BIDDEFORD — Seventy-year-old Sister Elaine Lachance said she was hesitant at first to start a Facebook page for The Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, commonly known as the Good Shepherd Sisters.
Lachance, the vocation director for the Good Shepherd Sisters, said at first she was frustrated, having never been on Facebook before, and didn’t know how to maneuver around, but by the looks of the page now, it seems like she’s gotten the hang of it.
The Good Shepherd Sisters’ Facebook page includes pictures from a trip to Quebec, Canada, recommendations for inspirational movies and links to articles and video clips on religious life.
The Facebook page came under the recommendation of a marketing company the sisters are using to get more publicity.
Lachance said when she meets a young woman who may be interested in joining the order, Facebook helps her keep in touch with them. Young people connecting with the page may also have friends interested in religious life who are then introduced to the page.
“For me, it’s a wonderful vehicle to connect with them,” said Lachance.
Lachance also has a blog, and worked with Time Warner Cable to make a short promotional video that is on YouTube.
Prior to connecting with the marketing firm, the sisters were going to schools and publishing articles in religious publications, but needed to supplement what they had been doing.
“We tried everything,” said Lachance.
Lachance said when she entered religious life 52 years ago, the Good Shepherd Sisters had 259 nuns in Maine and Massachusetts.
Now, they have 56.
“That’s why it’s very important to get our message out there,” said Lachance.
The youngest nun in the Good Shepherd order in United States is 64, the oldest is 95. There has not been in a new recruit in Maine or Massachusetts for 20 years.
The Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary has nuns in the United States and Canada, as well as Lesotho, the Republic of South Africa, Brazil, Haiti and Rwanda, and locally in Saco, Biddeford and South Portland. The order was founded in 1850 in Quebec to help women coming out of prison.
The sisters still serve this mission and run a home in Saco for women transitioning out of prison. They also run St. Andre Home, which provides support and services for mothers and an adoption service. Sisters also serve the community by tutoring, working in prisons and other social service work.
The sisters say being a nun is fulfilling, but it is a major decision and not one that can be forced upon someone. You must have a calling, said Lachance.
“It’s a wonderful life, if you’re called for it,” said Lachance.
“If you’re not called for it, pack your bags and go home,” because you’ll be unhappy, said Sister Arline Gaudette, 85, a retired Massachusetts elementary school teacher.
And although the sisters have graying hair, they maintain a youthful energy.
They are “young at heart,” said Gaudette.
Lachance said she enjoys playing Wii bowling and she, Gaudette and Sister Dorina Chasse, 84, say they like card games, like Uno, Hand and Foot, and cribbage.
The sisters in the order have also, over the years, enjoyed activities like swimming, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, roller-skating and ice skating, though age has begun to slow down the activity level of some of the nuns.
“If we can get some young ones in, we’ll teach them how,” said Gaudette.
Lachance said she’s praying to God to send her three young recruits. She said that it might be difficult for a single, young recruit to adjust to living with an older population, but three, she said would be a nice number.
Chasse, 84, who started a girls high school in Africa and worked there for 35 years, said young women today do not have the exposure to nuns that they did when she was young, as the number of Catholic schools has declined. Also, families are smaller in number and children may be more vulnerable to peer pressure.
She said when she was young, “we were surrounded by faith,” and today, many children do not have that.
To learn more about the Good Shepherd Sisters, go to www.scimsisters.org.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.
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