Sisters of the Presentation of Mary

My name is Sister Viviane...I was born on December 31, 1953, and I am the sixth in a family of eight children. I was raised on a farm near Bellevue, Saskatchewan where I went to school for 12 years. Even if I did grow up in a very strong Catholic family with daily prayers, the Rosary, celebrations of the Sacraments; even if I did go to school with the Sisters of the Presentation as teachers, it was not until much later that the thought of Religious Life could be a possibility for me.

After my Grade 12, I went to the University in Saskatoon and I was fortunate to be a boarder at the convent of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary. It is during those 2 years that the Lord opened my heart to the thought of being a Sister in a religious community. Even if we didn't live with the Sisters they were close enough for us to get to know them on a personal level. I enjoyed very much being invited in their home. There was always a lot of talking, laughing, and teasing. And of course, their chapel was always open to us to come and pray and celebrate the Eucharist.

Those 2 years were very special to me. I came to know the Sisters as what they were: Sisters, a community who shared everything, who worked and prayed together. I must say that it is their Community Life and their Prayer Life that attracted me the most in my decision to become a Sister of the Presentation.

After I became a teacher, I was very happy to be able to teach in a school where the Sisters of the Presentation taught. They were good friends and very supportive in my search of God's Plan for me. How would I know if God was calling me to a religious vocation? I was told to pray; to ask the Lord for His Light and His Guidance, and that peace would be a sign. And in praying, I discovered Christ, and His Love for me, a love that had always been there and buried deep within. Jesus asked me to follow Him in a community of sisters and I said yes, and peace filled my heart.

In 1978, I asked to enter the Noviciate, and in 1981, I made profession. Since then, I have come to know and love the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation and especially its Foundress, Marie Rivier. In my ministry as a school teacher, I try to imitate Marie Rivier by letting the fire of Jesus' love burn within me and spread to the children I teach.

I came to realize that it is not what we want in life that will bring happiness but it's what God can accomplish through us when we let Him lead us.