October 8, 2021

Sisters of Providence’s new postulant received into community on Sept. 21

Leslie DaoLeslie Dao was received on Sept. 21 into the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, as a postulant.

Born in Saigon, Vietnam, Dao, 44, emigrated to the U.S. in 1990, settling in Kansas City, Mo., and later moving to California. She is the youngest of 15 children.

Dao earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology at California State University, Northridge, and a bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of St. Louis in St. Louis.

She spent time with another community of women religious and ministered in Texas with Catholic Charities there before returning to Missouri. Beginning in 2014, Dao began ministry as a pastoral associate for immigrants and refugees at St. Pius Parish in St. Louis.

At St. Pius Parish, she learned of the Sisters of Providence and began discerning a possible vocation to the community.

While a postulant, Dao will learn about the practices, traditions and ministries of the Sisters of Providence. After a year as a postulant, she will be eligible to enter into the first year of the community’s novitiate, at which point she would receive the title of sister. †

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