My name is Ana and I come from a simple Croat family. At the age of 14, I enrolled myself in a technical college in order to become a land surveyor. To be a land surveyor means to measure land, divide it up and determine frontiers. I loved this profession, but deep down in my heart I felt a call inviting me to go beyond frontiers between peoples, races, cultures, to witness to the Kingdom of God where each one is equal to everyone else. 

My road of discernment was short and clear, and at 19 years of age, after having finished at the school of geodesy, I entered as a postulant. I firmly believe that God guided me step by step and that it was only by His grace that I ‘fell’ among the FMM. 

Before that, I had never been interested in religious life. I dreamed of a large family. A very large one! The only time I made a retreat was with the sisters when I was 12 years old and this was obligatory (in preparation for Confirmation). I refrain from telling you my opinion of the sisters at that moment. I thought they were wasting their time for nothing. Today it amuses me to think that that retreat was guided by the Sisters Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. God really has a sense of humour! 

The years of initial formation passed very quickly and I am already on the horizon of my definitive commitment. I have great joy and deep gratitude in my heart to the sisters whom I met on my path in the Institute. Those who have certainly marked me for life are those sisters who are free, enrooted in Christ and strong in their capacity to love.

Ah yes! To be an FMM does not mean not to love, it does not mean to be a passive prisoner of my vows (as I thought it to be when I was 12 years old and as many people still think it to be). 

During my eight years with the FMM I have grown a lot. I have learned to ask pardon and to pardon, to recognise that I make mistakes, to count on my sisters, to speak about my limitations and to respect those of others … Certainly, at times I am still clumsy in all these attitudes, but looking at the daily effort of each of my sisters and trusting in the infinite and unconditional love of God, I find the courage to go ahead on this road, following Christ who invites me to discover the beauty and dignity of the beloved children of his Father.