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February 15, 2022By Carissa Krautscheid
The Norbertine Order celebrated their 900th Jubilee last year, having been founded in 1121 by St. Norbert in France. Though their order does not have a presence in the Diocese of Tucson, our Diocese has a presence with them.
One young woman from St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Tucson joined the Norbertines in 2018 and just made her first profession of vows a few months ago in 2021. Kateri Hitchcock is now known as Sister Elisabeth Marie, O.Praem and resides with the Norbertine Canonesses at the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph near Tehachapi, California.
But how does one go from the familiar place in our Tucson pews to being a religious sister in a monastery? Sr. Elisabeth Marie shared her experience of discernment and religious life with us.
Kateri’s parents, Myke and Yvonne Hitchcock, “were always open to her entering religious life and we had many discussions about the possibility as she discerned potential orders.” When raising their seven children, they said, “We just try to live the faith in everything we do. We don't do it perfectly, but we try to live the Catholic faith. We love the Saints and their stories. We made sure our kids were familiar with our brothers and sisters in Heaven, the Church Triumphant.”
Kateri attended elementary and high school with the Holy Family Home Educators in Tucson and was involved in St. Mark’s LifeTeen program. “God gifted me with a number of different friends who loved Jesus and loved their faith,” said Kateri. “Discerning religious life was just something everyone did. Through high school and college, that pull kept becoming stronger.”
Sister Elisabeth Marie at the monastery, playing cards with her brother.
Kateri’s love for kids and working with people led her to pursue an education degree at the University of Arizona. “As I researched different religious communities, it made sense to me that, because I loved kids, teaching, and working with people in general, God must be calling me to an active, teaching order of sisters.” So, after graduation, that’s exactly what Kateri did as a postulant with a teaching order.
“It wasn’t long after I entered there, though, that God kept pulling on my heart. I felt that he was asking me to surrender to him even my desires for teaching and working with kids. It was difficult, but after three months with the teaching community, I left there to continue discerning cloistered religious life. I put away my own checklist of ‘what I’m looking for in a religious community.’”
During that time of spiritual freedom from her own expectations, God guided Kateri to respond to his pull on her heart. She had heard about the Norbertines from some ‘friends of friends’ and decided to go visit. “As soon as I did, I knew it was where God was calling me. I spent the next couple of years continuing to grow and heal before, by the grace of God, I entered here in November of 2018.”
The Norbertine charism is “Communio” which Sr. Elisabeth Marie describes as “beautifully incarnated in our Liturgy, work, and relationships with each other. I love community life and sharing each day with the sisters who all want to be saints.”
Their community now includes over 40 sisters, ranging in age from 19 years old to a nun in her eighties, with sisters from every decade in between. These women come from every walk of life, including former marines and lawyers.
Daily life is centered around Mass, “the source and summit of our life, as well as the seven hours each day of the Liturgy of the Hours, including Midnight Matins." The Norbertine sisters pray for the world and joyfully invite prayer petitions to be shared with them by emailing: [email protected].
The Norbertine Canonesses also enjoy study, recreation, and work to support themselves, which is “either traditional monastic work that fits into the spirit of ‘ora et labora,’ or ‘work and pray.’” Their work includes gardening, working with sheep, cows, goats, and chickens, sewing priest vestments, harvesting honey, making and baking items for their gift shop, and raising “priory puppies.” While many in the outside world might not understand the desire to live this type of simple yet productive and prayerful life, the Norbertine sisters live a joyful and fulfilling lifestyle in a peaceful, beautiful setting.
“There are many things I didn’t know I wanted to do before entering the convent, but God knew!” Sr. Elizabeth Marie now enjoys work such as cheese-making, milking cows, and tree pruning. “Between fruit tree pruning and harvesting, and collecting pinecones and boughs for Christmas decorations, I have climbed more trees since entering the convent than I ever had before!”
“My favorite part of religious life is living with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, as well as deeply living the Liturgical year and entering into the mysteries of Christ and his Church.”
Sr. Elisabeth Marie shares three pieces of advice for anyone who is discerning God’s will for their vocation.- “Spend as much time as you can with Jesus in the Eucharist. Soak up his holiness, love, goodness, friendship, and his own prayer, as if you are soaking up the rays of the sun.”
- “Consecrate yourself to Mary. She always leads up deeply into relationship with her Son.”
- “Be not afraid. The magnificent call of Jesus to follow him always involves the cross, yes, but through his cross, he gives us life, love, and light. And what is the alternative? Inevitably, it is to live for ‘myself,’ which always leads to emptiness. We are created to love God.”
Myke and Yvonne Hitchcock are very supportive of their daughter, though they do miss her a lot. “We are thankful she's pursuing the vocation she believes God has chosen for her. We knew this is where she wanted to be. The Norbertine sisters have such a joyful and peaceful way about them, just like Kateri.”
Saints and scripture tell us that joy is an indication that the Holy Spirit is working in our lives. Kateri was always filled with joy, and now her joy for the Lord is fulfilled through her vocation as a religious sister. Sr. Elisabeth Marie said, “My vocation journey continues: a story of God’s faithfulness and love, and his teaching me to love him back.”
