Roses of blessing
St. Therese inspired assistant vocations director
Kristen Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published January 5, 2007
Vocations Supplement
"It was very difficult for my family, but we had faith," she said. "We understood that her suffering did have meaning."
Her mother's death started her thinking about God and a possible call to religious life. She attended Marygrove College to study English and arts, and to take a few religion courses. She loved her religious studies so much she changed her major.
"That was the beginning for me," she said.
Sr. Licavoli thought about religious life and found that she liked working in a church. She felt she needed the supportive community of sisters who shared their love of God, and felt a call to the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary community in Monroe.
"Every time I prayed, I felt God was saying 'yes,'" she said. "I'm very happy with my life as a religious," she said. "I'm glad I responded to God's call, because it is God's call — his election. God is choosing you."
 'Dialogue' on vocations
Sr. Ellen Licavoli, IHM, associate director of vocations for the archdiocese, and Tom Ryan from the Serra Club, which promotes vocations, join Cardinal Adam Maida and moderator Ned McGrath on "Dialogue." The show will begin airing Jan. 8 on the Catholic Television Network of Detroit (CTND). Check the CTND Guide in The Michigan Catholic for dates and times. | Sr. Licavoli also received a master of divinity from SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary, Orchard Lake and did other post-graduate work at the International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton, and studied the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas at the University of Notre Dame.
She worked in parish ministry and in religious education before working in vocations. It was hard to leave the "wonderful, wonderful people" she'd met over the years, but she still keeps in contact with many of her friends and considers the friends she's made great blessings in her life.
During the series of interviews that led up to getting the vocations job, she took a few days after every meeting to think and pray to make sure she was making the right decision.
Michelle Samartino | Michigan Catholic file photo
St. Therese of Lisieux is said to send blessings through roses as depicted here in 2004 with Fr. Thomas Sutherland, founding pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux Church in Shelby Township. The sculpture of St. Therese, near the entrance of the main worship area, formerly rested in a Carmelite chapel in Detroit. | It's different work from being in the parish, but she loves that she gets to go back into parishes and schools to talk to young people about vocations and how they may be hearing God's call in their lives. "It's a joy to work with that," she said. "What are we doing to live the life that God has dreamed within us? To journey with God is very exciting."
She's careful to tell the students that she didn't become a nun because her mother died, but instead making the connection to experiencing bumps on the road and turning those bumps into opportunities to give glory to God.
"I just love this work," she said. "It's so energizing. I need to see how God is calling people. It's just very moving, very sacred. Just to be a part of that is a blessing."
Perhaps a blessing such as roses coming down from heaven.
To learn more about vocations, call Sr. Licavoli at (313) 237-5875.
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