ONE ON ONE | Sister Lucille Conley A calling first ignored, then accepted, and now enjoyed

Why did you decide to become a nun?
Because the Lord kept calling me. I tried to avoid him, but I finally decided I'd just better do it.
Was there a feeling?
Yes, a constant feeling. I was having a good life and enjoying it. I'd go dancing and it was great. It was fun. And then I get this feeling: Lucille, you've known what you're supposed to be doing, and go do it.
I just knew there was something else I was supposed to do. It was wartime, and I had four brothers in the service.
How did you get here in Girard?
We set up a task force to determine what direction our religious community should be taking, and one of them was homelessness. And it was through that group that I became interested in working with single homeless women.
When did you start at the center?
We opened at Christmas of '92. I was here when it opened. My community bought the building.
This is not a 9 to 5 job, is it?
No, it never was. But I don't live here. There are two reasons. I didn't want to take up one of the apartments in this building, and secondly, they are adults and they need to be treated as adults. I live on Patricia Drive, so I'm here in five minutes if they need me. I have an apartment.
Is it a lonely life?
No, definitely not. I've never been lonely. I've loved everything I did. Every time I've left a place I cried. I loved it there and was going to a new place I didn't know. We lived in community, and there were 18 of us that lived together. And that was wonderful. Then things began to change, and we began to diversify.
There are sisters who have been married, right? You know of one with a grandchild.
Yes. Well, she raised her family, and she always had the Lord's call. I don't know how else to explain it. It's that feeling that he says I have something for you to do and you're really not paying any attention to me. That was something she would have done if she hadn't gotten married.
Is that unusual?
It is. Years ago, we took young people. I think 35 was the oldest you could be. I know one of our sisters stayed at home to support her two brothers who were seminarians, and then she entered.
She got a dispensation because she was past the 35 years. Divorc & eacute;es can enter if they have an annulment. It's not unusual, but if you set your life in one direction you pretty much stay that way. The fact that they can is a wonderful thing.
Do you do things that aren't religiously oriented?
Oh, yes. Yesterday I had lunch with my nieces. My one niece celebrated her 60th birthday. It was delightful, and it was good for us all to be together. My nephew, who is a Holy Cross brother, he was there also. I'm still very close to my family. Of the 10 children, there are only two of us left.
I've been tracking my family. I just tracked the 100th descendant. I go to their weddings, and they call me "the elder." My family is still very important to me.
Do you like street clothing as opposed to the traditional habit?
Yes, I do. The only people who liked it are those who never wore it.
What didn't you like about it?
When I was at Lourdes Academy [high school] I once asked a sister how can you wear that habit all summer. She said it keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer. So after I was in a habit for two days, I went looking for her because I was not cool in it. Wool doesn't keep you cool in the summer.
Why was the change made from the habit?
In our community, the change was made because of our original sisters came from France and the original habit was of the French peasants. They wore what their neighbors wore. They were women who were called by the pastor to teach catechism. They grew together as a group. They were single women and decided they wanted to become a community.
They became a community, but didn't change their clothing and wore the dress of the day. Vatican II directed us religious women to study the rationale of the founders of each community. As we found out things that they did that were the reasons for our being, we emulated them. The first thing we did was get a tailor-made blue suit and changed from the habit to the suit.