As a girl growing up in Little Silver, Filippini Sister Donna Gaglioti saw a sign outside of a Church that said, “Teaching people about loving God.” She told her brother-in-law, “That’s what I want to do.”
Her desire matched with the charism of the Religious Teachers Filippini, whose founder, St. Lucy Filippini, directed, “Go and teach the Word of God.” She has lived this charism throughout her 50 years of religious life, whether it be teaching in the classroom or as a retreat director or in her current capacity as a pastoral associate at Seabrook Senior Living in Tinton Falls.
Sister Donna was born in Chester, Pa., but her family moved to Little Silver when she was around 7 years old. She attended St. James Elementary School in Red Bank and Red Bank Catholic High School. She graduated from then-Monmouth College with a degree in Social Studies K-12 Education. She did her student teaching in a public school and was offered a position, but she knew she wanted to teach in a Catholic school. Her older sister had children enrolled in St. Jerome Elementary School in West Long Branch, so she went to St. Jerome’s and sought a job.
She completed a substitute teacher assignment and taught there for two years. Her association with the Religious Teachers Filippini at St. Jerome’s led her to discern her vocation, and she entered that community.
Discerning a new path
Her teaching career took her to schools in New Jersey and New York, mostly teaching social studies at the junior high and high school levels. While she was principal of a school in Watertown, N.Y., her provincial asked her to discern if she would consider a new ministry as the director of the St. Joseph by the Sea Retreat Center in Mantoloking. Although she was moving out of the classroom that she loved, she was teaching the Word and love of God through her work at the retreat center.
She remembers those years as “a place I was able to come to minister with and for others – to show them God’s love. The whole world should know how much God loves us.”
St. Joseph by the Sea gave her opportunities to direct retreats, days of prayer, 12 Step evenings and retreats for adults. She participated in programs focusing on spiritual direction at the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth in Wernersville, Pa., and credits the Jesuits for influencing her spirituality.
Sister Donna says her spirituality also was formed in one of those “the Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways” moments. While student teaching in a public school, her cooperating teacher asked her if she had ever read Thomas Merton’s “Seven Storey Mountain.” She was unfamiliar with Merton, but she read the book, and it has influenced her ever since.
After 13 years at St. Joseph’s, Sister Donna needed to return to her family home and care for her mother. She saw an ad in The Monitor for a part-time pastoral associate at Seabrook Senior Living. She started in that position and has been there 22 years, moving from part-time to full-time.
Live in the moment
Seabrook Senior Living is a vibrant senior community with the presence of pastoral ministries for all residents. The Catholic residents can attend Mass on Saturdays, Sundays and holy days, pray the Rosary daily, and gather for various spiritual programs, “our residents are blessed unbelievably.”
When gathering for any of the spiritual conversations she advocates that as much as possible to live in the present moment: “Do the best you can with what you have in the present moment.”