“Recognize the call from God, even when you don’t quite understand it.”
-Sister Luanne Durst
Sister Luanne Durst grew up in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, where her father owned a grocery store and her mother was a homemaker. She was the youngest of six children. Chuckling, she admitted, “I think I was spoiled.” As a child, Sister Luanne took no interest in cooking, but was more interested in reading and playing piano. She admired her three older brothers who had gone to college, one becoming a priest, one a doctor and one an electrical engineer. She revealed, “Over and over I read the St. Andrew Missal which contained the history of all the major feasts of the church year. Early on I developed an interest in liturgy.”
The family was well-respected in the community. But the Great Depression brought on great hardship. “People owed my dad a lot of money. Sometimes they would bring things like firewood in compensation or offer free services. But that didn’t pay our bills.” When her father was dying in 1950, in a humbling experience, two of her brothers had to ask some of the better-off people in town to repay their debts, which they did. Consequently, her mother was able to move into a smaller house and live fairly comfortably.
Sister Luanne entered the convent in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, when she was a junior in high school. After novitiate, she was sent out on mission to learn piano from one of their good piano teachers. She didn’t understand why all her classmates were able to stay at the motherhouse and go to college and she couldn’t. To make matters worse, her piano teacher made her start all over, even though she had been playing for years. Sister Luanne resented it. “I thought I knew it all.” But they talked it out, and then became best friends. “This is when I finally understood how much I didn’t know.” The community eventually sent her to college for a degree in piano with a minor in organ. This had been the plan all along, although no one bothered to tell Sister Luanne about it. There she was able to take organ lessons from “one of the most excellent organ teachers in the country. I was so lucky.” Organ was her real love. She spent four hours every day practicing piano and memorizing the music, in addition to her other classwork. “It was really a drain on me. In the second year I got terrible headaches. Sometimes I’d have to take ten to twelve aspirin a day.” But she kept going.
The Second Vatican Council had a powerful personal impact on Sister Luanne’s life. Even before it took place, things were beginning to change in the Church, especially in the area of liturgy and participation by the people. Somehow her community found out about a new program in Rensselaer, Indiana, started by three priests who had just gotten doctorates in liturgy from the Pontifical College in Rome. Sister Luanne was asked to attend. She spent four glorious summers there, learning from people “in the know” and imbibing all she could. Eventually, Sister Luanne was asked to work in the diocesan liturgy office in Green Bay. After a while, the bishop suggested she go on to get a higher degree in liturgy. While first adamantly saying “no,” she eventually went to Catholic University in Washington, D.C. where she got a master’s degree in liturgical studies. But, again, she worked so hard and never gave herself permission to take time to relax and see the sights in Washington. “I crammed every day! I was so worn down that I vowed I would never go back to Washington.” Not to be! Sister Luanne had made connections with staffers from the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who were impressed by her and begged her to come work with them in D.C. She kept on saying “no.” But finally, she gave in, moved back to Washington with permission from her superiors, and spent four years there, right in the midst of an unprecedented groundswell of change in the liturgy of the church. She loved it!
Meanwhile, these changes in the church and religious life had not been received well by her religious community. Sister Luanne found herself at odds with the direction they were taking. She was called back from Washington to teach at their college in Wisconsin, which was something she did not want to do. Eventually the bishop of La Crosse found out that she was available and hired her to lead the Liturgy Office there, for which she was grateful.
Sister Luanne was warmly welcomed to town by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. An added bonus was that her favorite brother, Joe, now an OB-GYN, lived in La Crosse. After years in the liturgy office, she got a position driving at the FSPA motherhouse. During this time, other sisters from her community had similar issues with the direction their group was taking, and decided to transfer their vows to FSPA. They let Sister Luanne know that they were happy in their new home. She decided to follow them, and never regretted it.
Through all the ups and downs, Sister Luanne found herself following the lead of the Spirit, even when she had no idea what that meant. But her droll wit and open mind steadied her and allowed her to enjoy the ride.
About Wells of Wisdom
As many more women religious in the United States are entering their 70s, 80s, and 90s, women’s communities are realizing what a wealth of wisdom there is among us. It is too rich to be ignored. So in “Wells of Wisdom," author Sister Karen Lueck features a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration in her golden years who is willing to share some of her wisdom with a world desperately in need of it. Read more from our Wells of Wisdom collection ...
Wells of Wisdom: What is, is, and it's good, featuring Sister Maria Friedman
Wells of Wisdom: Everybody needs to pitch in, featuring Sister Marcella Marie Dreikosen
Wells of Wisdom: When you pray to God ... miracles will happen, featuring Sister Malinda Gerke
Wells of Wisdom: Allow the answers within you to emerge, featuring Sister Marlou Ricke