Sr. Lorraine Tiani first met the Sisters of Notre Dame at age six when her parents enrolled her in St. Aloysius School in New Canaan, CT. She continued to be educated by the Sisters until receiving her B.A. in Elementary Education from Emmanuel College in Boston, MA. She also discovered her propensity for languages which she would put to good use in her later ministries.
Sr. Lorraine‘s love for the poor resulted, during her novitiate, from her involvement in a summer service project in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. In collaboration with the Sisters of the Holy Childhood, she made pastoral visits and organized programs for the children. After her first profession of vows, Sr. Lorraine taught Grades K-3 at St. Justin School in Hartford, CT where she discovered in the children and parents the beauty of the Jamaican culture.
Sr. Lorraine was called to minister internationally with the Sisters of Notre Dame in the Italian Unit in Rome, Italy. She left her home soil in CT to teach at the “Istituto Giulia Billiart, located in one of Rome’s most culturally diverse neighborhoods. She developed practical methods and a curriculum for a foreign language program in English. She shared her musical gifts at liturgy with the children and the Sunday parish community worshipping in the Sisters’ chapel. Her ministry was not restricted to teaching, but also included service as school treasurer and member of the Unit Leadership Team.
Since her return to the States, Sr. Lorraine has worked in a variety of ministries: volunteered as an assistant to the Coordinator of Health Benefits for the SNDs of the CT Province; taught First Grade at Holy Cross School in Springfield, MA.; became part of the support staff in the Safe Environment Office for the Protection of Children of the Archdiocese of Hartford, CT. She is currently working in an elementary school in Connecticut.