Remsen students serve at Carmelite Monastery

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
Sept. 28, 2006

Football players from St. Mary's High School in Remsen had quite a workout on Sept. 21, but it wasn't at practice on the field. The varsity team spent the morning doing yardwork at the Carmelite Monastery in Sioux City.

When Mary Arens, spiritual life director and theology teacher at St. Mary's, thought up the idea to have the athletes do a service project in the midst of their season she knew exactly who to contact.

Lorne Nilles, a parishioner at St. Mary's in Remsen, has been volunteering at the monastery with his brothers for about 20 years. Nilles and two of his brothers - Dennis and Pete - volunteer for the Carmelites about twice a month or more if needed.

"I always feel a little bit of heaven because it's quiet. It's almost like a retreat," described Nilles.

The Nilles brothers mainly do yardwork, but they helped with the conference room addition to the monastery and helped build the outside prayer valley pathway.

The brothers supervised the 18 football players with their work. They trimmed trees and cut down weeds and volunteer saplings.

Nilles said he believed it was a good idea to bring the players to the monastery because they not only served others, but learned about monastic life.

"When I asked them, no one even knew what the Carmelites were or what they were doing here," noted Nilles, who explained the Carmelite lifestyle to the players.

Trent Loutsch, a senior at St. Mary's, said it was good to help the nuns because "they dedicate their lives to others. It is a hard life for them to live so they deserve to have the place spruced up a little bit. They serve their whole life so this is miniscule compared to what they do for us."

Another student Andy Steichen, a senior, acknowledged that he didn't know much about the Carmelites prior to taking part in the service trip.

"I didn't know that they couldn't go anywhere," he noted. "I didn't know half of what they do here." The student also found the ample size of the property to be surprising.

It has motivated him to want to learn more about his faith.

Coach Mike Green also made the trip to help supervise the players and chip in with the work.

He mentioned that Mary Arens had thought it was a great idea to take the football team on the service trip because it was a way to emphasize the fact that while they want to win on the football field, it was just as important to build the character of the players.

"It helps put things into proper perspective. They are more than just a bunch of student athletes," said the coach. "They are also servants of God and this is a great opportunity to serve someone else."

Arens mentioned that when the football players arrived back at school they all mentioned what a great day it had been.

"Every player that I spoke with said they had a great time and then they would immediately go into the lives of the sisters. They were so amazed at the life they live," she said. "After visiting with the players, I realized it wasn't just a day of serving others but it was also a day of gaining a deeper respect for this group of very holy women who give their entire being to God."