"Some people liken it to what’s called the holy hour of anointing," Braun said. "It’s a feeling of being touched by God."
She doesn’t advertise her business because she doesn’t have to. Through word of mouth, Braun has built a reputation on her eclectic approach to healing for people unsatisfied with traditional Western medicine.
"It’s a very unique experience, both physical and spiritual," said Bunny Gormican of St. Peter, who has been receiving massages from Braun for several years.
The first time she met Braun, Gormican hesitantly used a gift certificate received from a friend when her younger daughter was going through surgery.
"I really didn’t know if I wanted to use it, but after experiencing it once I’ve been going back ever since," she said.
The sense of peace that permeates Braun’s persona and the atmosphere surrounding her helped Gormican open up.
"I sit down in that room and I just start to talk," she said. "I’ve told her (Braun) things I’ve never told anyone before."
Braun holds a master’s of science degree in rehabilitation nursing. Her ministry in staff nursing was primarily at St. Anthony Hospital in Hays, Kan.
For 20 years she taught baccalaureate nursing and academic advisement of nursing students at Marian College. Mary Ann Steffes of Fond du Lac, who knew Braun when she was at Marian, said a shift on Braun’s part to a more transcendental view of life is definitely noticeable.
"She knew her stuff and we had such respect for that, but she was not the soft-spoken person she is now," Steffes said. "There is such a continuum with her, the knowledge of the whole person is essential to what she does. That’s how she approached nursing and that’s how she approaches being a masseuse."
Her offering of spiritual massages to other nuns took a leap of faith when the Sisters of St. Agnes asked Braun to expand her healing ministry and "go public" as a means to bring income into the community.
General Superior Sister Mary Christine Fellerhoff said that when some of the sisters discover a gift for alternative modalities of healing, it’s an extension of the healing ministry of Jesus.
"We (the Sisters of St. Agnes) have been in health care for a long time and too often, I think, society divorces spirituality from healing and replaces it with science. What Sister Josephine is doing is a creative blend of medical and spiritual (care) that has touched many people."
When an interest in massage came to Braun, she took a year sabbatical in 1990 and attended the Reilly School of Massotherapy, which is affiliated with the Association of Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Va.
Braun chose to combine Swedish massage, which uses long, rapid strokes, with new age or classical music, as well as aromatherapy, which she believes aids in bringing an "experience of pleasure and delight."
Whether it’s to learn to accept pain in their lives, embrace a difficult family member or just be open to the spirit, Braun will counsel a client before massage, if they ask, and silently pray over them while she’s working. All the while she praises God for "working through them and with them."
"Wholeness of wellness is definitely my purpose," Braun said.
By Sharon Roznik
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers