Sharing the Beauty of the Journey — with Sr. Mary Sabina, OP
Season 2, Episode 15 | Originally aired on August 10, 2020
About the episode
"He's using every step in the journey, and He will take whatever happens and weave it into our story in a beautiful way."
When Sr. Mary Sabina, OP, first encountered religious sisters, she turned and ran the other way! But little did she know that this would be the first of many encounters with sisters that would eventually lead her to join the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. As part of this teaching order, Sr. Mary Sabina lives with three other Dominican sisters in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, where they teach at different Catholic schools. She also leads a women's discernment group and journeys with young women as they discern their vocation. In this episode, we talk to Sr. Mary Sabina about her discernment and vocation story, what it’s like to accompany other women in their discernment, and the beauty she’s found in spiritual motherhood.
Listen to the episode
Meet Sr. Mary Sabina, OP
Sr. Mary Sabina, OP, is a Dominican Sister of St. Cecilia of Nashville, Tennessee. She comes from the United States where she was raised as both a Catholic and a Protestant until a profound experience at World Youth Day 1993 in Denver guided her to be confirmed in the Catholic Church. During her high school years, she encountered Christ in the Eucharist and began to practice her faith with personal conviction. After graduating from the University of Dallas with a degree in Theology, she entered the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in 2001, professing her first vows in 2003 and final vows in 2008.
In her teaching apostolate Sr. Mary Sabina has crisscrossed North America teaching religion to students in kindergarten through grade 11 and all subjects to grades 5-8 in schools in Colorado, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and now Port Coquitlam, BC. She currently teaches Christian Education part-time at Archbishop Carney Regional Secondary School in Port Coquitlam and works for the Archdiocese of Vancouver as the Archbishop’s Delegate for Consecrated Life. She hosts the monthly Fiat Women’s Discernment Group and meets one on one with young women discerning religious life.
The Dominican emphasis on study has led Sr. Mary Sabina to receive a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Providence College and a Master of Education in Administration and Supervision from Marymount University. She loves modern saints such as Pope St. John Paul II, Mother Teresa, and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, and her favourite devotions include the Rosary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and Novena to the Holy Spirit. While she likes to bake, her favourite pastimes are being with her fellow Dominican Sisters snowshoeing or hiking, preferably in the mountains. With a love of Jesus and zeal for truth, she is grateful to live the Dominican spirituality of prayer, study, community life, and preaching.