A calling like none other

Winds of change are sweeping through the Catholic community of Ville Platte as two nuns, who are assigned to St. Joseph Catholic Church, are leaving for other assignments at the end of this month.
Sister Lucille Stelly has been at St. Joseph’s for the past 12 years, and has been serving as a volunteer at nursing homes in Opelousas and Ville Platte as well as ministering to the homebound.
“I will miss the people,” Sister Lucille said. “I’ve really come to like the people here and find them very kind and giving.”
Sister Rita Darensbourg has been at St. Joseph’s for the past 10 years and has been serving as pastoral associate. She oversees safe environment training, religious education, bereavement at the church as well as serving as sexton of the cemetery, helping with the liturgy, taking care of funerals, and also ministering to the homebound. Her main roles are prison ministry, RCIA, and church secretary.
“I will miss the people who I got to know personally,” Sister Rita said, “and I will also miss the people who I ministered to because that’s what the work really involves. I will miss the relationships that I’ve created here.”
Both are members of The Sisters of The Holy Family community which is based in New Orleans and have been nuns for over five decades.
“I heard the call through prayer at St. John the Baptist Church in New Orleans,” said Sister Rita, who has been a nun for 55 years. “I made two Come and See discernment programs while in high school. I made one in my junior year, but that didn’t impress me. Then, I made one in my senior year, and that didn’t so much impress me either.”
“While I was praying at that church,” she continued, “I was asking the Lord what it was He wanted me to do because I was about to finish high school. I didn’t hear anything in the background, but, in my mind, I kept seeing images of the convent. Those pictures came back to me.”
For Sister Lucille, she said she had “always wanted to be a nun.” She added, “My dad’s two sisters were nuns. As long as I can remember, I didn’t want to do anything else but being a nun. I feel happy being able to be a nun.”
Upon their departure from Ville Platte, Sister Rita will return to the mother house of the order in New Orleans, and Sister Lucille will head to a mission of the order in Baton Rouge.
“I’m going to St. Mary’s Faculty House,” Sister Rita said. “St. Mary’s Academy was my high school, and, since Hurricane Katrina, it’s open all the way from Pre-K to 12th grade. That was my last teaching assignment before I got into parish work. I will be the local leader of the house, assisting with spiritual activities at Lafon Nursing Facility, and will be on the vocation team.”
While in Baton Rouge, Sister Lucille will be serving in similar roles as she had been serving here in Ville Platte.”
After all her years of serving as a nun, Sister Rita sees her calling as being rewarding because it gives her a chance to “see people come to trust you, and you learn to trust other people too.” She added, “I can see the goodness of God in so many different aspects. I’ve learned the different faces of God through people’s goodness.”
Sister Rita concluded, “I hope I can carry over with me to my new assignment what I have experienced here. I think that’s very workable.”