Original subtitles

I said just to make sure we thank God

for sister Wilhelmina because she said

when we were young and we were starting

our community we weren't thinking about

what might come later but sister Wilhelmina

will always keep you remembering

what's going to happen in the future too.

It was God who did it because I wanted to be a nun sort of long ago

when I was... I know what really happened well...

We had on there my first communion.

Yeah and there's my first communion.

I would say the Lord spoke to me and I said yes.

Yeah he's about to hear my voice.

He invited me and he said:

Well, come through and see me in the Holy Communion

every time because I'm in the mass.

That's what he said to me,

and I said: Yes, I'll be glad to do that.

You see, I didn't... I never told my father or

mother, anybody... anybody that he alone spoke

to me in communion. I thought it happened to everybody.

And well, that was a long time ago.

And you're still here now.

God is merciful! That's all I can say.

God is merciful. I always knew this was the right path,

even though it was hard I was a little, right path.

Really she was our anchor from the beginning

because we had that experience

and when young sisters like myself came to join

I had never known religious life at all,

so we had sister Wilhelmina's experience

of religious life to build the community.

Oh I love the music, I love the hymns.

Oh do you enjoy hearing the ladies chant? Oh I do.

I do too, so beautiful.

(Mother Cecilia) Our Lord has called each one of us here,

He has spoken to each of our hearts, each of our souls,

and said to us: I want you...

I want you to live this intimate life with Me...

We do have a problem in that... there's just simply no room.

(Sr. Misericordia) The name of our Abbey is the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus.

We really try to emulate the life of Our Lady

as she lived her final years

after the crucifixion and before her Assumption.

(Fr. Jambon) They have a very special call to pray for priests.

Priests are called to help people get to heaven.

(Sr. Mary Josefa) We're here to keep the fires going at the hearth of the Church.

There's a new generation that appreciates the way

we live and aspires to the ideals that we have.

(Mother Cecilia) As our community was growing in numbers.

We started having to look around for a place to expand.

We're out of space.

Three and a half years ago. We sent eight pioneering Sisters

down to Ava, Missouri in the Ozarks.

(Sr. Mary Josefa) When we first left Gower, we had a very very small Chapel.

We like to have a little space available for laity to come to Mass.

It's sort of like a big barn and not even very well finished.

You'll see the drywall, the cement floor... It's very rustic.

It wasn't intended to be a parish.

At the growth rate that we are experiencing.

I don't think we'll be able to stay more than a couple more years.

(Sr. Misericordia) We have to start building. We can't wait. We just need to start.

(Dave Baalman) In building the Priory and the church in Ava,

we're procuring materials.

We're making sure that we got all the contractors ready to go.

Hopefully we'll be starting to enclose before winter.

Mother said she wanted to build beautiful building.

And beautiful buildings should be built for God.

(Sr. Mary Josefa) There's a very hectic way of life,

People are very distracted. They feel the need to come away having a spiritual center,

sort of a haven, a spiritual oasis in the modern desert.

(Sr. Misericordia) We especially wanted to entrust this new monastic family to Saint Joseph

because he's the guardian of women

who have given themselves to God.

We also want to build a shrine for fathers!

It's the Monastery of Saint Joseph. Let's do a shrine of Saint Joseph in honor of fathers!

(Fr. Jambon) Catholics should really reflect and say okay. We really want the nuns.

We need the nuns so to teach us how to be holy

and that they may pray for our families, and pray for priests.

(Sr. Misericordia) We wouldn't be able to live this life. We wouldn't be able to give ourselves

to God in this way, unless people believed in who we are

and what we do, and support us both financially

and spiritually.

We are so grateful for our many benefactors.

We carry their intentions in our hearts throughout the day

to Divine Office and to Mass. We do pray for you!

The fact that they value what we do enough to make that sort

of sacrifice entitles them to a part of our life.

(Mother Cecilia) If our lives are worthy of belief,

this hidden life of prayer,

Then it is worthy of support.

It is worthy of growth. It is worthy of expansion.

We can only do so with the assistance

with the support with the help of friends out in the world.

I have absolutely no doubt that God will bless abundantly those

who support and assist these efforts

in building this Monastery,

this house for His glory for the brides of Christ.