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Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

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spiritual

Sister Dianne Wansley

January 3, 2023 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

Sister Dianne Wansley, O.S.B., a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida, passed into her eternal life on Friday, December 30, 2022.  Born to Howard and Clara (Vann) Wansley on November 22, 1950 Sister was a native of Plant City, FL, the second of three children.  Sister Dianne is also survived by her brother Ivan Wansley, sister-in-law Barbara Wansley, niece Kim Wansley and grandniece.  Her brother Malcolm Wansley pre-deceased Sister Dianne.

Born into a family that was always active in their church, Sister Dianne had a solid Christian upbringing as a Southern Baptist.  Her father was a deacon, her mom, a religion teacher.  At age 25, after college, she converted to Catholicism in 1976.  Wanting to grow in her faith she made a retreat at Holy Name Monastery in Saint Leo.  Sister said, “I was impressed by the love that the Sisters had for each other.”  She came to the Benedictine Sisters of Florida in January 1978 as a live-in volunteer.

Sister Dianne graduated from University of South Florida, Tampa, FL with a BA in Social Studies education and then earned her master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry with an emphasis on Liturgy from Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA.  She also received post-graduate certification in Spiritual Direction from Boston College.

Joining the Benedictine Sisters in September, 1978, Sister Dianne faithfully served the community for 46 years in numerous capacities.  Sister was an accomplished iconographer, artist, served on the liturgy committee, provided spiritual direction for retreatants and was the director of Postulants and Novices (sisters in discernment vow stages) for the Community. She was the organist and pianist for the community.  Sister Dianne also served on the Saint Leo Town Commission.

She taught for fourteen years in public and private schools in Florida.  In Ocala, FL she taught at both Northern Marion Middle School and Blessed Trinity school.  She also taught social studies at Marshall Junior High School (now Middle) in Plant City, FL.  She also served as a music minister for student Masses at Saint Leo University.

A Vigil service on Friday, January 6th at 7:00 pm at Holy Name Monastery (12138 Wichers Road, St. Leo, FL). Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at Holy Name Monastery on Saturday, January 7th at 10:30 am.   

In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to Benedictine Sisters of Florida, PO Box 2450, St. Leo, FL 33574.

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Prayer Tagged With: Boston, Death, funeral, S. Dianne, S. Dianne Wansley, Sister Dianne, spiritual, wansley

Wisdom or Action

July 31, 2017 by Holy Name Monastery 2 Comments

An ancient monastic story tells of the holy one who asked his disciples a question about life. “Tell me which is greater,” he said to them, “wisdom or action?” And the disciples answered, “Why, it’s action, of course. What good is wisdom without action?” But the holy one answered, “Ah, yes… but what good is action that comes from an unenlightened heart?”

Stories like this challenge modern thought to the center of the soul. We can forget that every stage of life has both purpose and gift. For the young, the purpose is growth and the gift is possibility—the young give us hope. For the middle aged, the purpose of life lies in generativity and the gift is responsibility—the middle-aged give us direction. But to the older generation, we look beyond the stages of public action for experience and the gift of reflection. As the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, “The first forty years give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it.” Or, so we tell ourselves… But, somewhere along the way, something seems to have shifted. In the world as we experience it now, the elders disappear quickly from the public stage, the middle-aged bear the burden of the system, and the young are the focus of attention. …

The fact is that there is nothing a youth-centered culture needs more than it needs its elders. If ever we are meant to have a real role in life, it is surely now. It is precisely at this stage in life that we discover that our real purpose in life is to understand it, and then to pass that wisdom on. … Youth without insights risks action without wisdom.

Elders have things to give that no other segment of society can possibly match and, in the giving of them, come to see the past newly and the future with new faith. They come to know that the future, whatever it is, is not to be feared. What elders have to give a world worshipping at the shrine of newness and energy is memory, experience, objectivity, wisdom, and vision. They know now what really matters, what life is really about—beyond body-building, money-making, and social standing. …

It is the perspective that comes with age that sees failures as the beginning of growth… and it is spiritual persons who come to appreciate the depths of life more than the cosmetics. When we learn to value experience rather than to avoid it, when we value life more than we do the approval of the social police we harbor in our heads, then we are ready to go on growing. More than that, we are ready to be the role models of the generations coming after us. By living fully and well, we can be an antidote to a society that thinks that being high is the only way to be happy.

—by Sister Joan Chittister, OSB

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Filed Under: Blog, Homily Tagged With: Aging, generations, growth, role models, spiritual, Wisdom, youth

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PO Box 2450
12138 Wichers Road
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