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July 6, 2023Sister M. Luella (Van Dorn), CSC, who currently serves in the ministry of prayer, is celebrating 75 years of consecrated life as a Sister of the Holy Cross in 2023.
Sister Luella educated young minds for 38 years as an elementary school teacher. Her places of ministry included Idaho, where she taught for three years at St. Joseph School, Boise; and Utah, where she spent six of her nine years of service at Our Lady of Lourdes School, Salt Lake City.
In Tucson, Arizona, students at St. Cyril School received Sister Luella’s instruction for 13 successive years, from 1952 to 1965.
For 12 years, she shared her gifts in schools in California, in cities including Ventura, Fresno, Palo Alto, San Mateo and Woodland. At Holy Rosary Academy, Woodland, Sister Luella taught for four years; at St. Matthew School, San Matteo, five years.
From 1984-2014, Sister Luella served in parish ministry as a pastoral associate with St. Paul Church, Seattle, Washington. In her role, she visited individuals in nursing homes and those who were elderly or homebound. She oversaw the eucharistic ministers, ministered to spouses and families during the dying and deaths of their loved ones, and coordinated funerals in the parish. She has been in her current ministry of prayer since 2014.
Sister Luella was born in Los Angeles, California. Before entering the Congregation, she worked as an office clerk. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education at the University of Portland, Oregon. Sister Luella made her initial profession of vows with the Sisters of the Holy Cross on August 15, 1948, and her perpetual profession on August 15, 1951.
About the Sisters of the Holy Cross
Founded in 1841 in Le Mans, France, the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross is an international community of women religious whose motherhouse is in Notre Dame, Ind. The Congregation serves in Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru, Uganda and the United States. Sisters of the Holy Cross are called to be witnesses of God’s transforming love for the life of the world. Their ministries focus on providing education and health care services, eradicating material poverty and ending discrimination—giving witness to God’s desire for the transformation of human hearts, human relationships and all creation. To learn more about the Sisters of the Holy Cross, visit www.cscsisters.org.