SR. CHELSEA BETHANY DAVIS

I am the oldest of 6 kids. I grew up on a small farm in Frederick, MD, raising goats and Texas Longhorn cattle. When I was growing up I wanted to be an astronaut…until I met the Daughters of Saint Paul. Then I wanted to be the first nun in space!

I actually met the Daughters of St. Paul through a picture in a vocation booklet. In that booklet there were lots of pictures of different communities, but I saw this nun with a video camera and it jumped out at me. When I read the description, it talked about how the Daughters of Saint Paul were called to be Saint Paul alive today, which meant that they used all the fastest and most effective ways to communicate with the people of today. That really spoke to me, because that meant that the Sisters wanted to meet me where I was. I contacted the Sisters and they invited me to visit. When I visited, I fell in love with the community and the Pauline spirituality.

I entered the Daughters of Saint Paul when I was 20 years old. I have been in formation for the last 4 years and just made First Vows in August of 2015! I love being a Daughter of Saint Paul because I get to meet so many different people and share with them the love of God and be inspired by their witness of faith.

I have always loved music. I grew up in a musical family. My mother was a singer and dancer and all of my siblings sing and/or play instruments. It was not uncommon for us to break out in harmony while cleaning the house or in the middle of the zoo at the lion exhibit (yes, that happened). I studied piano from the time I was 10 through college and taught myself guitar as a teenager—because a piano isn’t exactly easy to tote around.

I’m the newest addition to the choir, touring as the “audio Sister” in the 2015 concerts—taking care of speakers, microphones, and sound. Who knows what the future holds! Personally, I hope some day to travel to Europe, learn another language proficiently, and meet the Pope!

One of my favorite saints—other than the obvious favorites, our Blessed Mother and Saint Paul—is Mother Teresa. She has taught me that I don’t have to change the world in one day—we make a difference person by person. We don’t have to make grandiose gestures to show our love for Jesus, but that it is enough to love Him moment by moment. Sometimes I feel so small in such a big world, but I love to live by her motto of doing “little things with great love.”