Ferdinand sisters welcome new member

The Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, Indiana, have officially accepted Roxanne Higgins into the postulancy, which is the first stage of incorporation into the religious community.

Higgins, who is from Kingston, Jamaica, is the 33-year-old daughter of Webster and Marcia Higgins. She is the third of four children and a member of Stella Maris Roman Catholic Church in Jamaica. She has a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Chemistry (Special) and a Master of Philosophy degree in Chemistry. Prior to coming to Ferdinand, Higgins was the Production Operations Manager at Smith & Stewart Distributors Ltd, a company that manufactures ice cream in Jamaica.

Higgins is now taking classes in Liturgy of the Hours and Catholicism. She will be working in the bakery and assisting with various services around the monastery.

“It is difficult to explain why I’m entering community and specifically this community. It is and has always been my desire to live the life God planned for me. My desire is His desire. I believe God sent me to Ferdinand,” Higgins said. “Being a natural recluse the ease at which I connected with a group of strangers on a one week visit and the feeling as if I left a part of my heart here after such a short visit could have only been a blessing from God. The sequence of events over the next year as I continued to discern with Sr. Teresa Gunter led me to believe that the Sister’s of St. Benedict Ferdinand is where I am meant to be right now.”

Founded in 1867, the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand currently number 144 and serve in the areas of education, parish work, health care, retreat and spirituality work, social services, counseling, and mission work in Indiana, Kentucky, and Peru.