I am 28 years old and a primary school teacher. I teach wearing the common dress with the cross around my neck, the cross carried by all the consecrated sisters of the Emmanuel Community.

I was caught by surprise one day when suddenly a child asked me, “Why do you always carry a sword around your neck, miss ?” !!!

Even though I work in a Catholic school, I realised how many children do not know anything about the Catholic faith. Among the fifty pupils that I know, I discovered that only three go to mass on Sundays.

It’s fabulous how children can be an extraordinary door for evangelisation. If my colleagues, when I arrived in the school, were sceptical towards me because I was a consecrated sister, the children are full of spontaneity and they ask me a lot of questions which become opportunities for me to speak about Jesus. “Why do you always dress in the same way ?”, etc.

I have been teaching for three years now and I had to be evaluated, as was case for everyone. The director of the school came to see me a few minutes before my evaluation and I was saying to myself, “Oh ! How nice ! He is coming to encourage me and wish me luck for my inspection !” How surprised I was to hear his advice for me to remove my cross for my evaluation !

At this moment, I received these words in my heart : «If you declare for me before men, I will declare for you before God.” I was able therefore to answer him very peacefully, “Thank you for your advice but I will not change anything as to who I AM and I will keep my cross, which is a part of me during this inspection.” The evaluation went very well and my director came to see me the same day to apologise for what he advised me to do. For me, to take off my cross is to deny who I really am !

I am 28 years old and I can see very well that this choice that I did to become a consecrated sister, to carry the common dress and yet to « be in the world », makes others think, ask, etc. and it is my joy to be able to bring Jesus where I am !

At the end of the year, one of my colleagues (probably the most aggressive against the faith) told me, “But what is this string that you have put around your neck to carry your cross ?” (Actually, my cord broke and I just found something from my house to replace it temporarily and it was, indeed, just a piece of string !) So I explained why I had to replace it with this string. The next day, she gave me a very beautiful cord, telling me how much time it took her to look for it !

This gesture really touched me, not only because of her attentiveness, but because it was a confirmation that Jesus has melted her heart and that something had been planted in her through who I was. I have to find my strength in prayer and He is the one who works in the secret of each person’s hearts !