{"id":1497,"date":"2011-08-04T08:38:37","date_gmt":"2011-08-04T13:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=1497"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:54:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:54:30","slug":"dear-aemiliana-dear-sarah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2011\/08\/04\/dear-aemiliana-dear-sarah\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Aemiliana, Dear Sarah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: Mother Aemiliana Dirr founded the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in 1849<\/a>.\u00a0 After difficulties fulfilling their mission, she and some other sisters left the order in 1860 and lived out the rest of their lives as lay women.\u00a0 I have written Mother Aemiliana a letter.<\/p>\n

July 28, 2011<\/p>\n

Dear Aemiliana,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>My heart is so tender as I write to you.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a while.<\/p>\n

You came to the states leaving all and you met tragedy and you left all again.\u00a0 You know renunciation, the acid smell of fear, the biting taste of anger, and His love which propelled you forward.<\/p>\n

We are still your daughters.\u00a0 We have not left.\u00a0 I think we are faithful to these times.\u00a0 We are wacky, prayerful, and down-home.\u00a0 Your daughters spread Franciscan joy, do justice, honor the earth and strive to live authentic relationships with each other.\u00a0 Your dream has spread.\u00a0 We have prayed in perpetual adoration for 133 years.\u00a0 Right now two sisters kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and pray for the needs of the world.\u00a0 We use email now, to receive intentions from around the whole planet, but you probably knew that.<\/p>\n

You may wonder why I am writing after all these years.\u00a0 In a few weeks, I will profess final vows as a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration.\u00a0 My heart is on fire.\u00a0 I know God calls me here and leads me on to follow my sweet Jesus with my sisters.\u00a0 I am not alone.\u00a0 My sisters know me, they love me, forgive me, and have not left me.<\/p>\n

Religious life is now beyond what you could ever imagine.\u00a0 We are a balm to a hurting, searching humanity.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 We may be prophets of a future not our own.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 We are faithful and strong and small.\u00a0 We sit in the dark night and wait.\u00a0 We tend the fire you left and wait for the breath of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 We are singing new songs, one \u201cin love and purpose, with diversity of persons and gifts\u201d as our FSPA constitutions say.<\/p>\n

And Aemiliana, with all the challenges the future could hold for us, I stand here on the cusp of my perpetual vows with a question of my own.\u00a0 Will I be enough?\u00a0 I am afraid my fragility will overtake my gifts.\u00a0 I fear even that my gift of self will not be whole enough.\u00a0 I am sure you may remember that feeling as you first stepped on this soil or when you left in faith.\u00a0 And yet, God stayed with you.\u00a0 And in a funny way, you stayed with us too.\u00a0 Because you let the vision lead you and walked past walls of fear.<\/p>\n

I need you to help me do that now.\u00a0 My sisters walk beside me in love.\u00a0 They help me name the pain and the joy and place both prayerfully in god\u2019s hands.\u00a0 I cannot do it alone.\u00a0 But, somehow, it seems He didn\u2019t ask me too.<\/p>\n

May God Bless You,<\/p>\n

And know you are in my prayers.<\/p>\n

Love,<\/p>\n

Sr. Sarah Hennessey, FSPA<\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

Note: After writing our foundress a letter in preparation for final vows, I journalled back a letter from her.<\/p>\n

Dear Sarah,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Fear is not a threat, but can be our friend, when held lightly and placed in God\u2019s hands. I walked through the fire of fear and abandonment, through shame and uncertainty, but never alone.\u00a0 My future seemed like a failure.<\/p>\n

We do not get to choose the circumstances that try our faith, but only our faithfulness to God\u2019s love.\u00a0 So stop trying to grasp so tightly.<\/p>\n

Child, you can let go of your harsh judgments and let the love of your sisters and Jesus into your heart just a little more.\u00a0 You, my daughter, have an inner strength you do not suspect, and a mission of love to compel you onwards.<\/p>\n

And you are right, you are not alone.<\/p>\n

May God bless you and your sisters as you continue to build the kingdom.<\/p>\n

In the Love of God,<\/p>\n

Aemiliana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Note: Mother Aemiliana Dirr founded the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in 1849.\u00a0 After difficulties fulfilling their mission, she and some other sisters left the order in 1860 and lived out the rest of their lives as lay women.\u00a0 I have written Mother Aemiliana a letter. July 28, 2011 Dear Aemiliana, My heart is so...","protected":false},"author":7668253,"featured_media":1508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[115341],"tags":[4256,214,156167,698755374,698755376,439774,7816,8994,95043,116,137119,4456,536897],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-1497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equity-and-justice-equity-and-justice","tag-catholicism","tag-christianity","tag-commitment","tag-community","tag-discipleship","tag-franciscans","tag-god","tag-letters","tag-nuns","tag-religion","tag-religious-life","tag-sisters","tag-vows","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/sarah1.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

Dear Aemiliana, Dear Sarah<\/a><\/blockquote>