It wasn’t very
long ago that Sister Marie Notre Dame de l ’Espérance was a participant at FIAT
Days, a camp for young women aged 13-18 hosted by the diocesan vocation’s
office. First a camper, then a counselor, Sister Espérance was one of the six religious
leaders at this year’s camp held July 18-22 at Mount St. Mary’s University in
Emmitsburg, Md.
“I think I had
been looking forward to coming back to FIAT as a sister since before I was a
sister,” said Sister Espérance, a member of the Servants of the Lord and the
Virgin Matará religious order in Washington, and a former parishioner of St.
William of York Church in Stafford. “It’s the same camp except now I don’t have
as many questions.”
The five-day
camp began with Sunday Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, who
invited the 44 participants to take advantage of Jesus’ invitation to “Come
away and rest for a while.” Throughout the week, the young women prayed,
attended daily Mass and talks, and played a variety of sports tournaments,
including soccer, badminton, ultimate Frisbee, bocce and volleyball.
The theme this
year came from Romans 12:2, calling the high schoolers to “Be transformed by
the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God.”
Sister
Espérance said her favorite part as a high schooler was getting to know the
religious sisters. “It’s nice to be on the other side, trying to give that to
the girls now,” she said. “(The campers) really get to experience what
religious life would be like in some orders while having fun at the same time.”
The religious
sisters mixed fun into the week. They worked with the campers on skits,
telephone charades and song routines that engaged the entire group.
Meg Williamson,
a parishioner of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in
Fredericksburg, returned to FIAT this year as a staffer, after attending when
she was in high school. What brought her back was the experience with the
religious sisters and “being able to be one of the staff people that I looked
up to when I came the first four years.”
FIAT continues
to attract young women because it provides a peaceful and relaxing environment
for quality time with God, religious and peers, said Sister Jennifer Marie, a
member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary order in
Philadelphia. She said the week is a great time for the teens to just be
themselves.
“I love that
it’s really relaxed in a way that the girls can just really find time to spend
with the Lord,” she said. “It’s really helping them find the foundations in
prayer.”
Anna Hsu, a
returning camper from St. John the Baptist Church in Front Royal, said she appreciated
the support she felt at FIAT. “You don’t feel pressure about the discernment
process because everybody is going through the same thing. It’s really nice to
take a step back from normal life and the whole world and just have this time
to develop a relationship with God.”
FIAT also
attracts many new participants every year. Despite reservations, Jacqueline
Barbaretta of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Lake Ridge attended the camp
for the first time and was surprised at how quickly she adapted and enjoyed it.
“I wasn’t really feeling like being here, but it definitely got better as time
went by. People I had literally just met … were so friendly, like we had known
each other for years. And we get to spend a lot of time with God. I wasn’t very
aware of how I hadn’t prayed until I came here.”
