When God calls us to something greater, it takes courage and faith to answer, “Here I am, Lord.” In just one phone conversation with Anna Donnelly, you can hear in her voice her trust in the Lord and her confidence in His love for her.
Anna, a Seton Teaching Fellow in Cohort 9, now teaches fifth and sixth-grade math at Romero Academy at Annunciation in Cincinnati, Ohio. But before she became a fellow, Anna spent almost three years discerning with the Nashville Dominicans.
Originally from Houston, Texas, Anna attended the University of St. Thomas, studying theology, philosophy, and classical languages. While in college, she was very involved in campus ministry and felt the Lord’s call to start discerning religious life. Soon she was in contact with the vocations director for the Nashville Dominicans and less than a year later, she entered religious life.
“It just happened in such a way that I knew with certainty and peace that it was God’s will,” Anna says. “It was so clear then and still is looking back. He was definitely calling me to religious life in that moment.”
Yet, two and a half years later, God called Anna out of religious life. Now she was a theology major with no clear career path forward. After experiencing two years of formation with the sisters, she was also a new person and didn’t feel right just staying at home. Through her time with the Dominicans, she learned she had a desire to serve the Lord by working with the poor, as well as a strong desire to teach. This desire had been awakened through her education with the Dominicans, but she still had no background in teaching.
“Well Lord, you’re going to have to figure it out,” Anna remembers thinking.
And He did.
One day, while scrolling through an article, Anna saw an ad for Seton Teaching Fellows and clicked on it! (Something she never does.) The program spoke to all of her desires: teaching, working with underserved children and their families, and living in an intentional Catholic community. Anna applied and was soon accepted!
“The Lord made it so clear that this was a new start,” Anna recalls. “It was like He said, ‘Here’s my gift to you to fulfill all of these desires! And more! Here’s my way to allow you to still live in a faith-based community.”
Anna spent the year receiving the tangible graces that came with saying “Yes” to Seton Teaching Fellows. In community life, she recognized the beauty of many personalities living together: “We are different, but the Lord brought us together. Being okay with my preferences not being the center of attention made the transition a lot easier.”
Her community of STF young women dedicated themselves to eating dinner together as many nights of the week as possible. Years later, they almost all still live together and share deep friendships.
The more challenging transition was becoming a teacher for the first time. Anna was quickly involved with almost every grade at Romero Academy except the fifth and seventh grades. She enjoyed the challenge of working with so many different age groups, and it certainly kept her from getting bored! She also realized she did have experience preaching God’s word and that this was a part of her role as an STF. She was confident she could spread the Gospel and bring an evangelistic spirit into her classroom.
As Anna shared the beauty of the Gospel with her students, she saw many fruits, particularly through the sacraments. “The main thing that stands out about my fellow year was the celebration of the sacraments at the end, and the fruits flowing from this transformation,” she says. “One fourth grader was baptized and received First Communion. I saw a faith in him that inspired his whole class.”
On another occasion, Anna witnessed a class band together over a classmate’s medical emergency. “The whole class and teachers turned to prayer together,” Anna explains. “We started praying the rosary as a class, and the students would ask to pray for her and many other things.”
Anna saw the lasting impact of prayer in this classroom. “That class is different because of it; they have grown a lot. They’re known for their sweetness and faith and ability to come together, which is inspiring to me and other teachers.”
Anna still loves spreading the Gospel and teaching at Romero Academy. In February, she will marry a man she met through her parish in Cincinnati. Three of her STF community members (and current roommates) will be bridesmaids. Surely the Lord continues to lead Anna along a beautiful path!
