Posted by Renee, UST Graduate Student, Master of Arts in Catholic Studies

Good morning from the Catholic Studies Women’s House! We just got back from 7 AM Mass and had breakfast together. My name is Renee Burke-Drazba and I am a first year graduate student from Boston, Massachusetts. My roommates are Marisa Wachtel, who is a senior and Abby Saffert and Joan Hendrick, who are sophomores. We go to daily Mass together every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Community life is great! Although we have very different schedules, we get lots of time to hang out and have fun.

There’s no typical day in the Women’s House. Marisa, Abby and Joan all have classes during the day and since I’m a graduate student, all of my classes are in the evening. The one night that we take off is Wednesday night. It is our community night. We rotate each week who cooks dinner-this week, Joan made tacos and Texas sheet cake, which is a super rich chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Dinner usually gets a little loud because we usually spend more time laughing than eating. After dinner, we pray a rosary together. At the beginning of the year, we wanted to choose a patron saint for our household. We chose Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, the patron saint of the pro-life movement. She was a woman who loved God and showed it by taking care of her family and by committing her daily actions to Him. We are learning more about her life together as a household and pray to her daily.

Between all the homework we have and part time jobs, we always find time to hang out and have fun. We go out for ice cream, watch movies, take trips to Coffee Bené (which is practically across the street!) and spend time with the men who live in the Catholic Studies Men’s House. Tuesday nights we watch Pride and Prejudice at their house and invite people who don’t live in the houses. I just ran my first 5K last weekend at Lake Harriet and although Joan was out of town, Abby and Marisa came to cheer me on! It’s great to know that I live with women who I can rely on, who support me and that I can have fun with.

The house we live in is so warm and cozy. We are so blessed that all the furniture was provided for us. Abby and Joan share a room with a separate office in it and Marisa and I have our own rooms. We have a huge backyard and our neighbors yellow lab, Daisy, has become the unofficial mascot of our house. She barks when we come home and loves attention. We have lots of living space and love to have people over. It’s such a blessing to live in a house that’s practically across the street from campus and it certainly feels more like home than an apartment or dorm.

That’s it for now! Come stop by and say hi if you are ever in the neighborhood. We’d love to see you!

Posted by Catholic Studies at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Posted by Gwen Adams, UST Alumnus 2007, M.A. in Catholic Studies

April 26, 1 PM: Cold and rainy as the Littlemore (a.k.a. The Catholic Studies Women's House) hosts Talk 2 in a three part series on Catholic Social Teaching. Dr. Chris & Mary Thompson began the series in March by talking about the Church and the environment. Today Dr. Jonathan & Stephanie Reyes are talking today about the family as foundation for society and sharing their own experiences. A nice mix of alumnae, graduate, and undergraduate students enjoyed ham sandwiches and some stories about the Reyes family. Jonathan Reyes is a visiting professor this semester and gave the Habinger Lecture last month. He explains that we're an individualistic society, and that even families can be individualistic instead of realizing that the family exists for others. Then Stephanie lays out some practices that have worked in the Reyes family--like a Rule of Life, and some ways to serve in and outside the home. She recommends A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot.

The Reyes say their kids are their best evangelization. I think that's really encouraging to a family or anyone contemplating marriage--the idea that nothing you say or do is half so powerful as raising kids to be normal and virtuous, healthy and in love with Christ. They do all the witnessing! But that presupposes that people are interacting with your family--at church, at the nursing home, at a soup kitchen, in the neighborhood, with other families, and that you as a family are praying and making time for those encounters.

Dr. Michael & Teresa Naughton will conclude the series next Sunday, May 3, same time, same place.

Posted by Catholic Studies at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Posted by Paula, UST freshman, Catholic Studies and Education

Where can you go at UST and find open doors, fresh baked cookies in the hall, and a Blessed Virgin statue in the bathroom? Not many places, that’s for sure, but you can find all these things and more at 6-North Dowling Hall…the Catholic Women’s Floor! (And how we got the statue is quite an interesting story…if you come live here next year I’ll tell you!)

Life on the Catholic Women's floor is absolutely wonderful. One of my greatest fears about coming to college was the people I would live with. Would they accept me? Would they share my faith and values? But the moment I set foot on the Catholic Women’s floor way back in September, I was immersed in a fun-loving community of other zealous Catholics who would accept me for who I am and share many beliefs I have. We just got a new member this spring semester, and after meeting her we immediately made her a very colorful and highly energetic “Welcome” sign for her door. This is just one example of the hospitality of this floor community.

Continue reading "Cookies and the Blessed Virgin...Introducing the Catholic Women's Floor" »

Posted by Catholic Studies at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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Posted by John, UST junior, Biology and Catholic Studies

I first time I learned about the Catholic Men’s House was in the spring of my freshman year in college. That spring, I started going to Morning Prayer and Mass with the men of the houses. The following semester, I joined. Coming into the house, I knew it was demanded that I not simply be a resident there, but that I become a brother to my fellow men and that I strive to become a better man through living out my Catholic faith.

Continue reading "Life in the Catholic Men’s House" »

Posted by Catholic Studies at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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