Years ago Sister Joyce had written out her vocation story for our old website.  Below is her story in her own words. 

I’m from Chicago, but I had met the Sisters at Menominee, Michigan. We used to vacation there and I moved there, thinking I would marry and live there by the water. But, Our Lord had other plans for me.

I wanted to learn more about my faith. I went to visit Father Rogers at St. William Parish. We met once a week then I became involved in the Legion of Mary and the Third Order of St. Francis secular. It was on September 8, 1965 that I received the inspiration for my present work, I found Christ again, and He came to me with a deeper meaning than I had before. I wanted to share that experience with more people. I was working in an IGA grocery store and doing Parish work, teaching catechism, visiting prisoners and the sick, and becoming more and more involved. The inspiration of St. Francis was a compelling one. He lived the Gospels, cared for the sick, and respected and revered the Church.

I had met the Sisters at St. Joseph Hospital at Menominee, Michigan, and felt I must inquire at the novitiate. I found my calling in The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. As a postulant, hungry for God’s Word and teaching, I spent a year in prayer and reflection, studying the vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, studying the Vatican II constitution, Theology and Scripture. Then for two more years, I was a novice, which involved more intense study and theology, and the history of our community and of the Church. Then followed five years under Temporary Vows, working in St. Francis and St. James hospitals. I took my Perpetual Vows on August 6th, 1972. I shall live forever for Christ and the Church, through our Community of The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. Commitment is difficult and challenging. To be a Christian is not easy, but the joys of sharing Christ with others in this world is very rewarding and a hundred fold more rewarding in the life to come.

Sister Joyce, O.S.F.