The month of May here at Assisi Heights was a time of comings and goings. Sister Madonna Winkels is here with us from Cheju, Korea. Madonna was born in Iowa, grew up in Minnesota and studied nursing at the University of Minnesota. She entered the community of Poor Clares in Bloomington, Minnesota in 1959. Soon after Bishop Herald Henry, a missionary bishop in Korea, visited with the Clares and asked them to host some young Korean women interested in religious life. The women came from Korea and the Clares expressed delight in receiving them. Sister Madonna was inspired by their eagerness to learn about and experience religious life in the monastery. She helped the women as she was able while they were in Minnesota. Not long after the Poor Clares, Sister Madonna and others from Bloomington made a foundation on Cheju Island off the southern coast of Korea where Sister Madonna spent most of her Religious life. Now the Community of Cheju is flourishing and they have a foundation in the northern part of South Korea.
