marianist.com/donate • 21 It was an episode during her first year as a novice living in San Antonio that got Marianist Sister Gabrielle Bibeau thinking about the power of storytelling. “Instead of class one day, we were sent to interview Marianist Brother Hugh Bihl, who lives in the Marianist retirement community,” she says. The 87-year-old Brother Hugh lit up as he recalled the day he first met some Marianist brothers. “I couldn’t wait to ride my bike home and tell my mom the Marianists were doing “Mary’s big job,” he recalls. It wasn’t just the story, but the emotions and spiritual joy that came to life as Brother Hugh recounted the episode that lingered with Sister Gabby long after she moved to Dayton, Ohio, for her second year of novitiate. She began wondering how these Marianist stories could be cap- tured and preserved. She soon found that Patti Gehred, program and curriculum coor- dinator for the North American Center for Marianist Studies in Dayton, had been wondering the same thing. “I suggested that we shoot videos of Marianists recounting their vocation stories,” says Patti. But the more they thought about the intimacy of the spoken word and its ability to convey the emotional depth of a story, they decided audio was the way to go. From there, the project took off. Last summer Patti and Sister Gabby teamed up to create “Sharing Our Marianist Stories,” a podcast project inspired by NPR’s popular “StoryCorps” series. Why this matters Neither woman had any experience creating podcasts but, around the same time, local Dayton-area radio station, WYSO, announced a podcasting 101 workshop. “It was serendipitous,” Patti says. “We were grate- ful to take the class, and WYSO has continued to be incredibly helpful.” Another event appeared at the perfect time for the two budding audiographers. Last summer, when the Continental Assembly of Marianist Lay Communities convened in Dayton, they decided to ask attendees — young and old, religious and lay — to sign up for recording sessions and tell their stories about how the Marianists had impacted their lives. To their amazement, “Every available interview time filled up,” says Patti. “We even had to turn people away.” An even a bigger eye-opener was the emotional reactions from those involved. “I was surprised by how quickly people opened up and how much they were willing to share with us,” Sister Gabby says. “A lot of people cried because they were talking about something close to their hearts.” Adds Patti, “The stories were so genuine and the sense of faith so strong that, more than once, I found myself wiping away a tear or two.” Tony Garascia and Marge Cavanaugh were among the first to be featured in a podcast. Both have been active in the Marianist Lay community since the early 1970s. They spoke about their contri- butions that helped make the first Continental Lay Assembly a reality in 1988. “It was fun telling our story,” Tony says. “The great thing about these podcasts is that people are able to listen to the wisdom and experiences of others and find meaning and value in them.” Seeing their idea come to fruition has been incred- ibly rewarding for Patti and Sister Gabby, but not as much as spreading the word about the Marianist Family. “It’s all about connecting people, and every time we post another podcast, we hear from more people who are listening,” Patti says. The duo posted three Marianist Story podcasts and four Advent-meditation podcasts last year. The episodes are generally 15 minutes in length. “We plan to release a new podcast each month throughout 2018,” says Patti. They also are scheduling more interviews. The podcasts have a living history aspect to them and are inspirational. “They make me want to be the best Marianist I can be,” Sister Gabby says. They also make a statement. “We are Marianists. Let’s tell people why that matters,” says Sister Gabby. “This is something for us to share. People need to hear this.” ■ Debbie Juniewicz is a freelance writer from Dayton, Ohio. SHARING OUR MARIANIST STORIES To hear these podcasts: • Visit the North American Center for Marianist Studies website at nacms.org and select podcasts. • Listen on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/user-919554601. • Subscribe and listen on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ sharing-our-marianist-stories/ id1277223085. Marianist Story podcasters Patti Gehred and Sister Gabrielle Bibeau, FMI