Sr. Celine Maasen from Wardsville notes 75 years in religious life
Wardsville native Sister Celine Maasen CDP, who previously taught at St. Andrew School in Tipton, is celebrating her 75th anniversary as a member of the Sisters of Divine Providence (cdpsisters.org).
Sr. Celine entered religious life from St. Stanislaus Parish in Wardsville.
She credits her eighth-grade teacher, Sister Mary William Haug, for greatly influencing her decision to become a sister.
Sr. Celine earned a bachelor of arts degree from Harris Teachers College.
In the early part of her ministry she was a teacher in elementary schools, including St. Mary School in Madison, Ill. (1953); North American Martyrs School in Florissant (1959-61); Ascension School in Normandy (1962); St. Andrew School in Tipton (1963-64); St. John School in Imperial (1965-68); Divine Providence School in Westchester, Ill. (1969); St. Elizabeth School in Granite City, Ill. (1970-72); St. Mary-St. Mark School in Madison-Venice, Ill. (1973-75); Mary Queen of the Universe School in Lemay (1976-81); and St. Pius X School in Shreveport, La. (1981).
Sr. Celine also served as a cook at Mount Providence in Normandy (1954-58); in maintenance at Mount Providence School in Normandy (1982–1991); in housekeeping at the YWCA homeless shelter in St. Louis (1994-96); as a suite keeper at the Embassy Hotel in Bridgeton (1997-2003); and in church and school maintenance at St. Ann Church in Normandy (2004-2015).
She says of her time working at the Embassy Hotel, “That was very exciting and I showed many people how we lived and what we stood for.”
Sr. Celine currently lives at Evergreen Place Supportive Living in Alton, Ill., where she crochets hats and scarves for the poor.
When reflecting on what is the most important to her within the charism of the community or how she sees herself living out her charism, she says, “I love to do things for the poor (getting things for them to use or eat). I trust in Divine Providence for all the things that happen in my life.”
Self-described as fun loving and a bird lover, Sr. Celine enjoys word search and jigsaw puzzles, doing crafts, playing cards and listening to St. Louis Cardinals baseball games.
The Congregation of the Sisters of Divine Providence was founded in Germany in 1851 by Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler and Mother Marie de la Roche.
The mission of the new foundation was twofold: to serve the poor and the sick and to teach girls in the rural areas of Mainz, Germany.
The culture wars (Kulturkampf) in Germany brought many changes, not least among them was the prohibition of all religious from teaching in the schools, and the expulsion of many religious orders from Germany.
The Sisters of Divine Providence were affected by these wars. In 1876, six young sisters traveled to North America to carry forth the mission of the Congregation and to spread its charism of Providence to a new land.
By the early 1900s, the Congregation had grown to more than 300 women in Germany and the United States.
This is their mission statement: “We, the Congregation of Divine Providence, impelled by the Spirit of Jesus, commit ourselves to co-create a world of compassion, justice and peace. Guided by the legacy of Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler and Marie de la Roche, we nurture in ourselves and in others a trust and confidence in God’s faithful presence. We further commit ourselves to making God’s providence more visible in our world.”
