CHICOPEE – For a nun from Lebanon, her education in the United States will be used to expand her order’s mission in providing healthcare.

Sister Raghida Antoun is a student at The Elms College completing a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management with a Specialty Minor/ Certificate in Leadership and Organization.

Speaking to her one quickly realizes her life is a combination of the spiritual and the practical. She said, “My intention is to leverage my skills and combine my global educational experience to achieve objectives that our order has identified. More specifically, using what I have learned at The Elms will allow me the ability to enhance the organizational structure of our order and use new skills learned to attract donations from our global fundraising base.”

She is in the second of a three-year leave to this country to continue her education.

After graduation next year, she hopes to start working on a Masters in Business Administration. Her experiences in the U.S. have been very positive. “The people are so friendly and have helped me a lot and encouraged me to continue my studies,” she said.

Her coming to The Elms was not her first plan, but one that came about through her interaction with a group of supporters. She explained to Reminder Publishing, “In September of 2018, I started studying for my second degree at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, before I transferred to the Elms. Although, I was very happy at VCU and assisting at the parish of Saint Anthony Maronite Catholic Church, I was attracted to an opportunity to study in New England with the support from a group of friends (Jay Caron, Tim Rooke, Steve Marcus, Joe Peters, Gene Cassidy, Will Reichlet, Kevin Queenin, Father Tony Saab, etc). The president of Our Lady of The Elms, Dr. Harry Dumay, joined with my friends to assist me financially, logistically and with guidance to move to Western Massachusetts. They offered me the opportunity to continue my studies at the Elms with greater focus on my future goals. Through their generosity, attention to details and kindness, they made my transition very smooth. Sister Miriam Najimy, the Provincial of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary at the Marian Center in Holyoke, offered me tremendous hospitality at her convent.”

This is not the sister’s first trip to the United States, as she came in 2014 to Lawrence to study English and to learn more about how to manage a nursing home. She also came here in 2016 with a youth choir touring the country.

She described her order, the Lebanese Maronite Sisters, and its work. She said, “The convent where I live, Saint Joseph’s Monastery, is well known in Lebanon. It houses the remains of Saint Rafqa. She was a nun from my order. She was canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church in June of 2001. She was the first woman to be canonized from the Middle East. Our convent is a religious pilgrimage site and people from all walks of life and faiths come to visit her tomb and ask for her intercession. Our sisters offer them hospitality and spiritual direction and guidance.

“We also minister to the local people of the area. The O.L.M. has six convents in Lebanon. We work with the youth, married couples, those who are preparing for marriage or those who are still discerning their way in life.

“At Saint Joseph monastery and convent, we have become well-known as a music institute for young people. The choir has performed religious concerts in Lebanon, Europe and the U.S.

“Also, we minister to the elderly with our on-campus nursing home and we are in the process of building a basilica in honor of Saint Rafqa. Our doors are always open to anyone who seeks our direction and we do not turn anyone down.”

Although she admits to missing her family, her religious community and Lebanese food – “It’s the best,” she said with a smile – she is enjoying her time here.

“I like The Elms very much. I feel like I’m at home,” she said, adding the college community has been “very friendly and so respectful to me.”

She continued, “From a religious perspective, I can attend mass every day allowing me to live and practice my spiritual life. The Elms continues to help me to grow academically and spiritually. The Elms is more than a college, it is a large family.”

Speaking of the group of local residents who helped bring her here she said, “I will never forget them in my daily prayers. I’m so blessed to be here and have so many friends here.”