The Franciscan Sisters, T.O. R. of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother announced that Sister Emma Ruth Greathouse made her first profession of vows, her temporary vows, on June 13 at Our Lady of Sorrows Monastery in Toronto, Ohio, with one other sister.
She is the daughter of Mary and Daniel Greathouse and has seven siblings, Charles, Paul, James, Peter, Sarah, Sophia and Gabriel.
Sister Greathouse was raised in Sagamore Hills. She attended St. Barnabas School in Northfield and is an alumna of Trinity High School in Garfield Heights. During her high school years, Sister Greathouse said she rediscovered the beauty of the Church and made the faith her own.
After graduating from Trinity, she wanted to pursue deeper prayer and to learn more about the Catholic faith, so she studied theology and philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
During her college years, Sister Greathouse was able to study abroad in Austria for a semester, which helped her deepen her faith and reliance on God and discover the beauty of poverty and simplicity. It was also during this time that she gradually became open to the idea of religious life. She said she discovered the Lord’s desire to fulfill her desires through an abundant life of love for him as a religious sister.
To officially begin her discernment process, Sister Greathouse began to attend discernment retreats. She also visited various Franciscan communities, including the Franciscan Sisters, T.O.R. at the end of her time in college.
After graduating from Franciscan University, she worked for three years in human resources at KYOCERA SGS Precision Tool in Cuyahoga Falls while continuing to discern her vocation and to pay off her school loans.
In October 2021, she reconnected with the Franciscan Sisters, T.O.R. for a weeklong stay and said she immediately felt at home. She applied and entered the community in September 2022 as a postulant.
“I’m so humbled by the lofty call of God to minister to his people through this way of life in prayer and works of mercy, she said. “He continues to deepen this call in me and prove over and over again that ‘If you seek him, you will find him.’”
Her first assignment as a professed sister will be at the community’s mission house on the campus of Franciscan University of Steubenville.
To learn more about the Franciscan Sisters, T.O.R., click here.