As an undergraduate at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona in the mid-2000s, Pro Ecclesia Sancta (PES) Sister Laura Holupchinski was intrigued by how devoutly her friends lived their Catholic faith. When several of them pursued priesthood and consecrated life, she wondered about her own vocation.
“At first I thought, well, (God’s) not going to call all of us,” said Sister Laura, 38, who grew up attending St. Mark in St. Paul with her parents and four siblings and graduating from Cretin-Derham Hall high school, also in St. Paul.
Sister Laura discerned her own vocation through a journey that included completing a social science education degree in college and returning to St. Mark in 2009 to work for a year. At the parish, she got to know PES Father Humberto Palomino, the pastor, and two PES brothers. She also spent time in prayer, silence and at daily Mass, and the seed for her vocation –– possibly planted in college –– was cultivated, she said.
Sister Laura said she was struck by seeing PES members live out the institute’s charism of living and promoting the universal call to holiness through the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Founded in 1992 in Peru, PES is a Catholic institute and ecclesial family of consecrated life that includes priests, religious brothers and sisters, and an affiliated lay movement.
Sister Laura was also interested in West St. Paul-based NET Ministries, and beginning in 2010 traveled the United States for two years with NET teams giving youth retreats.