Vocation Story 3...

Sister Sharon Houle

I was born into a Catholic family, the third child of 11 siblings, six girls and six boys.  We were regular church goers and would travel seven miles each Sunday for Mass.  Being “Catholic” in my family was important. 

We were taught right from wrong and to follow the teachings of the Church.  One time we brought home from the Catholic school we attended, that it was now okay to fast only one hour before communion instead of fasting from midnight.  My father would not allow this until he heard it preached from the pulpit at church.  It was my mother who taught us our prayers.  Every evening she would sit down and each of us would kneel at her knees and recite our night prayers, usually a “Hail Mary” or “Our Father.”  Morning prayers were on our own but Mom would frequently remind us to say them kneeling by our bed.  As a large family we learned to share with one another and to do our portion of the work.As we grew older my parents began talking about sending us to a Catholic school.  One day we went to visit Notre Dame Academy, Willow City, ND.  As a child of six years, the place left a great impression upon me.  As we were visiting, I noticed a crucifix on the wall and a statue of the Blessed Mother.  The Sisters appeared so holy.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  I remember tugging at my Dad’s pant leg to get his attention.  When he looked down at me, I said, “Daddy, this is a holy place.  I can feel it.”  It was decided that we would attend school at Notre Dame Academy, so we started as boarders in October or November of that year.At first, I was quite lonesome, being away from home for the first time, but I soon began making friends and took to the rhythm and schedule of the place.  As boarders we had a set time for everything, from rising in the morning to going to bed.  Mass and prayers wee interspersed throughout the day.  After being a boarder for a while, I began to appreciate the order/set schedule of the day.  It gave me a sense of security and peace.  It was also a great tool to learn discipline.One summer, at home, when I was eight years old, God spoke to my heart.  A sense of awe, reverence and quiet came over me.  God was calling me to become a Religious.  It was at that time I decided to become a Sister.  I did not know what this all meant, but I knew that was what God wanted me to do.  This desire to become a Sister deepened within me throughout the years.  Of course the thought of becoming a Sister was not always on my mind, but it was ever present in my heart. 

Throughout my 12 years at Notre Dame Academy I gradually developed a taste for prayer, helping others and order.  Mass became a significant part of my day.  I also liked to kneel in the back of the chapel near the organ for a visit during the day.  As I observed the Sisters and reflected upon their work, I became aware of how many people they were able to help and how out-reaching was their ministry.  It became apparent to me that being a religious I could help many more people than in the married or single life.  The circle of people I would encounter in religious life would be so much greater than in the married or single life.  I wanted to be part of such a ministry.

One day when I was in high school, I asked my mother “What would you say if I said I wanted to be a nun?”  My mother’s response was, “If that is what you want to do, it is okay with me.”  I also shared this desire with my dad.  Both my parents were very supportive of my entering religious life if that was what I wanted. 

After graduation, I remained at the Academy to help the Sisters with the house cleaning of the school.  One day I asked Mother Mary Patrick if I could enter the Order and become a Sister.  Her answer was in the affirmative.  She informed me that I could travel with Father Neva and the Sisters to Valley City and join up with some other Sisters and a girl from Oakwood who were traveling by train to the novitiate in Spring Valley, Illinois.  It was June 23, 1956, that I entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation as a postulant at St. Margaret’s Novitiate in Spring Valley, Illinois.

Go back to Vocation Story 1