JOYFUL SPIRIT: Stella Niagara nun directs centennial events (with VIDEO of Chiapas mission)

By Michele Deluca/delucam@gnnewspaper.com

April 08, 2008 12:40 pm

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IF YOU GO
WHAT: Ongoing centennial celebrations at Stella Niagara featuring free talk by environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; reservations required
WHEN: 3 p.m., April 26
WHERE: Stella Niagara, 4421 Lower River Road, Lewiston
MORE INFORMATION: Call 754-2193

On the outside, it seems like much has changed since Sister Beth Brosmer decided to become a nun when she was 17.
She and her sisters no longer wear the long, woolen habits and confining veils. They live and work more freely within their communities.
But one thing hasn’t changed — the reason that she decided to become a nun.
“I was 17,” she said. “There were two things I wanted. I wanted to be holy, and I wanted to have a relationship with God.”
She shopped around before deciding on a order to join. Then she met a Franciscan nun — in a community of nuns who follow the ways of St. Francis — who left a great impression. To this day, Brosmer doesn’t remember the conversation. She only remembers one thing about the nun: “She was joyful.”
“I thought to myself, well, this is the crowd for me,” Brosmer said with a laugh. “In 1964, I joined the community, and 44 years later, here I am.”
She’s leading a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Stella Niagara in Lewiston, where her order of nuns, called Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, have created a convent, a nursing home for retired nuns, a school and a retreat center overlooking the lower Niagara River.
St. Francis would have more than likely approved of the work the nuns have done over the century. The saint, who was known for his attitude of joy, was also notable for his love of those in need and his reverence for the environment.
His life, as documented in a children’s book written by environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was all about his connection to “Mother Earth” and the animals and people in need. The Franciscan nuns, who founded Stella Niagara as a school and retreat center 100 years ago, also revere the land and minister to the needy.
Brosmer, who is leading the centennial activities, thought it would make perfect sense to ask Kennedy to speak at Stella Niagara this month as part of the celebration. Kennedy, who shares Francis as a middle name with his famous father, Robert F. Kennedy, will also be signing his book, “St. Francis of Assisi.”
Kennedy once said of the saint that, “Saint Francis of Assisi is my hero because he understood the connection between spirituality and the environment. He understood the way that God communicates to us most forcefully is through the fishes and the birds and the trees, and that it is a sin to destroy those things.”
Brosmer is overseeing a variety of other events scheduled to celebrate the centennial, including a play, “An Enemy of the People,” which, in an adaptation by Arthur Miller, details the story of a man who tries to call attention to an environmental disaster in his community.
There will be an alumni celebration July 27-28. A play called “The Star of Niagara,” about the early years of the order, will be performed Aug. 16-24 in a quiet cemetery on Stella Niagara grounds.
In total, the events will celebrate an order of nuns who have ministries in the inner cities of Niagara Falls and Buffalo, including food kitchens and schools for children and adolescents, and as far away a Chiapas, Mexico.
In a way, leading the centennial is a confirmation of Brosmer’s choice to become a Franciscan nun.
“It’s a great job,” she said of her current work as director of development for Stella Niagara, which followed stints as an inner city teacher. “I get to meet some of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and I have the privilege of telling them about the sisters of St. Francis, inviting them to be part of our ministries.”
For Brosmer, who makes her home in Buffalo, the choice she made 44 years ago to join the order of St. Francis remains the choice she would make all over again.
“I believe God has given me the grace to live this life and in the lifestyle I have and it’s enough for me.” she said.
After a moment ,she added: “As my dad would have said, ‘Honey, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.’ ”
Contact editor Michele DeLuca at 693-1000, ext. 157.

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