Sr. Ella Allen takes first vows in N. B.

By ROMA DE ROBERTIS, scic
Special to the WCR
Saint John, N.B.

During her formation, she lived with SCIC here and in Edmonton and Vancouver.

Among sisters, family and friends, she expressed her desire to live the Gospel vision in community while deepening her relationship with Christ. Her vows were received Sept. 15 by Sister Sandra Barrett, congregational leader, in the presence of Sister Marion Garneau, formation director from Edmonton.

Originally from Fredericton, Sister Ella is a lecturer in English at St. Thomas University there. A graduate of that college and the University of Toronto, she is a contributor to the missalette Scripture reflections published by Novalis.

In Edmonton, she worked at the People in Need shelter for the mentally ill and the headstart program for children from low-income families run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement.

During her two-year novitiate in Edmonton, she studied at Newman Theological College and volunteered at the Marian Centre soup kitchen operated by Madonna House lay apostles.

At Edmonton's St. Alphonsus Parish, she served on the adult Christian initiation team. She also volunteered at Lurana Shelter for abused women and children run by the Atonement sisters, did literacy work at the Boyle Street Co-op's Learning Centre and volunteered in a l'Arche community.

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