A Quiet Force
Sisters pray for people helping animals
Pictured: Sister Therese Zammikiel, Sister St. John Gilmore and their resident cat.
By Kelli Ohrtman: Best Friends NetworkBest Friends, just like thousands of other organizations, works hard every day to make life better for animals. Sometimes the work is exhilarating, sometimes difficult, frustrating or sad, but it always continues. If we stop and think about the obstacles facing animal welfare, and what it takes to overcome them, it almost seems like a miracle that we ever get it done. Many who work, volunteer, support and donate might argue that hard work, not miracles is what makes things happen. Well maybe so, but what many don’t realize is that there’s another source of strength on our side.
“We really haven’t done anything special,” said Sister Therese. “We’re just ordinary people.” Though Sister Therese didn’t mind explaining how a group of sisters in Cleveland, Ohio began praying for Best Friends, she maintained that that’s just what they do. Several months ago, Sister Therese saw a brochure and read her first issue of the Best Friends magazine. “I thought, ‘what a marvelous idea,’” she remembers. She read about dancing bears in India, and was impressed at how far Best Friends’ outreach really goes. That’s why, when she read an article in an Ohio newspaper about a terrible
shelter in Summit County, she said, “I cut it out and—sometimes I get real bold, so I wrote Michael Mountain.”
Hers wasn’t the only tip about the shelter, and the story was soon posted on the
Best Friends Network with more information on what people could do to help. Meanwhile, Sister Therese got to work helping out in the best way she possibly could. She said, “I can’t send money; I took a vow of poverty. But I can pray, and I have been praying for you.”
It was a friend, Sister Mary Schrader, who first introduced Sister Therese to Best Friends. Sister Mary recently made her fourth trip to the sanctuary in Utah to volunteer, and met with me to pass along a picture of Sister Therese and her friend Sister St. John who is also an animal lover. Sister Mary said that the their prayers give her strength too; “If I know I’m going to do something really difficult… I call Sister Therese and ask her to pray about it, and she always says yes. It gives a sense of peace. Her prayers make me feel better.”
Sister Mary explained that while she goes out and about, working “as a team” her church’s congregation, Sister Therese is a Poor Clare sister. That means she remains cloistered, and rarely leaves the monastery. Instead she, along with her fellow sisters, stays there to pray. As it turns out, people just like them have been doing the same thing for centuries, and animals and nature have always been a part of their focus.
Why pray to help animals?
Sister Therese shared, “A visiting Priest said once, ‘God gave us flowers for their beauty and animals for their innocence.’ Isn’t that wonderful? All of the animals are a gift from God.” When I asked her what it meant to be a Poor Clare sister, she explained that the women in her order are Franciscan sisters, and that’s part of the reason that she prays for animals. She said, “St. Francis was a wonderful lover of all God’s creations. He and Saint Clare are founders of our order. It was medieval times; armies were taking over cities, nobody trusted anybody, and St. Francis came along talking about love for each other and for animals.”
Just like everyone else, sisters choose to work in their own ways. Sister Mary, part of the Congregation of St. Joseph, said, “Every group of sisters has a reason for being founded, like nursing the sick. Ours was creating unity. When it was created it was all people with each other, with God… we added “all creation,” [to mean unity] with water, Earth, trees, animals.” That’s why they focus on being “green,” driving hybrid cars, recycling, eschewing disposable dinnerware, and giving educational programs on being more environmentally friendly. She brings her dog to work and watches the effect she has on visitors. Sister Mary added, “If any part of this web of life is neglected it affects all the others.”
Sister Therese explained that, “There are sisters like Mary who have taught school and other social services… and then there are sisters who devote their entire lives to prayer. We’re called ‘contemplative.’ We’re all religious women who are trying to serve God’s people.” Sister Mary added that contemplative sisters “hold us in prayer all the time whether we know it or not.”
As someone who is not particularly religious, what both sisters talked about made perfect sense to me. I felt touched that they are there to support, pray and cheer for work that so many don’t seem to understand. Sister Therese and I got a little off interview topics when we shared with each other how sad we were to hear that Steve Irwin had died (she thinks he must have been Franciscan). “That man is beyond belief;” she said, “he was a miracle.” While I was still sad, she sighed, “God must have needed him.”
As a final question, I asked Sister Therese how she prays for the work that Best Friends does. She answered, “My prayers are very plain honey. He hears us where we are.”
Click Here to read a recent news article about the Poor Clare sisters.