Sister Miriam Elizabeth I was born in Dublin, Ireland, the 11th of 14 children.  I have very happy memories of growing up in a strongly Catholic family with so many brothers and sisters.  I believe that the seed of my religious vocation was first  planted by my mother.  She would read the Lives of the Saints to us each night and I remember being especially impressed with St. Theresa of the Little Flower and wanting to be like her.

At my First Communion, I felt a strong call to religious life as well as the desire to receive Communion daily.  I was educated by the Domincans, and they kept the call alive by their witness of their lives, and, especially, by the beautiful retreats they conducted for us.  When I graduated from High School, I began to pursue my teaching degree, feeling certain that I would like to enter a teaching Congregation. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel called to the Domincan way of life.

My first assignment as a teacher was with the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales, and I quickly felt very comfortable among these dedicated and hardworking sisters. After a few years of teaching at their school, I requested admission into the congregation.  My first years in religious life were difficult and I was often tempted to give up.  How clearly and gratefully, I remember the moment of my First Profession.  With the pronouncing of my Vows, I suddenly felt peace flood my soul and I knew I was exactly where God was calling me to be.

The rest of my story just tells of various teaching assignments and the living out of our very beautiful Oblate life over these many years.  I never dreamed that God would one day call me to serve in the United States, but I have learned firsthand what we were taught in the Novitiate…that an Oblate Sister can be sure of finding happiness anywhere, for her happiness is in doing God’s will in whatever is asked.