By Rocio Granados - La Voz Catolica
Sor María Dolores Moya, una religiosa Teatina, enseña a rezar a los niños que asisten a la guardería de las Teatinas.
Una niña en edad preescolar, que asiste a la guardería de las Religiosas Teatinas, en Miami, besa una imagen de la Virgen de Guadalupe.
Un niño en edad preescolar, que asiste a la guardería de las Teatinas, mira un diseño del coronavirus mientras se lava las manos. La guardería ha reforzado las actividades de higiene para evitar el contagio del virus.
Los niños que asisten a la guardería de las Religiosas Teatinas realizan actividades al aire libre como darle de comer semillas a los pájaros.
Posan en el patio de la guardería las religiosas Teatinas, desde la izquierda, Sor María del Rosario Gutiérrez, directora del centro; Sor Esther Samudio, superiora de la comunidad de las Hermanas Teatinas de la Inmaculada Concepción de Miami y Sor María Dolores Moya.
Sor María del Rosario Gutiérrez, directora de la guardería de las Teatinas, juega con tres estudiantes en el jardín del centro.
Sor María del Rosario Gutiérrez, directora de la guardería de las Teatinas, le enseña una imagen de la Virgen de Guadalupe a un niño en edad preescolar que asiste al centro.
Posan con los niños, que asisten a la guardería, las Religiosas Teatinas en un momento de Navidad. Desde la izquierda, Sor Esther Samudio, superiora de la comunidad de Miami; Sor María del Rosario Gutiérrez, directora del centro y Sor María Dolores Moya. Atrás, Bárbara Arias, una laica teatina que ayuda en el cuidado y la atención de los niños. Actualmente, con la pandemia de coronavirus todas las actividades que incluyen contacto físico directo con los niños se han suspendido.
Los niños que asisten a la guardería de las Teatinas posan juntos al pie de un árbol el día de San Valentín con Sor Rosario Gutiérrez, Sor María Dolores Moya (derecha), y Bárbara Arias, una laica teatina, en febrero pasado. Actualmente, con la pandemia de coronavirus todas las actividades que incluyen contacto físico directo con los niños se han suspendido.
Los niños que asisten a la guardería de las Religiosas Teatinas juegan en el patio del centro. Con ellos Sor María Dolores Moya (izquierda) y Bárbara Arias, una laica teatina que ayuda en el cuidado y la atención a los niños. Actualmente, con la pandemia de coronavirus todas las actividades que incluyen contacto físico directo con los niños se han suspendido.
Niños en edad preescolar, que asisten a la guardería de las Teatinas, juntan sus manos para rezar en la capilla del centro.
Photography: Courtesy
Photographer: Courtesy
A preschooler who attends the Theatine Sisters Day Care in Miami kisses an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Photographer: Courtesy
Children enrolled at the Theatine Sisters Day Care in Miami play in the central courtyard; with them are Sister Maria Dolores Moya, left, and Barbara Arias, a lay Theatine who helps care for the children. Currently, due to the coronavirus pandemic, all activities that require direct physical contact with the children have been suspended.
Photographer: Courtesy
A preschooler who attends the Theatine Sisters Day Care in Miami looks at a poster with coronavirus information while he washes his hands. The center reinforces lessons about hygiene to avoid contracting the virus.
MIAMI | When Araceli Marín was looking for a day care center for her eldest son, someone recommended the "nuns" in southwest Miami, where she lives. When she and her husband visited the day care, they liked the environment so much that they did not mind waiting a year to register their son, because there were no vacancies.
Her son graduated from the day care two years ago and is now in second grade. Her other son, now 3, started attending a year and a half ago. The youngest already knew the teachers because he went to his brother's activities, Marín said. On the first day of school, "he was so excited, he came in and said, 'bye mommy' and went inside."
"Day care is more than educational teaching; it is teaching love of God, love of family and friends, because they make beautiful friendships. I am fascinated by their education," said Marín, adding that her children "learn that discipline very easily."
"Our center collaborates with the family in the integral education of the children with a formation in the Catholic faith; that is what distinguishes us from other institutions," said Sister Rosario Gutiérrez, director of the day care center run by the Theatine Sisters of Miami.
This formation is based on the charism and spirituality of the Theatines' founder, Mother Ursula Benincasa, whose motto is, "No other rule than love."
For 40 years, the Theatine Sisters in Miami have dedicated themselves to the formation, in Catholic faith and values, of several generations of preschool children. Many of the children do not continue a Catholic education but receive life-long values and learn to love God.
Most of the children who attend the day care were recommended by family or friends, or are younger siblings of graduates.
Early learning is important for children, "because the foundations are laid in early childhood for the child's development in all areas: spiritual, cognitive, social and emotional," said Sister Rosario.
The sisters teach them "the sense of family; it feels like a family, like an extension of the home," said Angelique Ruhi-López, a mother of six who sent five of her children to the day care.
The children pray every morning in the chapel that the sisters have in their home, and learn from an early age to pray for their intentions and to reinforce Catholic values, she added.
"They also learned the basics, the alphabet, the numbers, but for me and my husband and many of my friends who have sent our children there, the most important thing at first is to socialize and reinforce the values. Because they can learn the letters, but I think you should learn values and how to treat others from a very young age, whether they are adults or children," said Ruhi-López.
María Alejandra Rivas, who coordinates social media for the Archdiocese of Miami, recalls that she learned to respect what belongs to others. The sisters taught her to "look but do not touch," and now she teaches it to her godchildren, who also attended the day care.
The center offers a bilingual education, but most parents are interested in having their children learn or reinforce their Spanish, said Sister Rosario, since they will learn English when they enter kindergarten.
The Theatines incorporate the family into their activities. "I loved going there for Christmas, when they did a pastorela (a shepherds’ play) with all the children," said Vivian Alzola, mother of a 5-year-old girl who attended the day care until last March.
Alzola would help with some celebrations like Thanksgiving, which were held in the center's courtyard. "The children always put on a nice show, a dance or a song, depending on their age, and the parents also participated," she said.
COVID-CAUSED CHANGES
Last March, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Miami Dade County schools and childcare centers closed for three months. In June, when the day care center informed Marín that it was open, she "was not sure" about sending her child.
The lockdown affected her younger son the most, Marín said. "There was constant fighting at home, raising our voices, screaming, throwing things, and we are not like that," so she decided to enroll him in July.
Marín said the fear that her son might catch the coronavirus at day care is always on her mind, but she brings him to keep the children in healthy mental shape. "There is a risk, there is always a risk if you leave your home and go to visit someone else," she said.
Photographer: Courtesy
Posing for a photo in the playground of the Theatine Sisters Day Care, from left: Sister Maria del Rosario Gutierrez, the center's director; Sister Esther Samudio, the Miami community's religious superior; and Sister María Dolores Moya.
Photographer: Courtesy
Sister María del Rosario Gutiérrez, director of the Theatine Sisters Day Care, shows an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to a preschooler enrolled at the center.
Keeping her children safe is very important to her. Her family has remained isolated, not visiting or receiving visits even from their closest relatives. She feels very safe taking her child to the Theatine Sisters’ day care because "the nuns live in the center. They are religious and they live for God. They do not go out for visits and they know they have to care for our children. There are not that many children, and that gives me more confidence," she added.
In addition, "children miss that togetherness, the friendship of their peers, the socialization." Marín said she has seen a big change in her son's behavior since he returned to the day care; he is a happy boy again.
COVID-19 has changed a very important facet of the Theatines' day care. Before, the doors of the center were always open to parents. "You could go and see your children playing with other children, sharing with their teachers, with the nuns," Marín said.
Now, parents must arrive wearing a mask and cannot stay to talk as they used to.
For Sister Rosario, what has changed the most is the direct contact with the children. "You have to maintain a certain distance. You cannot be in front of them without the mask. The physical contact is not the same."
Activities have also changed, and there is more distance between the children when they are sitting at the tables. Eight children attended the summer camp that normally would enroll 15 to 20 children.
The coronavirus also put an end to family activities, such as birthday celebrations, Hispanic Day, Christmas, or Father's or Mother's Day, in which grandparents, uncles and older siblings participated.
The day care also has reinforced hygiene measures that the children have always been taught. Now they emphasize the cleaning of shoes. When they arrive, "they clean their shoes on a canvas we have with bleach and then they go straight to wash their hands," said Sister Rosario.
In the washing area, the children have a small picture displaying the process of washing their little hands. The children know "that if you are going to pee-pee, well then, wash your hands; if you are going to eat, well then, wash your hands; if you came in from the yard, wash your hands," said Sister Rosario.
"Those of us who know that the center is there are blessed, but I think that those who don't know it, should know," said Marín.
THEATINE SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MIAMI
In 1582, Mother Ursula Benincasa founded the Congregation of the Theatine Sisters in Italy as Oblates of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, dedicated to the education of youth.
They acquired the name Theatines after their foundress' death, when they came under the protection of the Theatine fathers.
When Mother Ursula, now in the process of beatification, wrote the rules for the congregation, she said: "There is no other rule than love. May everything you do be inspired by love. Love for God and his Blessed Mother, under the title of the Immaculate Conception," explained Sister Rosario Gutierrez, director of the Theatine Sisters Day Care in Miami.
Eventually, the Theatine Sisters established communities in Spain, America and Africa. They currently are divided into three provinces: Our Lady of Guadalupe, comprised of communities in Mexico, Miami and Puerto Rico; Our Lady of Providence, in Spain and Africa; and the Immaculate Conception, in Italy and Brazil.
The first group of Theatines to arrive in Florida settled in Marathon, in the Florida Keys, in 1978. They then moved to downtown Miami, where they taught at Sts. Peter and Paul School.
The following year they founded two communities: one at St. Joseph School in Miami Beach and the other at the chapel which later became Our Lady of Divine Providence Parish in southwest Miami.
In 1980, the St. Joseph community closed and the sisters stayed at Our Lady of Divine Providence, teaching catechism to children and youths, and establishing a parish day care center. Shortly thereafter, the sisters rented a house near the parish to dedicate themselves to the education of preschool children, founding the Theatine Sisters Day Care.
In 1986 they acquired the property where they are now to serve more students. Currently, the Miami Theatine community has three members: Sister Esther Samudio, superior; Sister María del Rosario Gutiérrez, director of the Theatine Sisters Day Care; and Sister María Dolores Moya.
The Theatine day care serves children from 2 to 5 years of age, is licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families and is governed by the regulations of the Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Miami.
To learn more about the Theatine Sisters, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Religiosas-Teatinas Day Care. Or call 786-409-5212 to schedule a visit in person.
