Fruit of the Missionary Volunteer Program

I taught second and third form Biology and Chemistry at Mount Carmel High School. I also helped out with campus ministry and created a girls’ basketball team. My year spent in the missions of Belize was truly life changing for me and allowed me to accept the vocation to which the Lord was calling me. It was the night of Holy Thursday when Sr. Mary Katherine told me, “You have a vocation, and you must return to the States to discern it.” I still hear those words from that most sacred night! It wasn’t until I saw the third world country around me, that I was able to embrace the third world country that lived within.

During my year there, I fell in love with the beauty of Our Lord and the simplicity of life. I don’t think I would be a sister today if it wasn’t for the year that Our Lord had me spend in Belize. My religious name, Sr. M. Maris Stella, is the fruit of my time there. I fell in love with the beauty of Christ and desired a religious name to reflect what had spoken so deeply to my own heart! I am now called to carry His Light.

Sr. M. Maris Stella Larkin, FSMG served in Belize after graduating from Benedictine College. She is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Martyr St. George and serves in healthcare in Peoria, IL.