La Fe Magazine Online

	FEATURE STORY
	Sister sister. "We are family I've got all my sisters with me." En Español
By Goyo M. López “We are family, I’ve got all my sisters with me.” --Lyric from “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge There’s nothing like good old family traditions. Let’s see, first there were two aunts, Sister Edna and Sister Romula, who took vows as Sisters of Divine Providence. The aunts had a first cousin, Sister Fortunata, who had nine nieces that eventually went to the convent. Then there are the two first cousins, Sisters Mary Ann and Bernadette Phillipp, who also joined the Sisters of Divine Providence. That makes 14 family members who are sisters. And then there is Sister Mary Benedict, 77, and Sister Mary Madeleine, 65, who are biological sisters. That’s a total of 16. The Zimmerer family must be proud. And the Diocese of Laredo, specifically the communities of Big Wells and Asherton, is most fortunate to have Sisters Benedict and Madeleine. Father Toribio “Toby” Guerrero, pastor of Immaculate Conception in Asherton and St. Michael’s in Big Wells, agrees. “What comes to mind when I think of the Zimmerer sisters is, how to spell their last name and how to spell Sister Madeleine’s first name,” Fr. Toby says jokingly.
	“I realize how Blessed I and the people of St. Michael’s are for having two hard working and hard ministering sisters. Truly, a blessing for the people of God!”
So how do 16 young ladies of the same kin put God before everything else in their lives? “It was a home life with faith-filled, prayerful and church-going people that were close to God that led us and our family members to becoming religious sisters,” explains the younger Sister Madeleine. “Our mother had told us that she wanted to become a sister,” adds Sister Benedict. “But grandma wouldn’t hear of it. Momma was the oldest of the last three girls in her family and grandma depended a lot on her.” “Grandma was sickly and momma had to take care of her and in fact, she quit school in the fifth grade to help take care of grandma,” chimed in Sister Madeleine completing her sister’s thought. According to the Zimmerer sisters, who are second-generation German Americans, in those days the first born in a Catholic family was expected to enter a religious vocation. Even though she was not the first born, Sister Benedict, the third child in the family, informed momma and papa Zimmerer of her desire to become a nun, and neither objected. “I remember my momma telling me, ‘If that’s what you want, you may go. I’m not gonna stand in your way.’ Both my two aunts also became my inspiration,” explained Sister Benedict. “I always admired their lives when they’d come home and talk to me.” “I was three and a half years old when she entered the convent,” continued Sister Madeleine. “She entered the convent when she was fifteen. Fortunately, I was able to see her when she’d visit. In those days sisters went home every five years for a home visit.” Sisters Benedict and Madeleine were born and raised in La Feria, Texas. “Our parents, Katherine Sieger and Ludwig Zimmerer, met at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Harlingen. They didn’t know each other in north Texas (where they had been raised) but they met in south Texas. There was a German community in La Feria,” explained Sister Benedict. The opportunity to be trilingual ? English, German and Spanish ? existed but was not very viable. “I attended school in Santa Maria my seven years in grade school and the children were forbidden to talk Spanish in school,” explained the older Sister Benedict. “They were punished if they were caught talking any Spanish on the school grounds. The little Spanish I learned was in the cotton patch with the workers.” Soon after Sister Benedict entered the convent, papa Zimmerer passed away in December 1941 just days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. “Papa always said he wouldn’t see World War II,” recalled Sister Madeleine. “He kept up with pre-war events by reading a German newspaper.” Up until that point, the Zimmerers led an agrarian lifestyle making a living on the farm three miles south of La Feria. Three years after her father’s death, Sister Madeleine and her mother moved to Brownsville and eventually to Houston. “She’s definitely country and I’m a lot more city,” Sister Madeleine laughingly said. “Even though we were apart for so many years, I remember being very proud of my older sister and telling people, ‘I have a sister who’s a sister.’ It was after coming to the convent myself that I really got to know her.” And there grew a spiritually cultivated bond unlike any other.
As professed nuns, they both endeavored as educators for many years. At the onset of their service to the community, they returned to the area of Texas where their parents were raised.
“There were some public schools in predominantly Catholic communities like Lindsay near Gainsville and Westphalia near Temple. Since operating a Catholic school was so much more expensive than running a public school, the local board decided to close the Catholic school, rent the building to the public school system and have the sisters serve as teachers at the public school and earn the public school salary,” explained Sister Madeleine. “The drawback was that we couldn’t teach religion at the school. Even though the schools still exist today, I was one of the last sisters to teach there.” “I taught for 38 years of which I spent 15 years in the public schools,” added Sister Benedict. “I taught nine years in Lindsay.” The years spent in shaping the lives of youngsters rank among the most treasured moments for both sisters. “As a first grade teacher, most of the children did not have a kindergarten background. I could see them learning to read and learning how to add and subtract,” began Sister Madeleine. “I would say seeing the children learn so much like preparing for confession, their first Communion, learning to read, doing math, learning to write and those kind of things were very thrilling for me.” Outside the academic arena, the older Sister Benedict spent many years as a missionary working in Mexico along the Texas and California border where she encountered severe material poverty but an equally incredible strong faith in our Lord. “I remember one of my first missions in a colonia outside Mexicali, one of the ladies there in the poor brickyard, she asked me, ‘you’re a sister, will you teach my child and her friend about getting ready for first Communion? She’s 10 years old and she hasn’t made her first Communion.’ I knew it wasn’t part of our job but I agreed to do it on my day off,” Sister Benedict explained. “Well, I had two students that first day. After a few weeks, I had five students. I taught them every Monday afternoon.” Eventually, Sister Benedict sought and approached the pastor at the nearest church three miles away. “Father Donald was an American Oblate who was doing mission work in Mexico. He was very nice and supportive. Father Donald even said that he would have the Mass in the colonia,” continued Sister Benedict. “He even heard confessions in the colonia which was three miles from the church.” “The seed planted by one parent with Sister Benedict began spreading its roots and establishing a solid foundation a cornerstone for evangelization. “Father Donald brought his CCD coordinator to the Mass he celebrated in the colonia. The coordinator told the residents that she would give instruction to train the parents how to be catechists and to teach their children how to prepare for their first Communion,” recounted Sister Benedict. “So that year, I had five children make their first Communion. The following year, there were more than 50 children who made their first Communion.” Even more good news sprung from her initial efforts. “They even have a church there now in the colonia. I feel that I did make a difference,” concluded Sister Benedict. She, along with her sister and 14 relatives, undoubtedly made a difference in the lives of the many they have touched. Fr. Toby echoes this sentiment on a personal level. “Together we have transformed the Church and the people of God into a great, beautiful Church - the Body of Christ with many parts and many languages,” explained Fr. Toby. They are living examples of “...worshipping the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve.” (Luke 4:8) Sister Madeleine serves as the Director of Pastoral Care and Sister Benedict, who is semi-retired, is a catechist at St. Michael’s Church in Big Wells.