Hello! My name is Sr. M. Karolyn and I have been with the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George since 2005. Originally from Rhode Island, I graduated with a degree in Theology from Franciscan University and worked as a youth minister and director of religious education in Tennessee for two years before entering religious life. During that time, I thought I could satisfy the invitation of the Lord by simply working for him, but I was really running away from the deeper call he was offering me. While working in the parish, I grew in prayer and fell more in love with him. I slowly began to discover that he was inviting me not to do something for him, but rather to surrender myself to him so as to be someone for and with him, and in particular to express my femininity as his spouse in consecrated religious life and to live spiritual motherhood in the Church and in the world.
I was attracted to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George, whom I met during my years at Franciscan University, because I love the incarnational spirituality of St. Francis who encountered Christ in the crib, on the cross, and in the Eucharist. From a young age, my prayer was especially focused on the cross and the pierced side of Christ which is the very spirituality and charism of our congregation: “to look upon him whom we have pierced” (John 19:37). Since entering, I have served in catechetical and educational apostolates in parishes and schools in Illinois, New Jersey, and Kansas. Since 2016, I have served as vocation director for the community and enjoy accompanying young people in discovering what it means to be fully alive in living the vocation for which they were created. My religious name honors the Blessed Mother (the “M.” in my name stands for Mary) and Pope St. John Paul II (KAROL Wojtyla). His call to Be not afraid resonated deeply within me and his pontificate was formative in my relationship with Jesus and my love for the Church.
In my recreation times, I enjoy crafting, especially making cards and painting, making music on guitar, ukulele, and harmonica, and singing whatever song comes to mind.
Following the Lord in this way of life has been a great adventure, and in my giving myself to him, he has given me more than my heart could have ever imagined.
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