Story By: Sr Sileen March

God’s ways are mysterious. He throws his seeds far and wide, watching expectantly for them to grow. Certainly, the seed of a religious vocation that landed in the heart of a young girl living on a farm near Gayndah landed in very fertile soil. It has grown into a silver, a golden, a diamond, and now a sapphire flower. Sr Miriam Lorenz SSPC celebrated 65 years of Religious Consecration on 6 January this year, a milestone at which few arrive. For Sr Miriam, though, the grace of her vocation has been matched with the graces of a long life and most certainly a sharp intellect and wit.

Sr Miriam was born in Gayndah, Queensland, one of the seven children of John and Ellen Lorenz and grew up on a farm at Branch Creek, attending the local small State School. Her parents and grandparents subscribed to our mission publication, “Echo from Africa and Other Continents”.

Reading the stories of missionary life in the “Echo” motivated her to enter our Congregation in 1956 as the first Australian vocation. She made her First Profession in 1959 in Kew, Melbourne, where she also made her Final Profession. She served the Congregation in Melbourne, New Zealand, America and Canada before founding our house in Toowoomba in 1986. She went to Rome in 1995, where she was elected as First Counselor and served as the Missions Secretary for that six-year term.

Sr Miriam has been editor of the “Echo” for over 55 years, a task she still fulfills. Methods of editorial work have changed over the years and Sr Miriam has kept pace with them. She now uses a laptop and Microsoft Word to “cut and paste” instead of scissors and glue!

While it is easy to write a short biography of someone’s life, picking out a few important moments, it is never easy to describe the courage, dedication, perseverance and love for God which nourish their soul and form the foundation of their life. This is definitely true for Sr Miriam. All of her life she has walked in faith and the love of her “dear Lord”. May she continue for many years to be an example and inspiration to her fellow Sisters in religious life, to her family and to all whom she meets.

Even though Sr Miriam’s jubilee was in January, we postponed the official celebration to 16 March once we knew Mother Selin Karikkattil, the Mother General of our Congregation, would be visiting Toowoomba.

Special thanks to Bishop Ken Howell and Fr Michael O’Brien for including the jubilee Mass, at relatively short notice, in their busy schedules, and Fr Mick Carroll for concelebrating.

We also thank Vicky Cocozza and the choir members who helped make the Mass a joyous celebration.