Sister Magdalena Grymuza, MSF

Sister Magdalena Grymuza of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family (MSF) is the vocations director for her order and teaches second grade at St. Peter Catholic School in DeLand.

Prior to teaching at St. Peter’s, Sister Grymuza served as a youth minister in Illinois and as campus minister at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois.

Sister Grymuza grew up in southeastern Poland. Saint John Paul II was a professor at the Catholic University of Lublin where she briefly attended. He continues to have a great impact on her spiritual life.

“He is my favorite patron. I love him and I think I can always learn new things from him because he is so deep in his teachings,” said Sister Grymuza.

She was nearly 20 years old when she entered the novitiate. She left college before finishing her first year because she desired to serve through missionary work to spread the love of God. She wanted to help those most in need recognize God’s love because life is so short.

By becoming a religious sister, Sister Grymuza desired unity with her community and with the Lord. She said that unity was missing from her family, so she was attracted to becoming a Missionary Sister of the Holy Family after she learned they worked with the unity of families and communities in parishes.

Through her vocation, Sister Grymuza has received great happiness from serving the Lord.

“My vocation is a constant gift for me,” said Sister Grymuza. “The fact that I can live with Him in one house; that He is present in the Blessed Sacrament and I can carry Him to the people around me and work for Him brings me so much joy. I am grateful and praying for all those who are looking for their vocation, that they may find the same joy I found.”

Sister Beata Fiedorczuk, MSF

Missionary Sister of the Holy Family Sister Beata Fiedorczuk teaches religion to middle schoolers at St. Peter Catholic School in DeLand.

Sister Fiedorczuk started discerning religious life around 16 or 17 years old. She is from Bialystok, Poland, a town where there were five convents of her religious congregation. However, she was not really exposed to them.

God graced her with the sign of discerning religious life through her twin sister. One day her sister brought some food to the center where the religious sisters tended to the poor children in the community. “The sisters thanked her, and she brought a holy card with the mother foundress and their holy prayer and I found out [who] our [religious] sisters are,” said Sister Fiedorczuk. “One of my friends, who didn’t know I was discerning, invited me to a meeting with the [religious] sisters in the convent.”

Sister Fiedorczuk was attracted to the simplicity and the joy of the religious sisters as well as the silence she experienced when visiting the convent for the first time. Sister Fiedorczuk encourages those who are discerning religious life to be not afraid.

“It’s worth it,” said Sister Fiedorczuk. “It is a beautiful, beautiful blessing and the biggest gift I could have received in my life – to be the bride of Christ. It’s just beautiful to live in the intimate relationship with Jesus. If you feel God calling in your heart, please keep discerning and have courage. Give your fear to the Lord with your whole heart because it’s worth it. I assure you; you will be happy and I also promise you my prayers.”

By Lana Kaczmarek, Special to the Florida Catholic, November 10, 2021