations upon us, both are crossroads for people to discern, make prayerful decisions about their next steps in life. Upon reading De Sales words, I thought how apt to offer some wisdom from a great spiritual father, and co-founder of the Visitation Order.

God’s Will

“Here is the most important point: find out what God wants, and when you know, try to carry it out cheerfully, or at least courageously; not only that, but you must love this will of God and the obligations it entails, even if it means performing the most menial tasks in the world the rest of your life, because whatever sauce God chooses for us, it should be all the same to us. In this practice lies the very bull’s-eye of perfection at which we must all aim, and whoever comes nearest to it wind the prize.

But be of good heart, I beg you; little by little train your will to follow God’s will, wherever it may lead you; see that your will is strongly roused when your conscience says: God wants this.

Live entirely for God, and since you have to take part in conversations and social gatherings, try to be of some use to others. Do not think that God is further away from you when you are in the midst of the busyness to which your vocation calls you then he would be if you were enjoying a tranquil life.

No, it is not tranquility which brings him close to our hearts; it is rather the fidelity of our love; it is not the feeling we have of his sweetness, but the consent we give to his holy will. It is more desirable that his will be carried out in us than that we carry out our will in him.

Once we have reached a decision in a holy manner, we must never doubt about the holiness in carrying it out; since it does not depend on us, this holiness cannot be lacking. To act otherwise would be a sign of great self-love, or of immaturity, or of a weak or foolish mind.

A hundred times a day let us look upon this loving will of God, and, dissolving our will into it, let us devoutly exclaim: ‘O goodness of infinite gentleness, how lovable is your will! How desirable your favors! You have created us for eternal life, and your maternal breast, overflowing  with incomparable love, abounds with the milk of mercy, either to pardon penitents or to perfect the righteous’”

Please know we, the Visitation Monastery of North Minneapolis, stand with you in prayer as you actively discern your next best steps!

Photo Gallery Feature: Will Wallace and Sr. Mary Frances celebrate the Northside Leadership Pilot Program

We are happy to announce that we have launched a new page here on our website! As a way to continue telling our story – in and through photographed images,  honoring the many beautiful people that we engage and that grace our doors daily – our dedicated web team has created a Photo Gallery page. We are grateful to our design team, including Bob Mueffelmann, Jenny Larson, and Brigid Ryan-Ling for this new addition to our website.

Perhaps you will find yourself among these snapshots? Maybe you will see an old friend? Or maybe you will be inspired by the face of Christ among us, as we all live and serve and love each one who comes to our door?

Check out our new page by clicking: PHOTO GALLERY.

Today’s uploads include images from:

• Northside Leadershp Project: Pilot Year 2010-2011

• Women’s Retreat Preparation: Planners Convene

• Women’s Retreat, 2011

Enjoy!

–Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde, Visitation Companion

Written by Elizabeth Eilers Sullivan, Visitation Alumna

In the month of May when we celebrate Mary, Jesus’ Mother, our own mothers, and women in general, I

Jesus Meets his Mother by Mickey McGrath

pause to consider what might it look like for Mary to take care of herself. This notion is not lost on me as I welcome our fourth son born just two weeks ago into our family. Nor is it lost on me when I consider the origins of Mother’s Day, which is to celebrate the power of the woman, a call to be active and energized and empowered, not to just rest and be pampered as Hallmark might have us think, or commercials may depict. Or when I think about the role models I have in the Visitation Sisters who are active, present, and prayerful women in North Minneapolis.

So how can Mary be our guide to self care so that we may aptly be the most we are called to be as women, as people in this world? When I contemplate this question undoubtedly prayer comes to mind, she made time in her daily life for prayer or more aptly saw her daily life activities as prayer, whether it was cooking, cleaning, laundry, care for the young or the elderly in her household, setting appropriate challenges and limits for her precocious and vivacious son, Jesus.

This notion is very Salesian to see your daily life activities as prayer, St. Francis de Sales says: “The soul which holds itself ready and open to do God’s will on any occasion, can do this even while sweeping the floor.”

The second image that comes to mind is that she made time for her kinswomen, such as traveling while pregnant to visit her cousin Elizabeth also pregnant. This too holds Salesian roots that I am certain St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal drew from when envisioning the order of the Visitation. It is no small feat Mary undertakes during the days of travel then, over hills, on foot or with the help of a donkey it would take some gumption to withstand the rocky roads and the hike while pregnant, and wisdom to know that this time with a dear friend is worth the travel. I just had this gift given to me by one of my dearest girlfriends who traveled with her 10 month old from Santa Fe to Saint Paul to spend some time with me and our newest child. Or when Sister Katherine came to visit us in the hospital. I can’t tell you what salve for the soul it is to spend time with my close kinswoman.  This is also illustrated in the people who appear on the doorstep of the Visitation Monastery daily and the stories and prayers that come from each encounter is recognizing the holy and the divine in each person.

As Sister Katherine shared, “Today, V. came to our door to ask prayers about his anger issues.He said that this feeling of anger blocks him from loving his wife and children. His honesty caught me off guard. I prayed with him in the chapel and as he left I thought he is well on his way toward wholeness; he identified what was holding him back from peace of mind. Will you join in the prayer for him.”

The third way I imagine Mary took time to care for herself was watching how she filled her mind and heart, and with what thoughts. I believe our thoughts shape how we experience our future, and I imagine Mary envisioned loving images even when the temptation of anxious thoughts were great. Buoyed by her faith, and her relationships with others, I believe she rose to her highest potential. Mary lived out of her greatest hopes, her deepest love for self, God, and others, and this my friend could be her lasting guide to us… an invitation to care for our own minds and hearts by being selective with what and how we fill them.

So dear friends, let us make this our practice to love what is before us, and in doing so may we grow to be more like Mary each and every day and not just in the month of May.

posted by Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde, Visitation Companion

Welcome Phil and Deb Soucheray, Vis Companions

On Monday, May 9, 2011, we concluded this year’s Salesian Spirituality evenings – focusing on Spiritual Friendship – with a presentation and celebration centering on this charism of our co-founders, Sts. Jane de Chantal and Francis de Sales.  Visitation Companion Jody Johnson and Sr. Karen Mohan co-presented on the presence of Mary in our lives and Our Lady’s role as a spiritual friend. We concluded our evening formally welcoming Deb and Phil Soucheray to the Visitation Companions.

What follows are the Soucherays, in their own words, reflecting on the questions, “Why Salesian Spirituality?” and “Why Visitation Companions?”

Join us in welcoming them to this burgeoning community of lay men and women!
Live +Jesus!

In her own words, Visitation Companion, Deb Soucheray:

Blessings!

How did I get involved with the “nuns in the hood,” St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal?  It all began around 2004 when Vicki Bailey, the mother of a friend of my son, Philip, invited me to begin helping with the four parties a year that she throws for the children of the [Visitation Sisters’ northside] neighborhood – Back to Summer, Back to School, Halloween and Valentines Day.  I have been helping with them ever since.  Along the way, I saw Salesian spirituality in play.  I wanted to know more.

Two years ago I attended my first Salesian Conference at Visitation. That lit a fire to learn more about St. Frances and St. Jane that continues to burn. And since then, I have been reading, studying, praying and evangelizing.  I have enjoyed introducing Salesian Spirituality to others. I gave the book, “Set Your Heart Free” to my cousin, Mary, for Christmas.  She loves the prayers and has given the book to about 10 of her friends.  And I’ve also given it to many other friends and relatives.

What I like most about Salesian Spirituality:

1.    I’m allowed to be human – not to worry about imperfections – repent and move on.

A Visitation embrace

2.    Salesian Spirituality, through the themes presented by St. Francis and St. Jane, gives me a roadmap for living life.  One theme, Number 6, is particularly meaningful for me. It is “We cannot always offer God great things, but at each instant we can offer him little things with great love.” When I first started coming to North Minneapolis to help with the children’s parties, I looked at the Nuns’ mission as so overwhelming. How can they possibly help all these people? Then I read Theme #6.  And I began to see it in action here – most recently just this past Saturday.  The doorbell rang. A young homeless man, Jonathan, with a tiny dog he called Tony, stood there. He was invited in, and given lunch. Tony got some water and food, too!  It was “a little thing” done with great love.  As for us, we were oohing and aahing over the adorable little dog! It certainly is not a one-way street.

3. Theme #3 is “Let us belong to God … in the midst of so much busyness.” St. Francis teaches that “the practice of devotion has to be adapted to the strength, life situation and duties of each individual.”  In other words, I try to be mindful of God as much as my life allows.

I want to become a Vis Companion because I have a strong desire to continue learning about St. Francis, St. Jane and Salesian Spirituality.  I also like hanging out with the Nuns and seeing all you warm, wonderful people at the Monday and Sunday meetings.

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In his own words, Visitation Companion, Phil Soucheray:

Sr. Mary Virginia welcomes Phil

I think I’ve been a Vis Companion for as long as I can remember. I just didn’t know it. My mother, Susan, a Vis graduate, introduced all of her children to Salesian spirituality as we were growing up. But it was cloaked heavily in the standard rules of the Catholic Church, and so it wasn’t until I was an adult that I came to understand the particular nuances and value of the wisdom behind Francis and Jane’s form of spiritual journeying. Today, I enjoy a strong faith and I identify innately with what Francis and Jane teach. And I know it was my mother’s gift to me.

So becoming a companion is in a major way simply a formality for me. The thing that makes this form of commitment so special for me is that I am doing it with Deb, my wife of 32 years. I feel safe in saying that faith has always played a central role in our relationship. We might not always have been on the same leg of our respective journeys. And I’m sure we won’t always be going forward.

But I also am firmly convinced that we are more closely linked together than we have ever been before and that becoming Vis Companions strengthens that bond.

Live Jesus.

To see more photos from this evenings’ celebration, check out our album on Facebook. Click here.

by Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde, Visitation Companion

Melissa with Visitation Sisters Mary Margaret, Mary Frances, Katherine, Mary Virgina and Karen.

What does the word “mentorship” mean to you? What images or associations come to mind? Who has mentored you in your life/ work/ journey? Who have you mentored along their path? What have the consequences been in and through these relationships?

These are some of the questions that I’ve been sitting with in the days leading up to this one, when Sr. Suzanne Homeyer and I had the opportunity to co-present on a panel at the General Mills sponsored “Hawthorne Huddle” meeting in north Minneapolis. The opportunity to reflect and share on this topic inspires me in my writing this day.

I think about definitions of mentorship. I think about experiences. I think about how to talk about the consequences and impact of such a thing.

"Following the Spirit" Discerners- including former student, Joy Chaney

A google search for the definition of “mentorship” brings up the following wikipedia entry:

“Mentoring” is a process that always involves communication and is relationship based, but its precise definition is elusive. One definition of the many that have been proposed, is:

Mentoring is a process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and the psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to work, career, or professional development;mentoring entails informal communication, usually face-to-face and during a sustained period of time, between a person who is perceived to have greater relevant knowledge, wisdom, or experience (the mentor) and a person who is perceived to have less (the protégé)”.^[1]

My mind goes immediately to a quote that grounds me in my thinking about the topic.

“No significant learning occurs outside of a significant relationship.”
– Dr. James P. Comer, Yale University

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I am sitting in the convention center on my first day of employment with the Minneapolis Public School district and the words of Dr. Comer are flashed on the screen above. I pause as these words resonate within me. “Yes,” I think. “No significant learning occurs outside of significant relationship. I would not be a teacher were it not for the significant space and rapport I shared with Ms. Diane Rood, my English, speech and drama teacher at Norfolk Catholic in Norfolk, Nebraska.”

As a teacher, I want nothing more but to create a safe space, similar to the one afforded me as a student, where my learners can take risks, pose and wrestle with large life questions and grow in knowledge of themselves and life-long callings. I want to forge significant relationships within my classroom so that significant learning might take place.

A Mentoring Relationship: Sr. Suzanne and collaborator at the NetWork for Better Futures

“Be who you are, and be that well!”
–St. Francis de Sales, Co-Founder, Visitation Sisters

Working at North High in Minneapolis with the many blessings and gifts of the students I was privileged to teach, came many challenges that hindered my capacity to create such mentoring, educational space. Data I collected during my third year on staff shed light on one of the challenges inherent in my post. I began the school year with 124 students on my roster. By January, 63 of these young people had transferred or dropped off my roll, replaced by 57 new students. The 50% mobility rate mirrored the graduation rate hovering around 47%.

How do you create a safe communal learning space of educational excellence and engagement when the community is in such flux – when your learners are so highly mobile? Losing half of my students every year became a “problem” that I sought counsel on. The mentorship and presence of the Visitation Sisters of north Minneapolis was a saving grace for me.  As an urban educator seeking ways to remain  positive and loving in that dynamic setting, I found the sisters modeling a calm, delightful and joy-filled presence in the midst of an often chaotic community that seemed scarce on resources.

Vis Companion, Leo Johnson, and Sr. Karen

As a contemplative order of nuns just two blocks from the doors of the school, the Visitation monastery provided me a space of reflection and sanctuary. On days when I couldn’t find the beauty or light in a child, when I felt my eyes and spirit diminishing in their capacity to see grace and gift in a learner, I sought retreat within the sisters’ prayerful space. I found their mere presence and anchored, contemplative structure to be a mentoring one that buoyed me in my ability to continue and continue well. Grounded in the Salesian charism of their founders, Sts Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal, the sisters showed me a way to “be who I was, and be that well.”

I strive to live their motto daily “Living Jesus” or “Living Love” in spaces beyond the walls of North High. The sisters continue to mentor and ground me, as I strive to be a similar presence and agent for other people in the world around.

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Your comments or stories about how the nuns have mentored you, or inspired your mentorship are welcome below in the comment section.

Peace!

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1. ^{a b} Bozeman, B.; Feeney, M. K. (October 2007). “Toward a useful theory of mentoring: A conceptual analysis and critique”. Administrative and Society 39 (6): 719–739. http://aas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/39/6/719.