“I never wanted to be a nun.” This is the first of several surprising admissions from Sister Marlene (Margaret) Miller, OSB, who obviously changed her mind. “I wanted to get married and have 6 children.”
Boy, did she. As a young girl, her favorite game was “bride.” She dressed up in lace curtains and chose names for her children (Paul, Marcus, Marsha, Brian, Keith and Andre). By the time she entered high school, Marlene was so distracted by boys that her grades had dropped. Her parents decided to take action, sending her to the Benedictine academy in Nauvoo.
Eventually, she changed her mind, and followed a much different path.
“Every life involves sacrifice and hardships,” she says. “Living with one another, keeping your vows whether in marriage or religious life: these can be hard to do. But the sense of peace I felt when I came here has never left me.”
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