Vocation dream comes true

An Albany native whose given name is Millie Wilson, she grew up around the corner from the Little Sisters' former Albany home for the elderly.

She often saw the sisters as she passed by on her way to her parish, St. Patrick's, or her school, the Academy of the Holy Names. In high school, she did service work at St. John's parish in Albany -- meeting Rev. Howard Hubbard long before he became bishop of the Albany Diocese -- and became interested in working with the poor.

Inspired

At first, Millie balked. "But one day, I went in," she said, "and I decided to go back again. I was just so inspired."

The women religious gave her material to read about their foundress, Blessed Jeanne Jugan. That and the familial spirit between them and their elderly residents impressed the teenager.

"The tender-loving care they gave the old people touched me so," Sister Bernadette remarked. "I just kept going back. And the more I was around the old people, [the more] I liked caring for them."

Delayed dream

"I realized why the sisters lived the life they did: You see the face of Christ in the people you care for," she said.

But her mother objected to her entering the convent, troubled by the knowledge that, back then, the nuns didn't come home to visit. So instead of joining the order, Millie went to Maria College and became a nurse.

Two decades later, the nurse was still hoping that God's will would help her become a religious. "I said even as I got older that I was going to be a Little Sister," she said, laughing. "There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't pray to Jesus and Jeanne Jugan -- it's the truth. Not that I didn't enjoy other things, but I felt God was calling me."

Mission accomplished

At 50, Sister Bernadette is now a first-year novice. After her two-year novitiate is over, she'll take her first vows and be assigned to a home for the elderly. The Little Sisters operate 240 homes around the world, so she could go to any of six continents -- "but I'm ready to go anywhere," she said.

The novice turned thoughtful: "A lot of people think this is a second career, but it's not. It's a vocation that's been since I was 14." She laughed and added: "It's a miracle that I'm here."

(03-29-01) [[In-content Ad]]