Sr. Rosana and Mother Mary Vincent received the following joy-filled letter and essay from the daughter and granddaughter of Resident Marita Landis.
April 6, 2013
Dear Sister Rosana:
I want to share the attached essay with you that my daughter, Annie, wrote for a 7th grade English assignment. The students were asked to write about an individual who they felt represented the qualities of “an amazing pro-life hero”. Annie chose you! I knew nothing about this assignment nor had I read the essay until it was completed and graded. To our delight, Annie’s essay was chosen from the 52 students in her class to represent [school’s] 7th grade in the Indianapolis Right-to-Life Essay Contest.
Many heartfelt thanks to you for taking such loving, compassionate care of the Residents of St. Augustine, especially Annie’s Nana, my mother. You are such a positive, energetic, and enthusiastic influence! Not only have you lovingly influenced the lives of the elderly, but also the life of a young girl, my daughter. For that, I am so very grateful to you.
May God bless you as you continue your wonderful ministry with the Little Sisters at St. Augustine Home.
Peace be with you,
Lillian B.
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April 2, 2013
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost,
to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Pro-life heroes are inspirational and moving. They influence us to value the wonderful gift called life. People today, myself included, sometimes take for granted what we have and what we are able to do physically or mentally. We should stop for a moment and think about the thousands in the world that have disabilities, illnesses, or are elderly and not able to function on their own. First, we need to respect them, and second, we need to help them to live life to the fullest.
One of the most pro-life and positive people I know is Sister Rosana. She is a nun who lives and helps at St. Augustine, a home for the elderly, where my grandmother, whom I call Nana, lives. Sister was born in the Philippines, a mainly Roman Catholic country. I do not know her life story, but I do know that it must have been hard to travel all this way and become part of the Little Sisters of the Poor order. Whenever I see Sister Rosana, her face lights up, and she always asks how I am. That shows how much she genuinely cares about another person’s life and Sister will take time out of her own day to ask them. She is very enjoyable and always pleasant to be around, saying ‘hello’ to everyone in the hallway that she passes. Almost every day, or when Nana has a meeting or ensemble practice, Sister Rosana wakes her up and gets her motivated and excited about the day. She always says that she is “your grandma’s favorite nun,” and I am sure that many other Residents will agree. Sister devoutly believes in God, and she says that helping others and doing good deeds for them makes her faith in God stronger and stronger.
When my mother and I recently spoke to her, Sister told us that when she wakes up, she tells herself that she will be joyful to make other people’s days better and make them feel good about themselves. This is what I should do to start off my day. From her inspiration, my goal is to make someone’s day, every day. Maybe it is a smile or a simple ‘hello’. I want to be a joyful and faith-filled person like Sister Rosana. She has inspired me to be a great person, now and forever.
An Amazing Pro-Life Hero