Unlike her friends who decided to join the new group of Dominicans forming near her hometown of Benton, Wis., Cecilia chose Kentucky as her Dominican home, following her older brother, Dominican Father Vincent Carey, to the South. Less than a year after she left Kentucky to start a new community in Jacksonville, Ill., Vincent died of yellow fever while tending to the sick in Memphis. Her grief was transformed into compassion for others. She spent her days organizing a new school, teaching immigrant children, and using her talent with needle and brush as a way to fulfill the motto of the Order of Preachers: “To Praise, to Bless, to Preach.”
Sister Cecilia’s compassionate service lives on in the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois. Does it live in you?
Sister Cecilia challenges me by her openness to move on when the spirit calls. Liker her, I followed a sibling, my sister, into the Dominicans and I became a teacher. I also suffered a loss when my parents died in a nursing home with no priest or chaplain to be there for our family. This experience touched me deeply, and after searching to discover where God was calling me, I accepted the challenge of being certified as a chaplain. The chaplaincy training stretched me beyond where I thought I could go at times, and ultimately helped me to have a deeper compassion for others in need of healing. I’ve been ministering as a chaplain at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rogers, Ark., ever since, but this year, 2006, I’m being called to a new ministry at St. Joseph’s Home in Springfield, Ill. The challenge at times is great, but the Lord is always there for me. For me, chaplaincy is a journey of compassionate service for patients and families who are suffering loss. To touch and to heal is what Jesus did in his ministry. He calls us to do the same.
Back Next
