In October 2024, the American Province launched Graced Moments, where every month, a Holy Child Sister shares a “grace-filled” experience that has influenced her life. The project flows from the Society’s mission “to help others to believe that God lives and acts in them and in our world.”
We thank Connie Craig, a Sister of the Holy Child Jesus for 66 years, for offering her “graced moment.”
Feel free to leave a comment for Sister Connie at the bottom of this page. Thank you.
Click the audio player to listen to Sister Connie read her
reflection or see the text below. Enjoy!
It was 1954 and I had recently graduated from college.
After taking a break, I decided wanted to be a travel agent. Resumes were sent and I waited. While waiting, I got a call from a Trinity nun asking if I would substitute in a second-grade for a teacher who was sick. I had no desire to teach but I agreed, making it clear that I did not wish to remain any longer. I entered the classroom, having no idea what I was doing but it did not take long for me to realize I loved it and wanted to be a teacher.
The next year, the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus began to staff a new school, Annunciation, near my neighborhood. I went there hoping to join the faculty. I asked to teach second grade since I had a year of experience, but they gave me instead third and fourth together. I spent a lot of time that year with Emma Virginia learning how to be a good teacher.
One day, when I was watching the children on the playground, Mother Aiden came up to me and said,
“What are you going to do with your life?”
I thought that was the dumbest question I had ever heard. I was doing something. I had a job and hoped to be married and have several children.
But that was my graced moment. A seed had been planted and would not go away. Maybe God was calling me to something else.
I started my investigation by making an appointment with the novice director at Sacred Heart. I had a sister in that order and was educated many years by those nuns. However, sitting with her I did not feel right. I was uncomfortable and wanted to leave. I did not know the Holy Child Sisters very well, but I liked their spirit and their joy. Maybe I belonged there.
After months of pondering, I applied and was accepted.
From the day I entered, I adapted to everything—pitchers and basins for washing; washing dishes at the table; frequent periods of prayers. What was so hard for me was the rule of silence. I was a talker. Sometimes I think they considered sending me home, but I gradually got better.
Despite being a little different in my ways, I have been very happy as a Sister of the Holy Child for 66 years.
My graced moment has never left me.
“It is not presumption to have hope and joy
and confidence in God’s grace.”
-Venerable Cornelia Connelly
What in Sister Connie’s graced moment resonated with you? Please share below.
