Sister Mary Regina Anderson (formerly Mary Beth Anderson of Fraser Lake, BC) studied at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom from 2004-2006.  On August 15, 2011, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, she made her solemn profession and consecration as a nun in the Order of Citeaux at the Valley of Our Lady Monastery in Wisconsin, USA.  She writes:

After thirteen years of schooling at home, I spent four semesters at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy, following which I entered Valley of Our Lady Monastery. Having lived here five years (during which I professed my first vows, on Mary’s Assumption), this past August, 2011, I was solemnly consecrated as a Cistercian nun.

I had quite a strong sense of a calling to contemplative life since my mid-teens, and so I wanted to study where my awareness and response to the will of God could be safeguarded and strengthened. I chose the Academy hoping to grow intellectually, relationally, and spiritually; and this desire was satisfied through the round of courses and the discipline they required, through the dedicated example and personal openness of my professors and fellow students, and through the opportunity for a sacramental life of prayer. While each class I took expanded my mind and heart, I would mention in particular how the study of Holy Scripture began to unfold its beauty for me. I acquired a deeper reverence and an insatiable hunger for the teaching of Christ. In my monastic life now, the devoted reading of His sacred word (lectio divina) is a primary means of union with Jesus, the Word made Flesh. 

I would draw a comparison between being at the Academy and being a monk or nun. To spend years studying the liberal arts is seen by many as a waste of time. The reply is to explain how one finds freedom in learning the truth, and how the truth is worth seeking for its own sake. Young people at the Academy are continually being apprehended by Christ the Truth, Who invites each to know Him personally, and to commit to Him. 

To give myself to the monastic way of life is similarly a choice that’s hard to explain; attempting to defend it pragmatically (e.g.“My job is to pray for people”) really falls short. The mystery of this divine call is, again, one of seeking and finding. Ultimately, the  criterion for a monastic vocation is “whether [the novice] truly seeks God”(Rule of St. Benedict). God is loved most of all, and for His own sake.  There really is no other reason. The “all” of my life, my experience, my desire, is awakened to His constant presence: to His love for me. For He is the one Who has come continually seeking me; and I am only here because God has found me and keeps me, “hidden with Christ” in Himself.

I say He seeks and finds me as I relate my own choice of commitment to Christ. I want to encourage and affirm each of my brothers and sisters now on path of His truth. It could be, it is you; rejoice and don’t be afraid! For every one of us, He has chosen a certain way leading to union with Him. Jesus Christ is indeed the Truth; and He is also our Way of Life.

 Sr. Mary Regina with her family on profession day.