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DEC 06 LBW
Sister Lois
Jean Jensik, OSB
Sister Lois
Jean grew up with her brother, John, and their parents Barbara
and Louis, in Cicero, Illinois. Some of her earliest
childhood memories include feeling great joy when the
Benedictine Sisters, would arrive at the beginning of each new
school year at Holy Mount Parish. She recalls, too, her cousin
instructing her to be nice to the ‘half Sisters’ (those who did
not wear a ring and were in training) or they might leave the
convent.
Sister Lois
Jean recalls warmly how kind the priests were to the children.
They would flood the play yard in the winter so the children
could skate and take them to a toboggan hill. When she was 8 or
9 years old, Sister Lois Jean recalls seeing the movie “The
Little Flower” and it was then that she told her mother she
wanted to enter the convent. She was a bit of a character,
too! She would put a scarf on her head and pretend to be a
Sister and then she would explain to her mother that she could
not work or help with chores because she had to pray!
When she
was 16, and on the occasion of one of the Benedictine Sisters’
50th Jubilee, Sister Lois Jean first came to see
Sacred Heart Chapel. She found the monastery to be so peaceful
and she felt God was calling her. She remembers being drawn to
the Statue of the Sacred Heart with his arms outstretched in
welcome. Her mother counseled her to wait two years and attend
Sacred Heart Academy to be sure she could live away from home
and in community. When she was 18, her father drove her to
the monastery. On the way, he pulled the car over and told her,
“Lois, this is your future home. Once you enter, you are there
for life. You will need to live through tough times and keep
your commitment. She took her perpetual vows in 1958.
Sister Lois
Jean taught for several years and has since then helped in many
areas of monastery life: laundry, working in the fields,
sewing. Then she found her true calling – caring for babies and
young children of families who needed daycare and asked the
Sisters to help. Sister Lois Jean remembers fondly, the
youngsters she cared for, especially her good friend Ernie Stark
who spent time at the monastery as a young man while his mother
worked.
These days
you will find Sister Lois Jean cheerfully staffing the monastery
reception desk. Too, she has responsibilities for preparing the
chapel for Mass. Her hobbies include embroidery and playing
Sodoku. She loves to watch animal shows and is a Jeopardy fan.
She welcomes a return to the quiet, private monastery
environment upon completion of the renovation work.
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