By KARAN MINNIS, Guardian Lifestyles Reporter, karan@nasguard.com

Can you imagine being an extremely private person and having to overcome that in order to live in a convent community and have to open your heart and self to the public?

This is exactly what happened to Sister Clare Rolle, and she hasn't suffered for it, but has thrived.

"Most of us when we join the convent we join on faith, and as you grow into it you develop yourself more. You accept the boundaries, the vows you make and you live with it. But this is something that I want, so I wouldn't change any of it," she said.

"I have developed a sense of completion through my work ... a greater connection with God and with the sisters. What we have is a family. A family that looks out for each other, that helps each other, and that pushes each other to become more than we are. I will never know what my life would have been like had I not entered the community, but I really don't want to know. I love my life and my work."

A native Nassauvian, Sister Clare was born to Zacharias and Albertha Rolle, and grew up in the Parish of Our Lady of the Holy Souls, Deveaux Street, but her vocation was stimulated not by the sisters of her church, but by the one's who taught her in her early school years at Xavier's and Aquinas College She was always surrounded by sisters.

"Even though they were around me I didn't realize I had a vocation. However, I believe that a vocation is something that you develop into, at least that's how it happened to me. What I saw from them put the thought in my mind. But as in any relationship you grow into it," she said.

Sister Clare also credits Father Marcian Peters, O.S.B., with answering many of her questions about the religious life. When she doubted how to approach her mother with her calling, she said it was he who assisted her.

"He helped me to understand a little bit more about becoming a sister and he helped me to develop the courage to tell her. So I have him to thank for guiding me," she says.

Sister Clare was 17 years old when she entered Saint Martin's Convent on Feb. 2, 1956. She made her first vows on Oct. 11, 1958. Her Perpetual Vows were made on that same date in 1964.

From there she began her teaching mission in 1961. She was first sent to Holy Name in Bimini to teach grade one.

In 1966, Sister Clare went to Minnesota, where she taught at St. Boniface School in Cold Spring. Returning home two years later, she was assigned to St. Joseph's School, but simultaneously, she continued her education at the College of St. Benedict, completing a bachelor's degree. She then enrolled at Gonzaga University in 1989 to pursue a master's degree in Pastoral Ministry and Counseling, which she received in 1990.

Following the completion of her first degree, Sister Clare began an impressive career in leadership and program direction. Between 1974 and 1976, she served as formation director of St. Martin Monastery, then filled in as acting principal at St. Cecilia's School. She went on to assist Rev. Deacon Peter Rahming, the administrator of Resurrection Parish from 1978 to 1986.

In 1992, she was elected Regional Superior of St. Martin's Monastery, and when it became an independent monastery in the Federation of St. Benedict, Sister Clare had the distinction of becoming its first Prioress.

In 1990, when the sisters were asked to participate in the Samaritan Ministry to work with persons afflicted with HIV/AIDS, Sister Clare became known for her work, and as a result she was appointed director of the ministry. In 2007, she was still coordinating the Samaritan Ministries.