Arlington, Va., Aug 28, 2010 / 11:15 am
According to the U.S. Department of State, there are more than 100 million Orthodox Christians in Russia. Contrast that with about 600,000 Roman Catholics and you can appreciate the difficult task of tending to the spiritual needs of Catholics in the former Soviet Union.
Sister Maria Stella Whittier came to Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville, Va. last week to speak about the history of Catholic priests and sisters in Russia from 1917 to the present. She also spoke about her work in Vladivostok, in far-eastern Russia, and that of her community, the Sisters in Jesus the Lord.
Sister Maria Stella is the daughter of Holy Trinity parishioners Hank and Donnita Whittier. She graduated from Oakton High School in Vienna and went on to receive a degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, a master’s in sacred music from Emory University in Atlanta and a master’s in Catholic studies from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.
Donnita said that her daughter started to realize her vocation when she was 19 years old and went on a mission to a homeless shelter in Philadelphia with others from the Catholic Campus Ministry of William and Mary. Then she went to World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002.