Sister Joanne
Kollasch, OSB
, Benedictine Women of Madison
My dream was to become a sister. Maybe a nurse sister, maybe a medical missionary sister. A friend suggested the possibility of very few home visits if I were a missionary. Family was an important part of who I was. Three older siblings had chosen a religious vocation.
The question was: where and what was God calling me to do?
I joined our Benedictine Community in Sioux City, Iowa to help the sisters serve the sick and underprivileged in our hospital. But before completing the nursing program, a sister became ill, and the community asked me to substitute teach in our primary school for a year. The sisters and I agreed that teaching would be my best ministry.
My life, my spirit is nurtured by what I live “from”: educational experiences, the witness of faith-filled people in China, Brazil, Africa and my ministries of teaching, leading prayer and retreats, offering spiritual guidance, building community and, above all, living and praying in my own ecumenical Benedictine community.
We are located outside Madison in a naturally contemplative landscape. People come from the world over to join in prayer, retreats and fostering their inner journey. In friendship and hospitality we receive Christians of every denomination and people of other world religions. We live, pray and work together as one family.
As for my family, I am still very close and our family has strong ties. I would not miss any important events in my family.
Founding Congregations:Sisters of Divine Providence; Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Houston;
Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament; Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio; and Dominican Sisters
of Houston.
My dream was to become a sister. Maybe a nurse sister, maybe a medical missionary sister. A friend suggested the possibility of very few home visits if I were a missionary. Family was an important part of who I was. Three older siblings had chosen a religious vocation.