Faith

Pictured are some of the religious sisters who rushed to serve the people of Haiti after 2010's devastating earthquake. Thank you, Sisters!

Propagation of the Faith

Friday, June 20, 2025Faith

Last month, the social media world celebrated "Thank a Nun Day." Social networks were full of stories and pictures with the hashtag #ThankaNunDay. All I could say was, it's about time!
In the missions, quite often it's the sisters who are in the trenches, so to speak. Time and again, we hear stories or witness work showing that these women who give their lives to God in service to others are real heroes.
This point was driven home by a speaker I once heard at a fundraising dinner. He told of his involvement with medical missionaries in Africa early in the HIV/AIDS crisis. It was challenging, logistically and financially, to bring the proper treatments to remote affected areas affected. An added problem was the issue of trust -- well-meaning outsiders, doctors and nurses, were arriving in areas where education was limited, refrigeration sometimes non-existent. The medical staff would tell people that the prescription had to be kept cold and taken at exact times in specific doses ... sometimes the details were overwhelming, and people hesitated to listen to strangers.
The solution? They gave the medicine to the sisters serving the communities. When told about the complicated regimen of times and dosages by the sisters, the locals responded as we all would: "Yes, Sister." Then they complied.
Sisters from different orders were on the forefront of relief efforts after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Many made the difficult journey overland through the Dominican Republic to Port au Prince, as the airport was closed. One in particular -- Sister Carmen, a doctor -- came from Spain. She left her paying job at a hospital to do so; this meant that the elderly sisters with whom she lived would be without her salary while she served in Haiti. Though they counted on the funds she earned for their own daily bread, the retired Sisters voted to sacrifice while the doctor worked where she was most needed. They ate only potatoes for months.
My own background is full of "sister stories" from Saint Michael School in Hudson, Mass. A standout is Sister Henrietta Marie White, SNDdeN, because she was the first one to put a mission Mite Box in my hand as a child, beginning my life-long journey of prayer and sacrifice for the missions. Imagine my surprise when I began ministry in the Boston mission office and found handwritten notes in that familiar penmanship with Sister's yearly donation to the Missionary (then-Holy) Childhood Association that continued until her death a few years ago.
Heroic service wherever and whenever they are needed? Yes, Sister. Thank you, Sister.
NB: Honor a beloved religious sister: give to the missions at propfaithboston.org!

- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.