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Introducing the members of Daughters of St. Paul

Sr. Maria Agnes Yoko Yoshioka

Sr. Maria Agnes

I have been baptized as a child. And I always had a feeling that priests and nuns were somehow a different mankind. So I never even thought of becoming a nun myself.

With a good friend of mine from the church, we used say " One day, let us fill the first row of the chapel with your family and mine!" But one day, someone said, "A friend will become a nun ! Maybe you can too !" Is that possible ? Ever since then, I started to think seriously. I went to the cemetery of missionaries, and prayed to let me know the holy will of God. When coming back from the cemetery, I happened to meet the Sisters of the Daughters of Saint Paul. It was about 4 in the afternoon .and that was the encounter of my destiny.

It must have been hard for my parents because I was an only child, but as they were good Catholics, they did not express any opposition. But the pastor of the church was against it. At that time, the Sisters of the Daughters of St. Paul were doing their missionary work, visiting each house to introduce publications. And the parish had negative idea about it. The pastor was saying " Sisters, doing that kind of work ?!
Sisters have to be only praying ! You should choose another order".

The more I had the opposition of the priest, my desire became stronger and stronger.Confrontation continued. During Lent, I went to Mass every morning even though the church was rather far. Finally one day, as I was doing the station of the Cross, the priest walked in noisily, and said " You may go into the convent." That was at the fourth station. ( Jesus, carrying the cross, met His mother)

Half a century has passed since then. Apostolate changed with the time. Even if the form has changed, I cannot help hoping that the desire to make gospel known to all people will always continue.

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