Sister Anna Dinh and the four other Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver who make up the international congregation’s St. Paul community are from Vietnam, India and Africa, countries and regions to which the Church has sent missionaries to evangelize for centuries.
But as the sisters serve mainly in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis rather than overseas, they are reminded that mission work isn’t only serving directly in the mission field, but also in being “missionaries of hope,” through prayer and action behind the scenes, said Sister Anna, 60, who is serving her second term as the St. Paul community’s superior.
Especially during this Jubilee Year of Hope, the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver “choose to see light even in moments of darkness — and (help) others do the same” as they raise awareness and funds and produce multi-lingual communications for the Church’s worldwide evangelization efforts, Sister Anna said.
“Wherever we are, we can live out our mission,” said Sister Anna, describing the St. Paul community and the roughly 245 other sisters in the Rome-based congregation who serve in 26 countries and consider prayer the “heartbeat” of their apostolate.
“Every task we’re entrusted with is part of God’s will for us. … Missionary work is not just about location — it’s about presence, purpose and obedience,” Sister Anna said.
The Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver were founded in 1894 by Blessed Maria Teresa Ledóchowska, a Polish nun who felt called to support the sharing of the Gospel with Africans. She named the new community after the 16th-century Spanish Jesuit priest, St. Peter Claver, who sought to alleviate the suffering of African slaves who had been transported to South America. He often met them at or near the ships that brought them, and he is believed to have personally baptized about 300,000 individuals.
Blessed Maria, whose 50-year beatification anniversary was celebrated locally by the sisters on Sept. 20 at Transfiguration in Oakdale, believed the congregation’s charism was similar to the roots of a tree: essential to its growth but unseen, Sister Anna said.
“We are a voice for missionaries, animating others about the needs of missions around the world,” she said. “We don’t have our own mission territory, but we support others spiritually and financially in their efforts. Our congregation is international, and we believe we can be missionaries wherever we are.”
Sister Anna’s own vocation was hidden as she grew up in Saigon City in southeast Vietnam, which in 1975 became part of Ho Chi Minh City after the country came under Communist rule.
When Sister Anna was 18, her parish priest suggested religious life. As she learned about it, she said she found her heart drawn to becoming a religious sister.
A few years later in 1987, Sister Anna’s family immigrated to Toronto, Canada. After searching unsuccessfully for a few months for a Vietnamese-speaking religious community, she attended a Vietnamese Mass where she met a Vietnamese Missionary Sister of St. Peter Claver visiting Toronto from St. Paul.
Finding hope in meeting a sister who spoke her language, she visited the St. Paul community and at the end of 1990, entered the novitiate. Since 2003, Sister Anna has served in St. Paul. She said she has come to appreciate all four seasons, after adjusting from Vietnam’s tropical climate.
The sisters’ local support for international mission work includes producing regular communications for benefactors, offering mission information and updates and funding appeals, Sister Anna said.
With the help of extern members — lay supporters of the sisters’ apostolic work and other volunteers — the sisters organize an annual spring plant sale at their St. Paul convent, with proceeds supporting approved missionary projects.
They also host monthly Mass and recollection for extern members and assist with catechism classes at the Vietnamese parish of St. Adalbert in St. Paul.
Other outreach includes welcoming Catholic school groups to their convent and hosting Nun Runs for young women discerning religious and consecrated life, Sister Anna said, noting that all the visits “offer a glimpse into our daily rhythm of prayer, service and joyful community living.”
As the sisters help the missions without being present at overseas mission sites, Catholics in the archdiocese and throughout the Church can support the work in their daily lives by intentionally praying and offering their joys and sufferings for missionaries and mission work, along with living their own faith boldly and sharing resources, Sister Anna said.
“It begins with recognizing that their everyday gifts, resources and passions are powerful instruments for global impact,” she said.
Each day as she leads her St. Paul community members, Sister Anna seeks to nourish their hope and prayer, first by her example of trusting God through daily challenges.
“I remind them that our mission is not just about what we do, but how we do it,” she said. “All for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls, with hearts anchored in Christ and eyes fixed on his promises.”
