Sister Stories

Sister Lorraine Hale

President of Presentation College, Aberdeen, South Dakota  |  Staten Island, New York

When did you hear God's call and how have you responded?

I went to Secondary School at St. Mary’s College, Lismore, New South Wales (NSW)  Australia.  This was a boarding school where we interacted with the sisters in many different ways during a variety of occasions.  I really admired what the sisters did and wanted to make a difference as I saw them making changes.  When I left school my mother wanted me to work for awhile before I entered the convent.  So I went to nursing school.  I remember thinking that I might continue to be a nurse and then one day I received “The Voice of the College” that was the newspaper that the high school students put together.  I still remember the place and the time when I opened the paper and the thought came to me: I have to enter the College and see if that is what God wants me to do


How has living as a Presentation Sister enhanced your life?

On reflection I would say that as a Presentation Sister I have had an exciting, rich and fulfilling life, and I believe that has been the by-product of the feeling that over the years I have tried to co-operate to the best of my abilities and talents to enhance “God’s Kingdom.”  Without writing a long biography and expose it probably gives you a taste of some of the variations of my life when one considers that I began my life as a Presentation Sister in Lismore NSW and now am a member of the Staten Island Community and work at Presentation College, sponsored by the Presentation Sisters of Aberdeen, South Dakota, on the prairies in the mid-west of the United States.



What would you share with women considering religious life?

There are many forms of religious life which appeal to different people, for example the contemplative life.  From my experience I can really only speak to those who are considering the “apostolic” form which translates for me into being involved in the “rough and tumble” of life.  It is not a running away from the world, rather an engagement with the world.  You have the support of a community so you are not doing it alone. Furthermore, I do not think that a lot of people realize the freedom that belonging to a community gives one to follow the  mission wherever it may call.



If you are thinking about religious life do not approach it from “what am I giving up” so much as “what opportunities am I being offered to promote the kingdom” and become as Iraneaus said, that person fully alive who glorifies God and is the glory of God.


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