Sr. Nataliya Galtsova, SSpS shares her personal testimony how quiet providence, family prayer and a call to evangelization led her from the Greek Catholic Basilian Sisters to a Roman Catholic missionary congregation, the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit.
“The wind blows where it wills, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (Jn 3:8).
A Life Divided by Encounter
Through this testimony, I wish first of all to glorify God and thank Him for the great things He has done for me. The Lord entered my life very gently, yet with certainty, dividing it into a time before and after my encounter with Him. He guided me — and continues to guide me — hiding Himself behind the faces, hands, and hearts of many people.
Signs of the Father’s Presence
God has done many extraordinary things — things that could not only be understood with the mind but also seen with my own eyes and touched. They were signs of His fatherly presence and wise providence. They are a testimony that every prayer, even in the deepest corner of my heart, was heard by Him. However, I learned to recognize His interventions later, especially when the question arose of transferring to another Congregation. Then, looking back, I saw how all the events had gradually come together into one picture, whose author was He Himself.
A Believing Family and a Mother’s Prayer
I was born into a believing family. My mother prayed every day and read Sacred Scripture — seeking in it answers and support in various circumstances of life. I do not remember her ever forcing me to pray — prayer was a natural expression of faith for her. I will always keep her trust in God in my heart.
Perhaps it was precisely through her prayers that the Lord called me to follow Him, to imitate Him closely in consecrated life. I had not yet had time to ask, like the apostles, “Teacher, where are you staying?” (Jn 1:38), when the Lord Himself came to my home.
The Lord at the Door
It happened in the summer, when I was almost fifteen years old. The Lord rang the doorbell of our apartment. On the doorstep stood a neighbor who invited me to a Christian camp. The camp was organized by one of the parishes of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. My neighbor wanted me to accompany her ten-year-old grandson, who was known for his restless and mischievous behavior.
At the Dniester: Love for All Creation
The children’s camp took place in the picturesque town of Zalishchyky in the Ternopil region. Every evening, together with a priest, we prayed the Rosary while walking along the bank of the Dniester River. One day, after such a prayer, I experienced an extraordinary love — love for all of creation, for everything living and non-living on earth. When the priest asked me whether I would like to become a nun, I answered that I did not know, but that I would always like to be with God.
After returning home, the priest introduced me to the Basilian Sisters. From then on, I carried in my heart the desire to be with God, to belong entirely to Him.
Basilian Ministry and a Missionary Stirring
After entering the Basilian monastery, I was mainly engaged in catechetical ministry. With time, I discovered within myself a particular need for evangelization, for spreading the Word of God both in Ukraine and throughout the world. The words of Pope Francis about the need to leave our comfort behind in order to proclaim the Gospel touched me very deeply at that time. For a certain period, I wondered whether my desire to move to a missionary Congregation truly came from God. I deliberately avoided fervent prayer in order to silence the inner voice that was calling me to change. Yet whenever I prayed sincerely again, this desire would return.
Discernment and a New Congregation
When I shared my experiences with my spiritual director, he advised me to approach the bishop about the possibility of transferring to a missionary Roman Catholic Congregation. The bishop named four missionary communities working in Ukraine and introduced me to one of the Sisters of the Mission Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Spirit. Soon afterwards, I met with the SSpS Provincial Leader of Ukraine. However, I could not join it immediately, because I had to care for my sick mother. Only after she passed into eternal life was I able to begin my three-year journey towards the new Congregation.
While studying the biography of our Founder, Saint Arnold Janssen, I was particularly struck by his words: “Of all works of mercy, the first and most important is the preaching of the Gospel.” These inspired words were for me a confirmation that I was in the right place — among the workers in God’s vineyard who proclaim His Word.
The Spirit Blows Where It Wills
It was precisely during this period of waiting and transition to a new community that I discovered the action of the Holy Spirit particularly deeply. He truly blows as He wills and where He wills — like the wind. At times, He lifts and carries us so quickly that our heads spin. Then the wisest decision is to let go of the steering wheel of our lives and entrust ourselves completely to Him. He carries a person in a direction unknown to them, and they no longer desire to place obstacles in His way. The mind is no longer capable of containing everything that is happening, while the heart overflows with His gifts.
There are also times when it seems that outwardly He is not acting at all. It is a time of stopping, when one simply needs to wait. Yet such waiting, which sometimes has no definite end, can be especially mysterious. It is filled with pain, but on the other hand, it is full of God’s blessing. It is precisely then that He acts very eloquently within us, in the depths of the soul.
Perpetual Vows and Providence
A special sign of God’s providence for me was the fact that I made my perpetual vows on the eve of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity — the principal feast of our Congregation. My heart is filled with deep gratitude to God the Father for His boundless fatherly care, to the Son — for always surrounding me with His grace, and to the Holy Spirit — for His unfailing guidance.
I thank every person whose face, heart, and hands became for me a testimony to the Lord’s words spoken through the psalmist:
“I will instruct you and show you the way you should go; I will counsel you, keeping my eye on you!” (Ps 32:8).
Surrendering to the Wind of the Spirit
Sr. Natalia’s journey was not about human certainty. It was about surrender. The Spirit is free, invisible, and often unsettling, like the wind. The Spirit carried her beyond the familiar into a new Congregation and a wider mission. What remains is not a map she made. It is a testimony: God teaches, guides, and watches over her. In a world hungry for the Gospel, her life echoes the Founder’s belief that the first and most important work of mercy is to proclaim Christ. Along the way, every face, heart, and hand becomes a living sign of the One who leads where He wills. Her transfer of Congregation was not a change of faith. It was a deeper yes to the same Lord, who blows where He wills.
