Nun, in her 80's, remembers the Forties, and remains active in parish ministry

The night before her final profession of vows, Sister Agnes Clare Vitale, OF, stayed up past midnight, killing the fleas that had infested her woolen habit.

The fleas jumped there when she hugged a young child with tuberculosis -- one of the many refugee children that had found their way to the convent in Rome where Sister Clare lived and worked during World War II.

"If I told you their stories, you'd never believe them," she said, shaking her head.

The Franciscan nun, now in her eighties, has been faith formation director at St. Mary's Church in Amsterdam for more than 20 years.

Called by God

Born in New York City, Sister Clare first began discerning a religious vocation in seventh grade.

When she was 17, she found herself attracted to the Missionary Order of the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement in Graymoor, N.Y., because of their commitment to Christian unity and service to the kingdom of God.

As a novice in her twenties, she was sent to Rome to work for the Pontifical Commission for War Orphans and Refugees. She and other nuns cared for more than 60 war orphans, operated summer camps for children on the Italian coast and helped at clinics for Rome's sick. Many of the children had polio, cholera and tuberculosis.

Surviving

The sisters struggled to get the children water and bread, sometimes having to burn garbage to heat soup. The convent's cement basement/bomb shelter regularly hosted 200-300 children and neighbors while sirens raged around Rome.

One night, tired of the fleas and the enclosed, packed space, she sneaked upstairs to sleep in her own bed. While she slept, a bomb blasted through the ceiling and landed -- unexploded -- on the bathroom floor.

She still calls it a miracle.

Back home

Returning to the United States, Sister Clare served at St. Malachy's Church in New York City and ministered for many years as a director of faith formation in parishes in the Adirondack Mountains. She came to the Albany Diocese to serve at St. Luke's Church in Schenectady, Visitation parish in Schuylerville and St. Michael's in Amsterdam.

When she began parish work and catechesis, she said, the Baltimore Catechism and dogmatic outlines that were meant for memorization were paramount. Now, children learn from bright textbooks, but one thing remains the same: They learn about God best through stories, she said.

She often tells children that "'God created the world because He loved storytelling.' You tell children stories, and they'll never forget. You begin, 'Once upon a time,' and their ears perk up."

Loving Jesus

Sister Clare has always felt that memorization, while important, should always take second place to helping children "to love Jesus. I'm wasting my time if I can't lead these kids to God. If they love the Lord, they have a compass for life, and the Lord will always be close to them, no matter the vicissitudes of life."

To teach children, she recommends that teachers be malleable in the classroom, cultivating an ability to switch between the materials in the books they use and kids' concerns about real-life issues.

"I always say to teachers, 'Sometimes, you have a wonderful lesson prepared, and a kid will raise his hand and ask you a question,'" she noted. "These things happen when you're teaching. You have to go with the times.

"I listen to the kids when they question. They want answers. If they don't ask their parents or are too embarrassed to ask their teachers, they can ask in religion class. We are blessed that way."

Lay involvement

The growing lay involvement in catechesis cheers her, Sister Clare said, noting that conferences were once populated with priests and religious.

"Years ago, religious did everything," she said. "Now, the people of God are doing ministry in the Church. God is trying to tell us that the Church is made up of all these people. We need the priests and nuns, but we also need the laypeople."

(For her work, Sister Clare was recently honored with the Mary Reed Newland Award, given by the Albany diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, in honor of her commitment to and excellence in catechetical ministry.)

(9/20/07)