Dominican’s dream comes true with final profession of vows

Photos by Rick Musacchio

Sister Elizabeth Marie Kalscheur, O.P., greets Gianna Denten and Elaine Mullin before she and six other Dominican sisters made their final profession of vows on Monday, July 25, at the Cathedral of the Incarnation. Mullin was Sister Elizabeth Marie’s confirmation sponsor in her hometown of Beaver Dam, Wisc.

Andy Telli, Tennessee Register

When Sister Emma Calvo, O.P., read her final profession of vows before her family, her Dominican sisters and a full Cathedral of the Incarnation, her voice choked with emotion and she paused for a moment before continuing.

“I was thinking of the great mercy and love God has shown me,” said Sister Emma, who was one of seven Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville making their final profession of vows on Monday, July 25. “I’ve been waiting for this for 17 years, since I was 8 years old.”

Sister Emma, who grew up in Hendersonville and graduated from St. Joseph School in Madison and St. Cecilia Academy, was the only one of the seven sisters from the Diocese of Nashville. Joining her on the altar to make their final profession were Sister Marie Bernadette Thompson, O.P., Sister Marie Therese Pitlyk, O.P., Sister Marie Isaac Staub, O.P., Sister Elizabeth Marie Kalscheur, O.P., Sister Maria Caeli Parmeter, O.P., and Sister Maris Stella Vaughan, O.P.

Bishop John LeVoir of New Ulm, foreground, watches as Mother Ann Marie Karlovic, O.P., receives the vows of one of seven Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation who made their final profession of vows July 25 at the Cathedral of the Incarnation.

Sister Emma told her parents, Mandy and Bill Calvo, that she wanted to be a religious sister when she was in the second grade at St. Joseph.

Her teacher was Sister Bernadette Mathiesen, O.P., and Sister Emma was inspired by her teacher’s witness and joy, she said.

Sister Bernadette let her students dress in a habit and a priest’s collar one day. Sister Emma’s family still have the picture of their young daughter in a nun’s habit.

Watching her daughter, the oldest of five children in the Calvo family, make her final profession, Mrs. Calvo said, she was thinking about “all she went through to get to this point and see her fulfill her dreams.”

As parents, Mr. Calvo said, they’ve tried to support not only Sister Emma in her interest in a religious life but all their children’s interests. “You’ve got to be supportive of their dreams.”

It was her parents’ example that helped lead Sister Emma to her vocation, she said. “All religious vocations stem from the witness of the parents,” she said. Her parents’ fidelity to married life “taught me how to be faithful to Christ.”

After learning from the Dominican Sisters at St. Joseph, she moved on to St. Cecilia Academy, which is owned by the sisters. It was there that her childhood interest in becoming a sister became more serious.

While still in high school, she attended a retreat at the Dominican Motherhouse. Five of the sisters who made their final profession on July 25 attended that same retreat, she said.

Mother Ann Marie shares a sign of peace with Sister Emma Calvo, O.P., after she made her final profession of vows. Sister Emma grew up in Hendersonville and graduated from St. Joseph School and St. Cecilia Academy.

After graduating from St. Cecilia Academy, Sister Emma joined the congregation. She earned her teaching degree from Aquinas College in Nashville, also owned by the Dominicans.

Last year she taught second grade at St. Mary’s School in Jackson, Tenn., and will return to St. Mary’s this fall. Several of her students from last year and their families were able to attend her final profession, Sister Emma said.

Your call is a grace.

In his homily at the Mass, Father Carol Azpiroz-Costa, O.P., the former master of the Dominican Order told the sisters, “Your call is a grace.”

Their choice of religious life is “not a career,” he added. “It’s a profession of faith, a profession of religious life. You are the fruit of the contemplative life of Jesus Christ.”

The final profession of vows was the start of a busy week for the Dominicans. Fifteen sisters made their first profession of vows on Thursday, July 28. They included: Sister Mary Helen Hill, Sister Paula Marie Koffi, Sister Joan of Arc Wicks, Sister Cecilia Rose Pham, Sister Mara Rose McDonnell, Sister Marie Dominique Mullen, Sister Anna Joseph Van Acker, Sister Victoria Marie Liederbach, Sister Angela Marie Russell, Sister John Vianney Streacker, Sister Agnes Schreck, Sister Bernadette Marie Donze, Sister Imelda Grace Lee, Sister Felicity Hendershott and Sister Immaculata Marie Policare.

Twenty-four sisters received the habit: Sister Anastasia Reeves, Sister Elizabeth Grace Power, Sister Regina Mary Rzeppa, Sister Rose Miriam Collins, Sister Mary Frances Basanese, Sister Josemaría Pence, Sister Hannah Barnes, Sister Mary Agatha Hester, Sister Malia Grace Reed, Sister Ann Dominic Mahowald, Sister Maria Thuan Nguyen, Sister Susanna Edmunds, Sister Mary Eileen Manion, Sister Rose Catherine Grass, Sister Chiara Malone, Sister Anne Timmons, Sister Jacinta Man, Sister Anna Karol Braun, Sister Christopher Marie Felix, Sister  Mary Leo Nordmark, Sister Giorgianna Montoya, Sister Anne Thérèse Wilder, Sister Helena Pasztetnik and Sister Anna Sophia Nguyen.

Sixteen women, ages 19 to 30, will enter the congregation as postulants on Aug. 15, including four women from Australia and one from Ireland.