Remembering Sister Stella Stacken
Sister Stella Passed Into Eternal Life on August 10, 2026
Sister Stella began and concluded her autobiography with, “My soul, too, magnifies the Lord for He has done great things for me! “As did the scripture writers, Stella attributed all that happened to her as a gift of God’s providential care.
She was born on October 11, 1927 in the small town of Waconia, Minnesota on the feast of the Maternity of Our Lady (at that time) and was named Marien. She was one of the first in her family to attend all eight grades at St. Joseph School. She made her private communion in the third grade. At the end of the 7th grade, she was confirmed and in the 8th grade she made her Solemn Communion. In August 1941, she entered high school at Maria Immaculata Acade-my in Wilmette, Illinois. She completed the first part of her college work at Mallinckrodt College and finished her B.A. in 1959 at De Paul University in Chicago. In 1966 she completed her work for her M.A.
Stella recounts that God in His providential care prepared her well for religious life by her family life. She states in her autobiography, “Prayer was always a part of my childhood. There were daily family morning and evening prayers, Lenten devotions, May devotions, and First Friday observance.”
“It was not uncommon to see my father spend extra time in prayer. I will never forget the one evening my mother asked me to go into the bedroom to ask my father a question. As I entered the room, I saw him kneeling beside the bed deep in communion with God. A feeling of awe and great respect came over me for I felt I was in the presence of “man touching God.” The impression of that evening has never left me. Now, I feel I have come to understand better what was transpiring that evening between God and my dad, for prayer has come to be a time of union for me. Thanks, Lord, for Your marvelous ways in our souls.”
She states that they had a true sense of community as they shared family meals, recreation, and work on their small farm. They learned to live simply and share what they had. She believed that they learned the corporal and spiritual works of mercy in action.
The Sisters of Christian Charity who taught her at St. Joseph’s enkindled in her the desire to think seriously about religious life. She and Marie Johnson (Sister Mercedes) were asked to make a triduum of prayer to prepare, so that no obstacles would be in the way. She struggled and prayed that she would be sick so that she couldn’t answer the call. But she said, “God hounds and He won out.”
During her first years of formation in the Congregation of the Sisters of Christian Charity, Stella “let God mold her and gave herself to God.” They were days of grace. As a junior professed, she looked forward to that special time, Tertianship, of deepening her relationship to Jesus, before she would take final vows. It would prove to be a profound time of grace, but not without struggle. Sister Margaretha helped her greatly. She adopted a small prayer that had a long-lasting influence on her life, which was, “What can I do to please You, Jesus?” It helped her focus her life and give her stability.
Stella gave herself generously as an elementary teacher, teaching in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Iowa, covering all eight grades, and was principal in three different schools. When she was principal of St. Mary in Riverdale, south of Chicago, the now Pope Leo XIV was a student there.
In 1974, Stella made her first directed retreat, “God showered His assistance on her.” She felt freed from struggles happening in the Sisters of Christian Charity congregation as were happening in many congregations at that time in the Church. As the new community, the Sisters of the Living Word was forming, she believed that to join would give her a greater openness to God.
Stella believed that all through her years in religious life, the Spirit was moving and calling, that growth takes time, but it is a slow process. Reflecting on her personal call left her echoing, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”