“Be humble, be simple and bring joy to others.” These words of St. Madeleine Sophie are modeled daily by Laura Mullen Haroian.
Laura reveals the love of the heart of Christ in all that she does – in her nursing career, as a volunteer extraordinaire and in her relationships. During last summer’s RSCJ Spirituality Forum, she was the epitome of Sacred Heart hospitality and generosity as she joyfully greeted travelers arriving at the airport, golf-carted them across Saint Louis University’s campus and served as hostess and nurse when they journeyed on to Sugar Creek, Kansas. Laura’s easy-going style instantly makes people feel important and valued. She takes the time to deeply listen and in her very centered way offers her perspective that helps to cut through the clutter.
Says Julie Siderfin, Class of 1961, “Laura’s life seems to me to be built on the words of St. Ignatius ‘to give and not count the cost.’ To have Laura on your committee gives you great confidence; everything will be accomplished, with joy, love and a witty sense of humor.”
Laura’s nominations were collected by her daughter Ani, Class of 2008, and give a perspective on her mother’s life that speaks to her devotion to Philippine and the Sacred Heart. Ani says, “Receiving messages from people so close to my mother’s heart and hearing how she has impacted their lives has been an incredible blessing to me as her daughter.” While these nominations capture a variety of voices and experiences that span Laura’s life, the same words emerge again and again: Service. Integrity. Courage. Confidence. Compassion. Grit. Selflessness. Humility. Generosity. Faith. It’s abundantly clear the number of lives that Laura has touched in her “Philippine Way.”
Daughter Allison, Class of 2005 says, “I remember frequent conversations at home growing up that included statements like, ‘Think about what St. Philippine would do.’ My mom has constantly THOUGHT about what Philippine would do, and then ACTED upon it.”
Laura followed her older sisters Mary Ann Class of 1966, Bonnie ’67 and Judy ’71 when she began in Primary at the Academy. “I was dropped on the doorstep and never really left,” she jokes. While she cherishes the special traditions of Conge, Silver Teas and prayer services, it was the love and compassion of her teachers that stand out as divine encounters. The unconditional love of Sister Adele Caire provided a warmth that made her feel at home. She calls Sister Margaret Caire one of her life mentors. To this day, they are close friends, with Laura road-tripping with her classmate Michelle Schrick and their daughters to visit Sister in Grand Coteau, Louisiana.
After graduating in 1976, Laura attended Visitation Academy then went on Diploma School of Nursing, an intensive training program at Barnes. She received her BSN from Maryville and has a master’s in nursing. She’s been serving as a registered nurse for 36 years, and for more than 20 years has been a nurse supervisor in gastroenterology at BJC Healthcare, where she began a specialty procedure in the GI area.
For Laura, serving others seems to be a daily, spiritual practice. Individuals shared stories of her humble service, like the time she noticed a Bosnian woman with limited English who was roaming the halls of the hospital. Laura took the time to engage with her, then learned the woman was at the wrong hospital. Laura drove the woman to another hospital to help find her physician.
Her background in healthcare extends to the RSCJ as well. Sister Sheila Hammond, Provincial of the RSCJ in the U.S. and Canada writes, “Several times when our sisters have been ill, Laura has been their confidante, their guide through the medical morass that often accompanies treatment for the seriously or chronically ill. She establishes trust very easily and our sisters (and I am sure all of her other clients) feel totally comfortable and empowered as they go through their experience. Philippine was like that. She inspired trust and gave confidence to those who needed it. Like Philippine, Laura always gives credit to God and her Sacred Heart education and background.”
Laura says of her Sacred Heart education, “You don’t realize at the time what it meant to you, but as you grow, you realize how important it is. The charism is the way of life that I choose to try and mirror (even if I’m not always successful). I consider my Sacred Heart education a true gift that helps me to be a person that makes intentional choices that are in line with sharing the heart of Christ. I try in my imperfect way to be a part of it. There is congruency with the spirituality that has been provided to me. Having role models in Sophie and Philippine is easy to relate to.”
Laura enriches her spiritual life as a member of the Associates – women and men who are attracted by and live the spirituality of the RSCJ. She is currently working to reenergize the local group and hopes to integrate a service component. For her, it is very important to be partners in the mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart and continue Philippine’s work together.
Laura shares that, “The importance of cultivating relationships has been the life lesson that I have received from my Sacred Heart family, and, in turn, those relationships are life-giving. One thing all of us learn is how to be relational; what you choose to do with that lesson when you leave the Academy is up to all of us.”
Laura shows us the power of being in relationship. When she received the news about the Philippine Duchesne Award, she was on vacation with her family – her devoted husband, Ed, daughters Ani and Allison, and son-in-law Zach Stauder ’05 and granddaughter Julia. Now Laura is surrounded by her Sacred Heart family as well — as we honor in this Bicentennial year a true daughter of Philippine Duchesne.
