Servite Stories

Why Am I A Servite?

Sister Dolores Henke, OSM
Retired
Onalaska, Wisconsin

Someone once asked me where I got the idea to become a Sister. When I replied, "It wasn't my idea," she was puzzled and assumed my mother had encouraged me to that vocation. Well, that wasn't the answer either. It was God's idea, pure and simple. When I was old enough to make the decision, the last thing I wanted to do was go to the convent! But... God's pursuit was relentless.

As a second grader in St. Bernard's School in Thorp, Wis., I do remember telling my mother that I wanted to be a Sister. In sixth grade, a group of us decided we would be Sisters and even chose names. When I was in eighth grade, my sister (Sister Alice Henke) and other Servite Sisters invited me to come to Ladysmith and prepare to join them. But... by that time I wanted nothing to do with the convent!

I completed Thorp High School and worked for three years as a stenographer at Blue Moon Foods, Inc. During those years, God was not quiet, but I pretended not to hear. I did NOT want to go to the convent.

Some mornings I went to Mass before I went to work. One day as I was praying after Mass, like a lightning bolt I was struck with "Be a Sister." Then and there, I decided that the only way to get rid of that idea was to give it a try. So dragging my feet, one September day in 1953, I appeared at the door of Our Lady of Sorrows Convent in Ladysmith. I was warmly welcomed by the Sisters and clothed in the garb of a postulant (candidate). I remember telling God that evening, "Okay, God, I am here; the rest is up to you."

For the next months, living and working with other postulants and novices was a happy time for me, but still I would have welcomed a good reason to leave. Then, on New Year's Eve, as I was remembering what I had done the previous New Year's Eve, the lightning bolt struck again. In my mind I clearly heard, "You are in the right place where you will be happy." My whole attitude changed that evening. I suddenly knew I was where God wanted me to be, and I felt peaceful, in awe, and at home.

Since that wondrous experience, I have never seriously doubted my vocation to be a Sister. My life has had ups and downs, joys and sorrows, successes and failures, but I have felt happy and fulfilled for finally giving in to God, for giving God a chance to speak, and for me to listen. I am so glad that God was able to get through my stubborn determination and guide me to fully live life as a Servant of Mary.

Every Sister has a different story, but one thing is certain: It is God who calls each of us according to our situation. May God be praised!