Sister Jane Stanislaus Riederer I come from a family where the practice of our Catholic faith was as important as eating and breathing. I grew up with eight brothers and three sisters on a family farm near Linz, Austria. My parents were good people who served God by working hard and raising their children to serve him and others.

Within my parish, there was a lot of talk about the Missions. When I was thirteen or fourteen and finishing my elementary schooling, I felt the call to serve God by helping his neediest people. I wanted to be a missionary!

I got to know the Oblate Sisters through a friend who took a Home Economics course with me. She told me that if I were going to be a religious, it had to be with the Oblate Sisters. I did not know anything about these Sisters. I decided to take a chance and visit them. With somewhat accurate directions in hand, I went off to the city of Linz and visited the convent. One of the Sisters took me to visit a shrine to the Blessed Mother up on the mountain. I asked our Holy Mother to guide me in my decision to dedicate myself to her Son's service. I requested entrance into the Congregation. My parish priest helped me in my quest to become an Oblate.

My mother was happy with my decision but my father had some reservations since he was afraid that I would not be happy. My family supported me in my vocation although I was the oldest and they needed my help. I decided to enter on October 1 st after what would be a busy summer working on the farm. Meantime my mother took sick and was very ill. This delayed my entrance by about two weeks.

My earliest Novitiate days in Linz were very happy ones but the following March saw the beginning of Hitler's take over of Austria. This changed our daily lives because food was severely rationed, people lived in constant fear and uncertainty, and air raids became an everyday occurrence.

Our Sisters' convent had a large basement which became the neighborhood bomb shelter. Those who were ill had to be carried down by stretcher and carried back out later. The raids usually lasted for a couple of hours. This went on for several years. Several bombs fell quite close to the convent since we were near the train station. They took out our windows and doors and caused ceilings to fall. Although it was a mess all around us, we were happy that we had all survived.

Because of the lack of fresh, nutritious food, several of our Sisters, including myself, would bring food back clandestinely from our family farms. Once I was almost caught by a helpful street car conductor who took my bag for me. These supplements helped our Sisters to survive the horrors of World War II.

One of the Sisters was caught taking material to her family for safe keeping. This caused our convent to be searched to make sure that no contraband was being hidden there. We were very much afraid.

The last few days of May 1945 were particularly frightening. We were being shot at by the Russians on one side and the Americans on the other. We were totally controlled by the military. Fortunately our convent was on the American side for a while and we felt secure. We were then controlled by the Russians. Although we were afraid we were never harmed by them.

After the war, it took a long time to get our lives back to normal. We passed through several years of deprivation and suffering. There was not enough food and many buildings had to be rebuilt. My perpetual profession had to wait until after the war. I spent the next few years working for our area churches, still planning to serve in the Missions. The end of the war also paved the way for my younger sister to join our Oblate community, as she had wanted to do for several years. Sr. Louise Raphael continues to serve our community in Austria.

In 1949 I was sent to Switzerland to begin my preparations for work in the Missions. I underwent medical training in a hospital so that I could minister to the people in South Africa. I also took a first aid course while in our Motherhouse in Troyes, France, along with Sr. Mary Bertha who was also destined for Africa.

In 1950, several Sisters began preparations to leave definitively for Africa. Meanwhile, our Mother General met with the American Oblate Provincial, Fr. Buckley, and they decided that a group of Oblate Sisters would begin a foundation in the United States. Our Mother General asked if I would mind to spend a few years in America before heading for the African Missions. Of course, I agreed, knowing that it was God's will. Somehow I never made it to Africa.

Two Sisters left for the U.S. in December of 1950. Three of us were supposed to accompany them but my Austrian nationality posed a problem because of the extensive Nazi occupation. By March 6 th , all was in order and we set sail. After a very rough voyage in which all three of us succumbed to seasickness, we landed in New York on March 12 th . Our Oblate Fathers and Brothers met us and took us on to Childs, Maryland. On March 13 th I started in the kitchen and took it over the following day.

The rest, as they say, is history.

My vocation took a totally unexpected turn. I had entered the Oblate Sisters to serve in the Missions and ended up here in America. Not only had I never thought to go to the United States, but the last place I expected to work was in the kitchen. In my youthful naïveté, my first prayer was, "Dear God, since I have to go to do kitchen work, please make it that I don't break anything or burn anything." God was very faithful to that petition. Although I never would have expected it, I grew to love this work, seeing it as God's will. It was difficult with the language. Every year, a new class of Oblates would come in and have to be trained to do kitchen work. That was my challenge. I found great happiness in my work and in my vocation.