April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
PRESENTATION SISTERS
Sister rallies around children, Siena athletes
Sister rallies around children, Siena athletes
"Every cow didn't give the same amount of milk, but that didn't influence the love we had for them," noted Sister Mary Stephen, a Sister of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary who lives in Watervliet.
The fourth of eight siblings, Sister Mary Stephen knew she wanted to enter religious life for just about as long as she can remember.
As a child, she was a member of the 4-H Club, raising cows and chickens with her brothers and sisters and learning to do chores in a timely manner in order to make it to morning Mass before school every day.
"We turned an entire loaf of bread into peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we could eat on our way from church to school," she remembered.
Kid-focused
The young woman's time on the family farm enhanced her faith and made her more willing to follow the call to a vocation. When her graduation from high school neared, she and her mother began looking for a religious community where she could also pursue a dream: "I wanted to work with children."
When she had first told her parents about her decision, her mother began to cry. Soon, though, Mrs. Vamosy -- a convert to Catholicism herself -- was accompanying her daughter as she explored various communities of sisters.
Having had asthma as a child ruled out a potential career as a Maryknoll missionary; that order had strict health requirements. Her sister, Peg, became a Maryknoll lay missioner and still serves in El Salvador (read a previous column by Ms. Vamosy at www.evangelist.org).
Sister Mary Stephen settled on the Presentation Sisters who lived at St. Colman's Convent in Watervliet.
"There was a sign on the altar [in the chapel] that said, 'My child, give me thy heart.' That was it," she said. Ironically, the convent was located on a site that had once been a farm.
Living the life
She entered the convent at an exciting time in the Church: In September 1962, just before the start of the Second Vatican Council. Vatican II sparked changes in the Church like the Mass no longer being celebrated in Latin; Sister Mary Stephen recalled an increase in vocations to her order, as well.
The sisters worked with children - at first, orphans or children whose parents couldn't care for them. Later, the convent housed teenaged boys who'd caused trouble in their former schools.
For the past 35 years, the convent has been a haven for children on the autism spectrum. At the moment, four children with autism live at the home, but about 70 attend a day program run by the sisters, eating lunch at St. Colman's every day.
Sister Mary Stephen helped with the sisters' daycare program for young children, but she primarily spent decades as a teacher, retiring in 2009 from a long career at St. Ambrose School in Latham. Although she taught various grades and subjects in the elementary school, she retired with 30 years of experience specifically as a kindergarten teacher.
Still serving
Sister Mary Stephen is still active in other ways: She plays the organ on Sundays, at Masses for her fellow sisters' feast days and throughout the Christmas season. She loves art and has made banners to decorate the altar in the convent chapel.
She's also what fans term a "rally nun" for athletes at Siena College in Loudonville. The members of Siena's men's basketball team find her cheering on the sidelines at every home game, waving a towel in support of the Saints. Looking back, Sister Mary Stephen cites her early years as what taught her to accept responsibility.
"We all had our chores, and that's how it is here. Our work is for the poor," she said of religious life.
Her father lived by the same standards: He would often give away milk and vegetables from the farm to people in need. Sister Mary Stephen noted the dependence on God that one must have as a farmer and as a woman religious: "Every single thing is from God."
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