Vocations
Meet Sister Jeana Visel
“People are always surprised to learn that there are young sisters. As I sought the community that was the right place for me, that was important—Will I have peers? Will there be anyone here with me years from now? I like that we have that balance, unity across generations.
“I started thinking about religious life my senior year of high school. But I didn’t really know any sisters until I studied abroad in Rome during college. After I graduated, I joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and lived in Chicago. It turned out that the JVC was a great boot camp for religious life—you experience living simply, in community, for something bigger than yourself.
“I love to sing—I studied voice. And I paint. In the past few years, I’ve picked up iconography and I’m learning traditional techniques. I like resurrecting old traditions. I read, jog, and work out to ‘The Biggest Loser’ DVD. And I’m the chaplain for the girls’ basketball team at school.
“It’s a beautiful life. It’s not always easy, not always obvious. But there’s a beauty behind the call to balance, to community, to witness. We work, pray, and love together. When we say community is important, we mean it. It’s something we live every day. It’s an integral part of Benedictine life.”
“I love to paint. I’ve been picking up iconography over the past few years and I’m learning ancient techniques of that art. I like keeping old traditions alive—learning the chemistry and theology of all the elements of an icon—it’s exciting! It’s an honor to be a caretaker of the tradition and to share it with others. I sing, too—I studied voice in college. I’ve loved learning Gregorian chant. When we’re united, singing together in prayer, it’s so beautiful and it’s symbolic of who we are together. Within Catholicism in general, people think a lot of wonderful traditions are dead or that you have to be super conservative to be a part of them, but as Benedictines we have 1,500 years of scholarship and art and prayer that is there for the taking.”