1. Sister Christine or Christina Greenstidel was a school teacher, and close friend and disciple of Swami Vivekananda.
26 Facts About Sister Christine
1. 2.
On 24 February 1894, Christine attended a lecture of Vivekananda in Detroit, United States which inspired her.
3.
Sister Christine went to India in 1902 and began working as a school teacher and a social worker.
4.
Sister Christine was born as Christina Greenstidel on 17 August 1866, in Nuremberg, Germany.
5.
Sister Christine was a Lutheran who later became a Christian Scientist.
6.
When Sister Christine was three years old, her family moved to the United States and settled in Detroit, Michigan.
7.
Sister Christine's father was a German scholar, but the family lacked financial resources.
8.
Sister Christine was seventeen years old when her father died, and she became the sole breadwinner of the family, obtaining a job as a teacher in the Detroit Public School system in 1883.
9.
In 1894, Sister Christine was attending a series of lectures in Detroit with her friend Mary Funke.
10.
On 24 February 1894, Sister Christine attended a lecture by Vivekananda.
11.
Sister Christine was so impressed by Vivekananda that she attended many more of his lectures and became an admirer and disciple.
12.
Sister Christine later recounted her experience of that first lecture:.
13.
Sister Christine said that she started loving India after attending Vivekananda's lectures:.
14.
Sister Christine asked Christine's permission to read her mind to get to know if she was mentally prepared for initiation.
15.
Sister Christine later said that Vivekananda was apparently satisfied after reading her mind.
16.
Sister Christine gave five disciples vows of Brahmacharya, and Christine was one of them.
17.
Sister Christine met for the first time Sister Nivedita who had traveled with Vivekananda.
18.
Soon thereafter, Sister Christine's mother died and she decided to move to India.
19.
Sister Christine lived in a house of Bosepara Lane, and joined the school run by Sister Nivedita as a teacher.
20.
Sister Christine remained in India until she returned to the US in 1914.
21.
Sister Christine went to the school, hoping to rejoin it as a teacher, but the school authorities rejected her request.
22.
Sister Christine stayed with Basiswar Sen the eminent scientist and agriculturist, first in his house in 8, Bosepara Lane and then in Kundan House in Almora.
23.
Sister Christine lived on an annual allowance of 500 dollars provided by Josephine MacLeod.
24.
Sister Christine had given her only treasures, rosary and letters to Swami Vivekananda to Boshi.
25.
Sister Christine stayed in India until March 1928, when she decided to go back to the US because of deteriorating health.
26.
Sister Christine stayed in Detroit for some time and then moved to New York.