From sedevacantism to communion with Rome ...

A New Religious Community 

Takes Root in Santa Rosa

Jim Graves

Mother Teresa Christe of the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa discusses her journey from sedevacantism to communion with Rome and the establishment of a community of sisters devoted to prayer and Catholic education.

In Northern California, the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa are preparing to receive their first three postulants on February 2. The new community of four perpetually professed sisters was established as an Association of the Faithful in 2012. Their charism includes intercessory prayer for the Diocese of Santa Rosa and the instruction of the faithful in the Catholic faith. They were welcomed into the diocese by the newly appointed bishop, Robert Vasa, in 2011.

The Church in Santa Rosa has suffered much in past decades due to financial and sexual scandals, and vocations to the priesthood and religious life experienced a period of stark decline. However, this diocese of 140,000 Catholics has been experiencing a slow turnaround in recent years. The establishment of the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa has been a part of that, and the community’s superior, Mother Teresa Christe, hopes to see her small order grow and make a significant contribution to the spiritual revival of the diocese. She recently spoke with Jim Graves for Catholic World Report.

Jim Graves, CWR: My daughters regularly see priests at work in our parish, but only see nuns in pictures. How would you recommend I explain to my children what a nun is, and how can I introduce them to positive examples of women in religious life?

Mother Teresa Christe: A nun is a daughter of the Church, a spouse of Christ and a mother of souls. If you wish to be successful as a married person, you must dedicate your whole self to your family. A woman who chooses religious life must dedicate her whole self to her vocation.

When I work with young people, they’ve asked me, “Did you become a nun because you couldn’t find a man?” They think nuns are on the fringes of society, but we’re actually at its center, its heart.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in discussing a religious vocation, notes that when we are baptized, we not only receive the three theological virtues and seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, but the seed of our vocation in life. As we grow up, our experiences, including our sufferings and trials, point us in the direction of the vocation to which God is calling us. This is where our baptismal vocation can be lived most fully. It is where we’ll be happy, and have the most positive impact on the salvation of souls.

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