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On being thankful, Sister Sandra Goldsborough, 69, a native of Washington, D.C., who has 50 years of vocation in the sisterhood, put it succinctly: "I guess, in a way, it's loving what has happened to you."

Goldsborough was one of seven sisters who belong to the Daughters of Charity, Emmitsburg Province who sat in couches and armchairs at the Villa Saint Michael Friday to talk about the meaning of Thanksgiving with The Gazette.

The sisters together have more than 400 years of vocation, or years spent living in obedience to God. On the second floor of the four-decades-old hideaway near the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the sisters, some wearing the unembellished navy blue habit of their order, talked about thankfulness.

The women all attended Catholic schools and joined the order in their late teens or early 20s and went on to teach school, work in Catholic institutions for children and the elderly and travel the world.

"I think the greatest gift that I've received is the gift of life in God," said Sister Julia Walsh, 92. "When I entered the community, I never felt I gave God anything. I think I just returned his gift back to him, for his use, and I've tried to forget my selfish motives for holding on [to things]. I have had great contentment. I'm grateful for contentment because I think that's the key to happiness."

Walsh knew when she was in the 7th grade at Baltimore's St. Martin's Academy that she wanted to join the sisterhood. Her family guided her toward a life of faith.

Walsh, along with fellow Baltimore native Sister Mary T. Doyle, 88, and two others, celebrated 70 years of vocation with the Daughters of Charity this month.

The choice to take the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience wasn't so easy for some of the other sisters.

Sister Anne J. Edelen, 89, a Baltimore native and a graduate of Notre Dame Academy who has 70 years of vocation, had to end a serious relationship to join the sisterhood.

"I fought it. I did not want it. I had a very loving relationship and I thought I was going to get married, and that was what I wanted," Edelen said. "I finally had to listen to God. It was a very difficult thing that I had to do to break off with this guy that I really loved without hurting him too much and then being open to what I did not want."

The sisters spoke about the communal warmth that surrounds them on a daily basis. They have long since become family to each other, and have learned about each other's efforts to change the world.

For example, Goldsborough taught school to students in crime-ridden Southeast Washington, D.C., for five years. Sister Eileen Donahue, 59, administered health care to people living under tarps in Cambodia in 1980.

Some Thanksgivings stand out more than others

Sister Genevieve Kureth, 88, a native of Baltimore, said she was thankful to reach her 70th year of vocation this year. She remembered a particular Thanksgiving Day that ended up being one, huge teachable moment on the limits of self reliance.

She was new at her job working with children from broken homes in an institution when she made the decision to allow her two aides to take the day off. Kureth offered to monitor the 16 children, ages 2 to 4, by herself.

"I wanted to be so generous-hearted, and I said to the aides who were helping me, ‘Why don't you go and have a good Thanksgiving dinner, and I'll take care of the children?' They said, ‘Sister, are you sure? One of us will stay.' ‘No, no, no,' I said. ‘I'll be fine,'" Kureth said.

The children went wild, Kureth said, refusing to eat and rubbing mashed potatoes into their hair.

"It was utter chaos," said Kureth, as the other sisters groaned in light-hearted sympathy. "By the time the aides walked in I was ready to collapse."

The sisters will celebrate Thanksgiving at the villa with each other – "This is our primary family," said Goldsborough — with a morning prayer followed by brunch, and a turkey feast in the afternoon. "I know it's going to be a loving experience," Brown said.

Saint Louise de Marillac and Saint Vincent de Paul founded the Daughters of Charity in 1633 in Paris. The sisters were the first order to walk the streets in their habits to help the poor.

Unlike women in other religious orders, Daughters of Charity also take a vow of service to the poor, which they renew annually.

The Daughters of Charity, Emmitsburg Province serve in the Mid-Atlantic region and south in Atlantic coast states. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton founded the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph's in Emmitsburg in the early 19th century. The two orders later merged.

The order will celebrate the bicentennial of Seton's arrival in Emmitsburg next year.

For more information, go to www.daughtersofcharity.org or www.setonlegacy.org.