Meet a Missionary
Sister John Regina Lang MSBT and
Sister Marie Bernadette, MSBT
Sister John Regina Lang MSBT and Sister Marie Bernadette, MSBT are sisters as well as Sisters.
After many years as social workers in Catholic Charities the Lang Sisters came to St. Ann’s to minister to the needs of the parishioners.
We begin our day with morning prayers & meditation. Then off to 8am mass at St. Ann’s church.
After mass we have a brief meeting with the pastor and ladies from Outreach who advise us of parishioners in hospitals, in need of a home visit or a request for prayers for a loved one who recently lost a spouse, etc.
Our Monday morning begins with home visits scheduled for every 40 minutes. The telephone is our lifeline with our shut- ins. We call the night before to schedule our visits so they don’t conflict with doctor visits, therapists, etc. etc. One example is Dorie who lives alone and must use a walker. We chat about her meals, how she manages her chores and as social workers we check on her family contacts – need for an alert button in the event of a fall and need for a home helper if warranted. Then we turn to church and parish activities which they want to hear about.
We then begin our prayer services, scripture readings and reception of the Holy Eucharist, short meditation and prayers to the Blessed Trinity and because we are located in an old Irish settlement called “Forty Acres” we close our visit with an Irish Blessing.
Then two or three more visits and back home to our Cenacle for lunch. This is our usual day.
Once a month we have Mass at Kentmere Nursing Home. The St. Ann School children, starting from 3rd Grade come. They do the readings and sing hymns. After Mass they give each resident cards they make, promising prayers. Their faces light up as the children greet them.
We visit two large Nursing homes weekly and have Communion services. Every other week we visit the residents in their rooms. We also have the Rosary when we have group meetings. We bring the Eucharist on a weekly basis, to four high rises located within our parish.
We make weekly home visits to about 30 shut-ins and bring them Holy Eucharist.
Whenever any of our shut-ins or parishioners requires hospital care we visit them and do follow- up visits.
In all our visits we bring the people an update on Church happenings. We share our MSBT charism with all as we always include our closing prayer to the Blessed Trinity.