My Vocation Story by Sr. Chiara Rose Fedele, CFR

My name is Sr. Chiara Rose and I am a Franciscan Sister of the Renewal. Our community began in 1988 in the South Bronx through the inspiration of Fr. Andrew Apostoli, one of our founding Franciscan of the Renewal, and Sr. Lucille Cutrone, the founding sister of our community. Our charism is to do hands-on work with the poor and to evangelize. I am tremendously honored to be a part of this family of Friars and Sisters, and it is my joy to share with you the journey of how I became a Franciscan Sister of the Renewal.

I grew up in Oakland, a town in northern New Jersey and lived there until my parents moved to Nashville, TN while I was in college. I have a twin sister, Jaclyn, who is now happily married with two small children. Jaclyn and I were raised in the faith, but it wasn’t until I reached high school when the reality of our Catholic faith completely changed my life.

I went to a public high school and joined the youth group in my home . We met every Sunday night after the 7pm Mass and began many of our meetings praying before the Blessed Sacrament. I began to truly fall in love with our Lord. I felt the presence of His unconditional love, a deep joy, and the intimacy of being known. Those 10 minutes soon became not enough. Jaclyn and I would make a visit to our Lord in the Tabernacle as much as we could; before and after school and on the weekends. In these times of prayer, something very sacred happened to me. I began to desire Jesus as my spouse. I wanted to marry Him and to be His wife. This was my dream, and it brought me great joy to think about it. Around the same time, I met Sisters at different retreats such as Rejoice 2000, similar to Youth 2000. I realized that my dream to be the Lord’s spouse could one day become a reality by being a Religious Sister. My dream was now clear. I wanted with all my heart to be a Sister!

This dream never went away and always remained deep in my heart, even in the midst of other true “goods.” After high school I went to Villanova University and graduated in 2005 with a degree in nursing. In my senior year there, one of my best friends invited me to visit our community for a “come and see” weekend. I loved every minute of being in the convent and felt so alive, with joy and peace flooding my heart. For two years after graduating I worked as a Registered Nurse on a medical- surgical oncology floor at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, TN and began dating a faith- filled young man, whom I met at my parish’s Catholic young adult group. However, I could not forget what I had experienced at the convent. The longer I continued working as a nurse and dating, the more my heart could not find rest and even became very sad. The Lord was indeed inviting me to say yes to an even greater good: being the bride of Christ!

My spiritual director wisely advised me to seriously pursue the religious life and to break off my relationship with the young man. His counsel resounded very deeply in my heart, and I decided to visit communities in the New York area such as our community, the Sisters of Life, and the . Through this grace-filled time of discernment, I knew without a doubt that my heart was at home with the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal. The prayer life especially attracted me, as well as our familial community life and our work with the poor. In March of 2007 I asked for an application, let go of my nursing job, and entered six months later on September 20, 2007.

As excited as I was to be following my heart, my parents were having a difficult time with the reality of me leaving home. The last thing I wanted to do was cause them distress, but I knew in my heart that if God was calling me to belong totally to Him, He would faithfully take care of my parents. He has shown me again and again that He is faithful! I pray that I may return the love with which He has loved me with the gift of my entire life as His spouse. Nothing else can satisfy my heart. “When I found Him whom my soul loves, I held him and would not let Him go.” Song of songs 3:4