By Laura Melius
A desire to provide a loving and prayerful space to serve young women in discernment of their vocations was first placed in Sara Hofflander’s heart through prayer.
“I would receive an understanding of what this group would be like, how the Lord wanted to use it to impact young women, and an experience of his great love and delight in the work,” Sara, head of school for St. Joseph Academy, recalled.
Although she was hesitant at first to pursue this calling, Sara continued to feel God tugging at her heart to move forward. As she continued to pray, she began to experience a new and unexplained peace. “These times of prayer would leave me with a supernatural experience of peace and joy, even while at times I had my own personal fears to contend with.”
Still unsure whether to pursue the endeavor, Sara finally felt an unexpected, but clear call from God through an interaction with her daughter.
“One day, my young daughter came up to me with a Bible open to Ezekiel 3, and she asked me to read it,” she explained. “It described how the Lord was calling Ezekiel to speak to his people, and that if he did not, then he would be responsible for their souls. That impacted me very strongly, and I began to reach out to people to brainstorm how this group could come into being.”
Stepping forward boldly
Sara met with Bishop DeGrood to get his feedback and determine what the next steps would be. He fully encouraged the idea, and in the first year, he attended a retreat and suggested the living space that is now being used.
“Bishop has always been very encouraging,” Sara said, “and has at times confirmed how he sees the Holy Spirit moving through these young women. I am grateful for the ways that he has expressed the important value of feminine vocations in the life of the Church. He is also very good at encouraging in young people a disposition of deep receptivity and openness to God’s plan.”
Sara also talked with Father Jordan Samson, at Christ the King Parish in Sioux Falls at that time, who was also very supportive of the idea and having the house on the Christ the King Parish campus.
“He was grateful for the opportunity to have young women in that space who would be sharing a prayerful life, growing in Catholic community and helping to build up the young adult ministries that are active on the Christ the King campus,” she said.
The diocesan Office of Discipleship and Evangelization reached out to offer support as well, and what had once seemed like a distant possibility came together rather quickly.
Immaculata House, a house of prayer for young women, opened in the fall of 2022 in Sioux Falls. On a practical level, the house provides a place for prayer, formation and fellowship. On a deeper level, Immaculata House provides an opportunity for greater intimacy with the Lord, interior freedom and a greater understanding of God’s particular calling for each of the women’s lives. Immaculata House asks for women to commit one year (9-12 months) to the Lord to grow both in relationship with him and with other young women in an authentic Catholic community. The option of a second year can be considered if it would be found to be beneficial in discernment.
Immaculata House is not a convent or a religious community. “The intent is to help young women to know the heart of Jesus and to discover that love in his plan for their life, whatever his plan may be. It is a temporary way of life that points outside of itself to something more,” Sara explained. She added that Immaculata House has some of the same structures associated with religious life, such as a shared morning holy hour, regular spiritual direction, meals together, formation and an encouragement toward holy hospitality and mission.
As the formation of the house was developed through prayer, its name was revealed through the same. During Mass on the Feast of Pentecost, Sara said she repeatedly, interiorly, heard the words “nirmal hriday.” At first dismissing these words as nonsense, Sara said she suddenly realized that Nirmal Hriday was the name of Mother Teresa’s first house, which means “pure heart.”
“I then realized that the ultimate goal of the house was to cultivate interior purity of heart that is capable of receiving from God. This is the disposition of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” she said.
Sara further explained that Immaculata is also a nod to the Mariology of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who referred to Mary as Immaculata to reflect her spousal relationship with the Holy Spirit. “He recognized that there are two Immaculate Conceptions, uncreated and created. The Holy Spirit is the uncreated Immaculate Conception proceeding eternally from the Father and the Son.”
Living in discernment
Initially, three women lived at the house, and the number has since fluctuated between three and four women living there at a time.
The women at Immaculata House begin their days with morning prayer together before the Blessed Sacrament each day at 6:30 a.m. All of them have jobs or school that they attend during the day, and they are encouraged to attend daily Mass. Meals are shared together on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Jacey Hilkemann, a former resident, lived at Immaculata House for one year. She was first introduced to the women of Immaculata House through events hosted by Christ the King Campus Ministry, now known as St. Patrick’s Newman Club, and Ecce Ancilla Domini, a Sioux Falls area women’s vocations discernment group that provides support and guidance to young women.
“When I attended events, such as sharing a meal with the School Sister of Christ the King of Lincoln, Nebraska, or the Fiat Dinner with so many other young women, I loved seeing how the women of the Immaculata House lived and interacted with each other, and that was so attractive to me,” she said.
Jacey applied and interviewed to live at Immaculata House during her last semester of college, as she was at the same time entering the workforce and preparing to move. “I just knew I wanted to take full advantage of living in intentional community, surrounding myself with good people, having a structure and order of life, and praying the Liturgy of the Hours. All of this together created a disposition to open myself up to receive all that the Lord wanted to give me, to live and be free,” she explained.
Courtney Holt, a current resident of Immaculata House, has lived there since January 2023, and she plans to continue for an additional year. As was the case with Jacey, Courtney was first made aware of Immaculata House through events hosted by Ecce Ancilla Domini. A recent college graduate, Courtney moved there seeking to make more time and space in her life for the Lord to speak about where he wanted to lead her. “I also desired to make more time for prayer each day, grow closer to Jesus, and get to know more of his love for me,” she added.
Courtney said she did not move into the house with any big expectations, but she was looking forward to having a community of women around her to support and encourage her in a life of prayer. “My heart was ready for whatever the Lord had planned for me during my time in the house,” she said.
Challenges do come
Living at Immaculata House is not without its challenges. “It was hard to get up to pray in the morning sometimes,” Courtney said, referring to early morning prayer, “but it was always a joy to pray with others who encouraged me to stay faithful to the Lord.”
She was also often called to look beyond herself. “I’ve grown a lot during my time at Immaculata House because living in community invites me to go beyond my self-centeredness to serve my housemates. When I live alone, I am not given the opportunity to grow in love for my neighbor as Christ called us to do, ‘love one another as I have loved you,’” she explained.
Both women found that living in a faith-filled and like-minded group was invaluable in their discernment. “It was the first time since moving out of my parents’ house that I was living with women who were striving to do good and desired the same for me,” Jacey said. “It was evident how much each of the women I lived with, and those involved with the Immaculata House, cared about me and for me. Life would have been so much harder to manage if I didn’t have the habit of prayer and the accountability from these women. I never expected the incredible challenges and great gifts the Lord allowed through my ‘yes’ to him.”
Courtney added, “Living in community provided a lot of support in my discernment because the other women encouraged me to stay faithful to the Lord in prayer, which allowed me to be attentive to the desires the Lord had been stirring within my heart.”
Furthermore, the house gave the women the space and time to recognize their God-given gifts and abilities. “I was able to recognize what it is I enjoy doing, and what it is I am good at, and then put them into action to provide my time and talents to the Church,” Jacey said. “I was becoming more fully myself when I became more like Christ.”
The house’s spirit of hospitality leads the women to regularly host priests, propaedeutic seminarians, family, friends and college students at the house to share meals and fellowship. “Multiple times throughout the year, they have hosted religious orders,” Sara said. “For these events, they invite other young women from the local community, and we share a meal, conversation and prayer together. Within a short amount of time, we were hosting events with religious orders that were drawing 20 or more women at a time.”
Courtney explained that each religious sister brought unique experiences to their home. “One of the sisters from the Capuchin Sisters of Nazareth was on home visit, and so we invited her, and she shared her vocation story with us and about her community. We invited the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus to come and share with some women about their community and what religious life is. They taught me that life with God is full of joy and laughter. The Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George came to Sioux Falls because they were putting on an event for college students, and we were able to hang out and play games with the sisters.”
Jacey appreciated the opportunity to welcome all of their varied guests. “It felt like such an honor to share our feminine gifts to receive them, serve them, love them and make them feel welcome in our home,” she recalled.
A place of welcome
Immaculata House’s hospitality reaches outside of their home as well. The women regularly host combined events with the St. Patrick Newman Club, which is based out of Christ the King Parish. Additionally, two clothing swaps have been held at Immaculata House for area women in the past year.
“Women from surrounding colleges could bring their unwanted clothes to our house, and we would organize it into piles,” Courtney explained. Later that evening, the house was opened for women to come and choose clothing for themselves. Clothes that were not given away to these women were then donated to the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store.
As they reflect on their time at Immaculata House, both Jacey and Courtney welcome prayers for all who are currently living and discerning their vocations at the house, that they may experience the deep love God has for each of them.
“I also ask that you pray for the young women across the diocese, and especially those within your own parish, that they may come to know God’s great love for them as his beloved daughters,” Jacey added.
Financial donations to help support events for area young women are also always welcomed and appreciated.
All young women who are currently in college or recent college graduates who would like to live with other Catholic women in community, prayer and formation are encouraged to consider applying to live at Immaculata House.
“Recognizing my desire and then actually saying, ‘yes,’ and making a decision to live at the Immaculata House is one of the greatest gifts that I will forever be thankful for,” Jacey said.
Looking toward what the future holds for Immaculata House, Sara continues to prayerfully seek God’s will in this mission. “In my prayer for Immaculata House, I have often received that this is a place where Jesus wants his heart to be known and loved. Ultimately, any goal tends toward that end.”
For more information on religious life for young women, please visit Ecce Ancilla Domini at www.sfwomensdiscernment.org.
Laura Melius is a freelance writer and director of religious education at All Saints Parish in Mellette. She has a degree in English education and a certificate in Catholic catechesis.
