By Alison Bradish
In 2019 Trinity Manor opened its doors in the Westerra development in Regina. The facility was designed as a state-of-the-art personal care and independent living residence. Part of Emmanuel Care, a group of Catholic health care facilities in Saskatchewan, Trinity Manor is focused on the care of the whole person. Sr. Emelyn Rosento is part of that mission.
Rosento is a nun from the order of the Daughters of Mary founded in the Philippines during the 1960s. In 2014, at the request of the late Archbishop Daniel Bohan, three sisters from their order came to Canada to serve at Martha house, a residence for retired clergy. Sr. Emelyn joined them in 2015.
The residence has since closed its doors and now some of the retired clergy who resided at Martha house live at Trinity Manor.
“The community, the family life, the togetherness we established at Martha house is something we brought here to Trinity Manor,” says Rosento, who is now Spiritual Life Coordinator at Trinity Manor.
She says her role is that of a “companion who listens without judgement to the resident, when their health is failing, and they are searching for meaning and life.”
Rosento emphasizes the need for physical presence in the work of spiritual care so residents do not feel alone. “I let them know I am with them,” says the joyful sounding nun during a phone interview.
The 48-year-old nun helps with Masses at the Chapel seven days a week. The spiritual activities have been adapted but have not come to a standstill because of the pandemic. Thanks to two retired priests who are residents of Trinity Manor, Mass is celebrated daily for the community and residents can partake in the Eucharist.
The priests take turns celebrating for the community. A schedule has been set up to allow independent residents the use of the chapel for half the week and the personal care residents use of the Chapel for the other half of the week. There are two Masses celebrated on Sunday.
The faith life at Trinity Manor also involves Reconciliation, offered on the first Thursdays and Fridays of every month as well as First Friday devotions, which include adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. “No one is deprived of what is planned,” says Rosento. During Lent stations of the cross will be offered every Friday.
At one point during the pandemic Rosento had to work from home due to the lockdown as she was considered a non-essential worker. This was a difficult situation and she found making phone calls to be an inadequate response to what residents needed. She recalls this time as the “Absence of the community within the community.” Residents could not have visitors and could not interact among themselves, even to the point of having to eat meals by themselves in their rooms instead of the dining hall.
Rosento is relieved this time of lockdown is over. Presently community life continues to be fostered as much as possible as they follow the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s guidelines.
Rosento lives in an apartment within walking distance to Trinity Manor, an ideal situation and one that puts her at low risk of contracting the virus.
Rosento is in the process of completing her Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and finds the course to be greatly beneficial to her work at Trinity Manor, despite her years of formation as a religious. She is the only nun in her class but says there have been seminarians and a local priest who have taken the course as well.
Trinity Manor still has suites available. For more information people can visit www.trinitymanor.ca.
