Journey of Faith
story by Bria Granville
Before the sun rises each morning, the residents of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph convent are awake to attend morning Mass. Each resident is a former active and working nun.
Now retired, the sisters range in age from their mid 70s to late 90s and spend their days on the vast land of the convent relaxing and in prayer.
Living among them, it might be surprising to find Anh Tran, a 33-year-old Vietnamese nun.
Along with one other Vietnamese student, Anh will live at Mount Saint Joseph as she pursues a degree in theology from the Brescia University, a Catholic University in downtown Owensboro founded by the Ursuline sisters.
Both Vietnamese nuns were provided the opportunity to come to America on a full scholarship and to be hosted by the sisters.
“When I live here the sisters support us,” Anh says. “I receive good care and love and support here.”
Despite the age difference, Anh says she fits into the community of sisters helping with small tasks and spending time with the older, more disabled nuns.
When she was 11, Anh made the choice to leave her family, live at a convent and begin her path to becoming a nun. Inspired by a teacher who was a nun, Anh joined the Sisters of the Holy Cross of Da Lat Diocese, Vietnam, when she was 21.
“The first time I came to the convent my brothers and sisters missed me and cried a lot.” Anh says. “I think Jesus Christ strengthened me at that time to tell them that I would stay at the convent.”
“I let God gradually into my heart,” she says.
Despite a lack of support for Catholicism in Vietnam, Anh found being a nun as her calling in life and sees her opportunity to learn in America as a chance to improve the Catholic Church of Vietnam.
“After this I’ll return to my country and help in my convent and serve Vietnamese church,” she says. “I understand that when my convent sent me to America to study, when I return home, I must do beautiful things for the convent.”
Sister Anh Tran is a Vietnamese nun who attends Brescia University in Owensboro, Ky. She plans to return to Vietnam after graduation. "I understand that when my convent sent me to America to study, when I return home I must do beautiful things for the convent." Sister Anh says.
The residents of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph commune hold morning mass to begin their day.
Sister Anh Tran is given a wafer by Sister Mary Mathias during morning mass communion. Originally from Vietnam, Sister Tran has experienced less religious tolerance than what she has seen while in America. "Freedom of religion is so different; in Vietnam they talk about freedom, but the people, we don't feel like we have freedom of religion, of our beliefs," Tran says.
Sister Anh Tran reads verses from a pamphlet before morning prayers at the Mount Saint Joseph Chapel. Sister Anh is a member of The Sister of the Holy Cross of Da Lat Diocese in Vietnam, but is hosted by the Ursuline Sisters during her stay in the U.S.
Vietnamese nun Sister Anh Tran eats breakfast with other nuns at the Ursuline Sisters commune. "I receive good care and love and kindness and generosity of the Ursuline Sisters here," Sister Anh says.
Sister Luisa Bickett (left) speaks with Sister Anh Tran after choir practice. Sister Anh is a Vietnamese nun living with the Ursuline Sisters while she studies at Brescia University.
Sister Grace Swift recalls the names of the Ursuline Sisters who were once teachers at Mount Saint Joseph when it was a girls academy. Some of the former teachers retired to the home once the academy ended in 1984.
An Ursuline Sister retiree awaits the elevator to take her back to her room. The Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph houses nearly 600 retired nuns from various parishes throughout Kentucky and Kansas.
A statue of Jesus on the Cross towers over the many gravesites in the private graveyard of Mount Saint Joseph, where nuns who have passed away have been buried over the years.