How One Woman Is Embracing Spiritual Motherhood: GIVEN Mentor Sister Mary Amata Naville, OSF

“Woman naturally seeks to embrace that which is living, personal and whole. To cherish, guard, protect, nourish and advance growth is her natural, maternal yearning.” 

– St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

The Italian word amata means “beloved” in English and as a three-time GIVEN mentor – Sister Mary Amata, OSF – shows young women at the GIVEN Forum how to embrace their identity as a beloved daughter of Christ. Sister Mary Amata felt particularly drawn to religious life when she learned about the gift of spiritual motherhood. This instinct can be described as the desire to love with a maternal heart and nurture the life of Christ in every person. 

To fully respond to this calling from God, Sister Mary Amata entered the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration in 2017. She professed her first vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity in August 2020. The religious community of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration was founded in the 19th-century in Germany and “the sisters strove to combine the contemplative life with the active through dedication to perpetual adoration and the works of mercy.” Later in 2024, Sister Mary Amata graduated from the Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, with two degrees in Business Management and Theology and two minors in German and Communication Arts. 

To nourish her faith, Sister Mary Amata draws inspiration from a fellow Franciscan – St. Clare of Assisi. She also has great devotion to the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The balance of both the contemplative charism and active charism in her religious community has allowed Sister Mary Amata to deepen her vocation for herself and share these blessings with others – such as the GIVEN Institute. 

As a GIVEN mentor, Sister Mary Amata extended this gift of spiritual motherhood to the young women attending in the GIVEN Forum under the “artistic track.” The GIVEN Institute proved to be a fruitful outlet for Sister Mary Amata as she participated as a mentor three times in 2021, 2022, and in the most recent forum in 2024. Sister Mary Amata is very grateful for her religious vocation and for the opportunity to journey with others in their relationship with God. 

In August 2025, Sister Mary Amata will profess her perpetual vows with the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration at their convent in Mishakawa, Indiana. Please keep Sister Mary Amata in your prayers as she takes this momentous step in her vocation!