Could you leave behind your career, your salary, and all your possessions for a completely different kind of life?

That’s exactly what Claudette Monica Powell did five years ago. At 46, she ended her 23-year career in advertising in L.A. and moved across the country to become an Episcopal nun. She now lives at The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Times Square, devoting her life to prayer and helping the homeless.

Next spring Sister Monica hopes to take her life vows, which would mean living by the community’s vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty for the rest of her life.