Laurina Lange was still a teenager when she traveled by train from Texas to San Antonio to pursue the religious life — by joining the Benedictine Sisters of Florida.
The year was 1930, and she was accompanied by four of her cousins — Irma Multer, Pauline Block, and Rosaria and Rosanna Matthiesen. They, too, had decided to answer God’s call.
Now known as Sister Helen Lange, the 102-year-old recently shared a few of her memories during remarks at the 125th birthday celebration for the Town of St. Leo, held at Saint Leo University.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
She told the audience that despite her age, she still enjoys every minute. She also noted that while she began her religious vocation in San Antonio, she was fortunate to travel extensively and do many different kinds of work along life’s path.
She told the crowd about a memoir she wrote, called “Kicking the Habit.” It records experiences during her life, in 10-year increments.
The title of her memoir doesn’t refer to her kicking the habit of smoking — rather it relates to the time when the requirement was lifted for nuns to wear a style of dress, called a habit.
In her memoir, she describes growing up on a farm in Olfen, Texas.
Her parents, Joseph and Helena Matthiesen Lange, had five boys and three girls — and all of the children were born at home.
It was a family where faith and hard work were cherished values, she writes in her memoir.
“Living and growing up on a farm taught us to be very responsible,” the memoir says. “We were taught to be independent and thrifty.”
She has many fond recollections about growing up in a family which prayed often, enjoyed making music, and had frequent gatherings with friends and relatives.
One of her favorite times of the year was Easter.
“Holy Week was truly Holy Week. There were no radios, no running around, no dancing or partying,” her memoir says.
“On Holy Saturday, all of us kids were sent out to pick flowers to build Easter nests for the bunny to come. While we were out hunting the flowers, little did we know that mom was busy dying the eggs — which we never saw until Easter morning.
“We made small nests with the wildflowers we picked out in the fields.
“On Easter Sunday morning, we all tumbled out of bed to see what the Easter bunny had brought. There were eggs of all colors neatly laying in our nest of flowers. What a beautiful day!”
The ‘Spirit’ calls in strange places
She enjoyed shopping days with her mother, her memoir reports.
Once the necessary items for the household were purchased, the two of them would stop by the drugstore for an ice cream soda.
“They only cost 25 cents back then,” her account says.
“Another favorite treat was a chocolate bar with marshmallows and nuts. This was called a Tango. It was only five cents,” the memoir adds.
Of course, living on a farm required hard work.
(Courtesy of Holy Name Monastery)
There was “cotton to chop, cotton to pick, maize to head, tractors to run, cotton to haul to the gin, repairs to be done. Too many chores to mention,” the book recounts.
She believes her family’s deep faith influenced her decision to pursue the religious life.
“Family prayers and Sunday obligations, plus monthly confession and communion, were never neglected,” she said.
Her Catholic education played a role, too.
“I think the seeds of my vocation were planted in fifth grade,” she writes.
“The Mother Superior visited our school quarterly,” she adds.
As Mother Superior doled out report cards, she would ask the students: “How many of you are going to be priests or nuns when you grow up?”
While growing up, she also spent a fair amount of time in the church, putting her musical talents to use.
“I played (the children’s) daily mass when I was in in fifth grade,” she recalls in her memoir.
But, it wasn’t until she was older that she actually decided to become a nun.
“The Spirit does call in the strangest places,” she notes in her memoir. “We were at a dance when Sister Irma (Irma Multer) came dancing by and casually stated to me, ‘Guess what? I’m going to enter the convent in a short time.’ My surprise reply was, ‘Wait for me! I’m going with you!”’
So, that’s how she and her four companions wound up on that train to Florida.
A life on the move
Over the years, Sister Helen would be a teacher, a band director and a principal. She would oversee a hostel for visitors from other countries. And, later she would work in elder care.
She also moved around quite a bit. Her first assignment took her back to Texas, but she also worked in New Orleans and Slidell, Louisiana, and in various parts of Florida, including San Antonio, Venice, Sarasota, North Miami, Ocala and Jacksonville Beach.
Generally, she didn’t know where she would be teaching until shortly before the school year began, she said during a recent interview.
“We were given a little piece of paper in August,” she said, indicating where she would be going.
And, it wasn’t always easy to leave the place where she’d been living, she said.
“You become attached to the people, to the families,” she explained.
But, then she found that she would form the same kind of attachments at the next place she went, she said.
“I loved every one of them,” said the former educator who taught everything from kindergarten to sixth grade, and served as a principal, too.
“The sixth grade was the most joyful. There were a lot of boys in the class. I loved teaching boys,” she said.
She was a tomboy, at heart, she explained.
When she was asked,as a young girl, if she wanted a doll for Christmas, her response was: “No, I want a baseball and bat.”
Now approaching her 103rd birthday, which is on Sept. 28, Sister Helen still manages to find joy where she is.
As she walks down the corridors at Heritage Park Care and Rehabilitation Center in Dade City, she greets residents, asks how they are and takes time to listen.
As she reflects on her life, she said she “has no regrets whatsoever” about boarding that train to join the Benedictine Sisters of Florida more than eight decades ago — to follow her spiritual call where it led her.
“I’d do it all over again,” she said.
Published August 17, 2016