'An extraordinary sense of freedom'

By ROB HERBST
The Catholic Week
MOBILE — Tornadoes and God’s Providence took Sister Elisabeth M. Therese Strei, VHM to Visitation Monastery.
Sister Elisabeth said she had been volunteering for the Red Cross when she was dispatched to Birmingham in May 2011 following tornadoes. Her stay was scheduled to be three weeks, but work was completed in two. With a week of free time, Sister Elisabeth drove to Mobile and visited Visitation Monastery.
By January 2013, she had moved to Mobile. On Feb. 2, 2014, she entered Visitation Monastery. On Oct. 16, Sister Elisabeth professed solemn, perpetual vows.
“I drove down and fell in love with it,” Sister Elisabeth said. “It’s God’s grace and I am like in heaven here.”
Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi celebrated the Profession Mass and was joined by several concelebrants. During the Profession Mass, Sister Elisabeth vowed to Jesus Christ to live in perpetual chastity, obedience and poverty.
Sister Elisabeth signed a formula of profession, received a Solemn Blessing from Archbishop Rodi, along with a black veil, crucifix and candle and received the Kiss of Peace from her fellow sisters.
Sister Elisabeth was born in New York but lived around the globe as a youth because of her father’s job. She was a world traveler and has visited 40 countries. 
Her passport expired two years ago and she described that as a “watershed moment” in her life. The irony is not lost on her that a former world traveler is now a cloistered nun who has dedicated her life to prayer.
“The journey is interior now,” Sister Elisabeth said.
While she traveled far and wide before reaching Visitation Monastery, Sister Elisabeth, 62, said she is now at peace following God’s call.
“There’s an extraordinary sense of freedom when you completely surrender yourself to Him,” she said. “You can make yourself miserable fighting it.”