Cornelia Connelly, the Foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, urged her sisters to be “contemplatives in action.” Sr. Elizabeth Gehrman exemplifies this. For more than 60 years, she has blended her priority for prayer with a very practical carrying out of varied ministries.

After she professed her vows in the Society in 1949, Sr. Elizabeth served as a teacher at schools on both the east and west coast of the United States. Her administrative gifts were also called upon when she was missioned to serve as principal of St. Rita’s School in Portland, Ore. and at Holy Spirit School in Sharon Hill, Pa. After also serving as interim principal at Annunciation in Washington, D.C., Sr. Elizabeth remained to teach math, the subject she loves most.

Today, Sr. Elizabeth lives at St. Eugene’s Convent in Primos, Pa. Besides doing community service, she assists in the Society’s Health Office, which maintains the health records for the Sisters of the Holy Child.

In the midst of all this activity, prayer remains Sr. Elizabeth’s priority. This inner life was nurtured by a contemplative year spent at Highland Mills in New York and another year spent at the Center for Biblical Formation in Israel, during which Sr. Elizabeth spent a great deal of time in Bethlehem.

Now Sr. Elizabeth’s “Bethlehem” is the warm chapel at Primos where she is reminded of the many visits to the local church she made with her mother from the time she was a small child growing up there. Her mother’s prayerfulness has left its mark on Sr. Elizabeth, a true contemplative in action.