Camilla Hall provides Sisters’ infirmary, age-in-place wing
By Jay Sorgi
for the Register
As the School Sisters of Christ the King reach their 50th year as a religious order, their family of faith recognizes that some of their members are reaching ages where greater personal care is needed.
Just like some families choose to do with their homes, the Sisters have renovated Villa Regina, their home on Lincoln’s southwest side, to provide for Sisters as they age and allow for the kind of care that will let many of them stay with their community up to the day they go to the Lord.
“We really wanted to make sure that we could keep our Sisters with us in this building as long as possible,” said Sister Mary Cecilia, C.K. “We want the Sisters, if they’re bedridden or just recovering from surgery, [to] know that they’re not alone in this house.”
The changes were showcased during an open house Aug. 23, where people viewed updates such as more space for walkers and wheelchairs in living areas, a new laundry area, larger dining and community rooms, a converted technology work room and a renovated class space, a new security system, and a small chapel for older community members to pray when they are unable to reach the main chapel.
“Make shared spaces so that we can have something beautiful for us to continue to live,” Sister Mary Cecilia said, noting that members of their order have recently had knee surgeries.
“We knew that we needed to build probably eight larger rooms just to be able to take care of our sisters for the future,” she explained.
Sister Mary Cecilia said serious discussions about renovating Villa Regina began within the order in 2024, as they simultaneously started receiving wisdom and data from diocesan leaders and people in the construction business.
“We put together this committee of Sisters and we started brainstorming. What is it that we wanted in this new facility?” she said. “What do we foresee for our community long term as far as being able to live our religious life the way that we’re living it?”
The Sisters were able to meet the $3.5 million cost of these renovations without any major fundraising campaign.
Since the moment the order began in 1976, leaders within the School Sisters of Christ the King and throughout the Diocese of Lincoln have kept conscious of the need to practically and financially plan for the lifelong needs of its members, much like parents sets up a retirement account when they begin in the workforce, so their children don’t have to bear the brunt of their care when they become older.
“Our founder was [Bishop Glennon Patrick Flavin] and he had financial responsibilities for the diocese. He was very sharp financially,” said Mother Joan Paul, C.K., the former superior general of the order.
“I remember conversations with him. He said we have to set aside ‘X number of dollars’ every year from stipends. That money is for the retirement fund, to not be touched ever, until it’s time.”
Mother Joan Paul said the growth of that fund mirrored continual advancement efforts through donations over the years which successfully met the costs of renovation.
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Courtesy photos
These alterations to Villa Regina will not change the fact that the Sisters will be blessed with the chance to capture spectacular sunset vistas at their home, near Pioneers Park Nature Center’s trails and tallgrass prairie.
But they will increase the Sisters’ chances of knowing that their siblings in faith and mission can always stay near them to the point that they go home to God.
“We want every sister to feel loved, seen and cared for and that you’re never alone. We’re always here for you,” said Mother Joan Paul, who entered the order on the day it was founded, September 12, 1976.
Sister Mary Cecilia said some Sisters are even entering nursing classes, to equip them to offer care to members of the order in the greatest medical need.
“We’re all willing to do what we need to be able to take care of them,” Sister Mary Cecilia said.
That includes creating master plans for funerals and burials near Villa Regina itself, a reflection of the lifelong care the School Sisters of Christ the King gives its members.
“There’s a sense of consolation in knowing that my sisters love me even when I’m at a point where I can’t physically be able to do the things that I used to do with them, whether that be putting a puzzle together, taking a walk, working in the schools. My sisters still love me and want to be with me,” Sister Mary Cecilia added.
“We want them to be here until they die.”
