Profile by Tess Chierici "I found that people outside [the convent] treated each other with much more warmth and care."

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Profiles | Send mail to The Voice Convent life fails to satisfy the soul Anita Johnson joined the Benedictine Sisters in 1959. She left the convent 10 years later at the age of 30. Anita Johnson, photo A rare glimpse of Portland's winter sun seeped through the kitchen window of a little beige house located off Fremont Street. Anita Johnson, the planned giving services coordinator at Multnomah Bible College, sat at the table and stared out the window, soaking in the warmth of the sun. She laid her glasses aside, revealing pale blue eyes that reflected the color of her floral-print shirt. Silver and blue sapphire earrings, which she called her "Wal-Mart Specials," dangled and sparkled in the sunlight, complementing her short white hair. Ms. Johnson was born in Freilburg, Germany, and was raised Roman Catholic. Ms. Johnson said she wanted to do something for the Lord, and the highest calling for a Catholic woman was sisterhood. She sought out the strictest order of nuns, the Carmelites, who make a vow of lifelong silence. "The convent rejected me on the grounds that my English was not good enough," Ms. Johnson said. A year later, however the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing accepted Ms. Johnson into their convent in Norfolk, Neb. "I began corresponding with them, and they answered me in German," she said. "Needless to say, I felt I was called to join them." Ms. Johnson felt more comfortable in the convent than outside where she had felt lonely because of the language barrier. The German nuns who started the convent had brought with them the traditions Ms. Johnson had known from childhood and also the Latin she had learned as a little girl. The Missionary Benedictine order of nuns can be traced back to the fifth century monk Benedict who practiced the monastic rule "ora et labora," which means pray and work. Every day the nuns gathered at 5 a.m. to pray together. Following corporate prayer, the nuns dispersed for private meditation before Mass and scripture reading at breakfast. After breakfast, they worked until the noon meal. Vespers, sung in Latin, were held at 5 p.m. and were followed by dinner and a brief time of recreation. "During [recreation] time," Ms. Johnson said, "we darned our clothing or did some other type of work while allowed to speak to one another." Compline, the last of the prayer times, was at 8 p.m. Ms. Johnson said the nuns sang the praise song of Simeon found in Luke 2:28-32 before closing every night in complete silence that continued until the following morning breakfast. Ms. Johnson pulled out three pictures from their protective plastic home inside a green photo album. She pointed to a photo of her dressed as a nun. "In this photo I had no hair," she said. As part of the nun's novice ceremony, women's hair was cut short and then later shaved off. "I didn't mind it," Ms. Johnson said. "I wanted to do [it], and I thought that God would owe me." She quietly chuckled to herself. Novice was only the third step in the process of becoming a nun. She had to complete three years of high school at the nun's school before she could become a novice, which took another year to complete. Then she spent a year with the nuns in Grottaferrata, Italy, and a year in the motherhouse in Tutzing, Germany, where she took final vows in front of her parents and sister. Ten years after Ms. Johnson joined the Missionary Benedictine Sisters, she wanted to leave. She was attending the University of Omaha for nursing training and said that the outside world influenced her in her decision. "I found that people outside treated each other with much more warmth and care than inside the convent," she said. Ms. Johnson said she didn't experience the spiritual change that she thought would occur when she became a nun. "It appeared to me that I had not become any holier during the 10 years I had observed spiritual disciplines," she said. Ms. Johnson found leaving the convent difficult. The nuns refused to help her in her transition to the outside world. They didn't give Ms. Johnson her old clothes or new ones to wear as she left the convent. Before Ms. Johnson left the convent, her university professor helped her get a job interview at a hospital for emotionally disturbed boys ages 3-16. She also gave Ms. Johnson clothes and money for the taxi fare to her new job. Ms. Johnson had to ask the Pope to release her from her vows. She said he didn't like her reason but granted her request anyway. "He sent me a letter in Latin," she said. The Pope said that he freed her from her vows, but he wrote, "Does God?" The implications of his answer troubled her. Ms. Johnson said she left the convent unprepared for the world. "I really didn't know anything about life," she said with a soft German accent. "I had been sheltered all my life -- first at home and then at the convent." Three months after leaving the convent, while working as a nurse, she met a man, Bob Johnson, in the waiting room of a hospital. "I simply didn't know how to handle things," she said. Her relationship with Mr. Johnson was the first she ever had. When Mr. Johnson asked her to marry him, she flew to Germany to sort things out. Ms. Johnson said, "I did what I do best; I ran." "He wrote me every day for six weeks," she said. After the Pope confirmed that she was free from her vows, Ms. Johnson decided to marry Mr. Johnson. Their marriage ended two years later, and Ms. Johnson returned to Germany with her baby girl, Julie. Ms. Johnson has lived in both Germany and the United States and has moved 60 times in her life. She accepted Christ as her personal savior when she was 42 while living in Germany. Ten years after she became a Christian, Ms. Johnson moved to Portland, Ore., to be close to her daughter. Ms. Johnson is working at Multnomah and lives with an elderly woman, where she provides companionship, cooks, cleans, and gardens. As planned giving service coordinator, Ms. Johnson does everything from reading wills and calculating donations to driving elderly alumni to the grocery store. "I consider it a privilege to work at Multnomah. I have met beautiful, genuine believers here," Ms. Johnson said. Major Life Events: Born in Freilburg, Germany, April, 25, 1939. Moved to the United States in 1958. Joined the convent in Norfolk, Neb., in 1959. Became a U.S. citizen in 1963. Left the convent in 1969. Married in November, 1969. Daughter, Julie Ann Johnson, born in August 1971. Recognized need for salvation and was baptized in 1981. Moved to Portland, Ore., to be close to her daughter in 1991. Began working at Multnomah Bible College in 1992. Became planned giving service coordinator in 2001. Anita Johnson, who worked as a nanny before joining the convent, enjoys babysitting. -Daniel Stent, photo Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Profiles | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2002 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.