Becoming a Nun: Heeding a Higher Call
By Sarah Kittle
Who knows for sure what they want to be when they grow up? For a fortunate few, a chosen vocation is clear early in life. Such was the case with Sr. Amanda Foumia.
Sr. Amanda didn’t have a favorite teacher in elementary school that was a nun who inspired her to join the convent – in fact, she wasn’t taught by nuns at all. She did, however, enjoy going to church at St. Thomas and loved Eucharistic adoration. Even as an adolescent, she had a special love for the Blessed Mother and a personal devotion to the rosary, where she found “a gift of many graces,” thus leading to a deeper love of the Lord.
Eastern Catholic Re-Evangelization Center (ECRC) played a key role in Sr. Amanda’s life. They offered retreats and theology classes that appealed to her. It was a priest, Fr. Emmanuel Reyes, now retired, who asked a teenaged Amanda, “Have you ever considered becoming a nun?” A seed was planted in her heart, and her life was forever changed. That is when the process began.
For the next four or five years, Sr. Amanda prayed and looked for signs that she was on the right path. Each day the Holy Spirit led her closer to a life in service, nudging her to “think about it.” A young woman with a special love to serve those in need and most vulnerable found a natural path to the convent. She is not presumed to have arrived at the doorstep already a saint—or even possessed with an outstanding character. What is anticipated is that she has the necessary disposition to persevere in the path of virtue, and to grow and mature in that path.
Sr. Amanda was ready and willing to grow and mature in her faith. A life of service looked promising to a teenager who was looking for meaning in her own life. “If you remain rooted in prayer, what is in your heart will come out of your mouth,” she explains.
Sr. Amanda was 19 when she decided that she was called to service as a Sister. Living as a Sister means changing your life entirely. Every part of your life takes on a new and different meaning as you learn to live a religious life. It comes from a yearning to be close to God and to walk in His ways. It also means serious prayer and study and preparation for full-time active ministry in the world.
The process begins with serious conversation (or discernment) with a vocation director, a Sister who is specially trained to help someone discern whether God is calling her to be a Sister. For Sr. Amanda, Sr. Therese Shekwana at St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Church served this role. Fr. Frank Kallabat (Bishop Francis) was pastor and helped during the discernment process. This discernment is mutual – a woman discerns and the vocation director and the religious community discern with her to see if this is where she belongs. Sr. Amanda felt called to her home parish at St. Thomas, the people and the Chaldean community in Metro Detroit, home to the largest population of Chaldean Catholics outside the Middle East.
Postulancy is the first step toward becoming a nun. A postulate takes the time to get to know the community and they get to know her. She takes part in all of the daily prayers and activities of the convent and attends classes to enlarge her knowledge of religious subjects including Scripture, the Catechism, Church documents, theology, and philosophy.
It is a gradual transition over the course of a year from the lay life to the life of the novitiate. At the end of the year, if both the Sister and the Community discern that it is God’s will for her to continue, she receives the habit and enters the Novitiate for two years.
Sr. Amanda was 22 when she entered the convent and 23 when she became a Novice. Her two younger brothers were happy for her. They could see that their sister’s decision brought her joy. “When you are called, you just know and I can’t explain it but you know God has called you,” explains Sr. Amanda, paraphrasing her inspirational mentor, Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa was an inspiration to countless millions for her lifelong devotion to the neediest and most vulnerable of the world. The selflessness and sacrifice with which she lived her own life made her a role model for Sr. Amanda. Finding her inspiration in Catholic teachings, Mother Teresa always placed our common humanity above religious divisions.
A Sister is a novice for two years. During this time, she continues her religious studies and human formation. The process of becoming a Sister took 9 years for Sr. Amanda. This may sound like a long time, but it is a huge commitment and one that changes you daily. “I’m not the same person I was when I started,” says Sr. Amanda. “The process of formation never ends.”
A Novice wears a crown of flowers, like the excited bride rushing to her groom. She studies the vows, along with the other novices. An entire year is given to the study of and work on the interior life, and another year is dedicated to introducing the Novice to the apostolic life of the community. It is such an important time in the life of a young religious, no studies or activities are undertaken during the first year which do not have as their primary purpose the formation of the Novices.
At the end of the two years, if the Sister and the community discern that it is God’s will, she professes vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience. Now she wears a crown of leaves. The blush is gone off the rose, the “honeymoon” is over, but she has steadfast commitment to her God, her community and her calling.
During this time, the Sister renews her vows each year, for a total of five years; the sixth year she takes her final vows. All the while, the Sister receives guidance in the actual living of her vows. This guidance is both spiritual and apostolic, doctrinal and practical. She may begin to pursue any degrees necessary and begins to participate regularly in the community’s apostolate. At the end of six years, if a Sister feels this is the life she is called to and is able to make a lifetime commitment, she will profess her final vows.
After a decade of maturing into a better person, a better sister, this modest, humble warrior of Christ took her Final Vow on the eve of Pentecost, May 19, 2018. On this date, Sr. Amanda wore the final crown – the crown of thorns. This crown represents the suffering that comes along with serving the Lord. It is death to oneself and life to Christ, which represents the suffering of the thorns that come along with serving in the Lord’s vineyard.
Sr. Amanda believes it was the beginning of a lifelong effort to be “in formation for the rest of my life.” As a religious Sister, her life consists of a balance between prayer, community life and serving the apostolic vocation. “We’re not social workers,” she states, quoting Mother Teresa, “We are contemplatives in the heart of the world.”
Sr. Amanda received her theology degree this April, although there was no graduation ceremony due to COVID-19. She plans to pursue a teaching degree in order to better serve her community and if it is part of the Lord’s plan, to be a teacher in a Catholic school. She enjoys working with children preparing for their First Holy Communion; the joy of preparing children to receive Jesus for the first time is a great gift.
The decision to live as a Sister is a commitment to God, her community and the people. Sr. Amanda feels there was no “giving up” of anything important, while the decision gained her the treasure of a life steeped in God’s love and mercy. A key verse in her conversion was the Bible verse from the Book of Matthew, Chapter 19, Verse 29: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.”