The Christophers: From Vocation Choice to Golden Years

Tony Rossi, Director of Communications,

The Christophers

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What would inspire a woman to dedicate her entire life to a religious vocation? For Sister Ave Clark, a love of God and acts of kindness were the key reasons that she felt drawn to joining the Dominican Sisters more than 60 years ago. She still remembers some of the most influential people who guided her to that vocation, one of them being her first grade teacher, Sister Loretta Marie. “I was always a child that would watch and take in how people treated one another, and she was extra kind to people,” Sister Ave recalled during a “Christopher Closeup” interview about her book “Hold on to Love…with Graces Galore.”

At age 16, Sister Ave worked at St. Joseph’s Camp, run by the Amityville Dominicans, on Long Island, New York. As the Sisters handed out food trays to the student workers in the cafeteria, one of the Sisters heard Sister Ave’s friend lamenting that she had ripped a blouse she loved. This Sister told the girl to bring her the blouse so she could mend it for her.

“The next day,” Sister Ave noted, “[this Sister] brings the blouse back, and she hands it to the girl. I’m next to my friend, and our eyes got real big. It was not only mended, it was washed and ironed. We’re saying, ‘Thank you,’ and her simple reply to us was, ‘Oh, I just love making people happy.’ I’m going to tell you: those were the moments in my life I wanted to be part of the happiness of that Sister, who happened to be an Amityville Dominican.”

Through her work leading Heart to Heart Ministry, Sister Ave “provides compassionate, spiritual, and practical care for those marginalized, victimized, and suffering…via a 24/7 helpline, counseling, workshops, retreats, basic need supplies, and emergency care.” She also brings happiness to others through her everyday interactions. But as Sister Ave has been a Dominican for more than 60 years, she also realizes that age can affect our experience of happiness, sometimes requiring an adjustment in perspective.

Her friend, Sister Pat Hanvey, writes in “Hold on to Love” that she was healthy all her life—until suddenly, she wasn’t. Doctors and tests and rehab became Sister Pat’s new normal.

“This is a person who was a principal,” Sister Ave explained, “the most loving, joyous person you’d ever want to meet. She was a great teacher. She served in our leadership council…And then this happens to her, and it took her back for a while. She said she grew more in love with God, but also she started to see herself in a new dimension, a new way of living. Like, what does it mean to adapt, to accept, and to let go of many of the things that you love to do and [walk] a little bit more slowly…It’s kind of like we swing from being young and active to being older and adapting our life and still being able to give.”

Sister Ave added, “I remember my dad, when he was going into the golden years, he said, ‘Oh boy, those golden years, wait till you get to them!’ I understand what he’s saying now because there’s a lot of changes that happen. Whether you want it or not, they happen. So you [need] a mindset that [says], let me choose life for where I am, let me choose life for how I can be now, let me choose to listen more to God’s way for me.”

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For free copies of the Christopher News Note HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS, write: The Christophers, 264 West 40th Street, Room 603, New York, NY 10018; or e-mail: mail@christophers.org