August 8, 2008

Eleven Dominicans make final profession of vows

Andy Telli, Tennessee Register

The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville continues to grow.

On Friday, July 25, 11 sisters made their final profession of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience during a Mass at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville, and this week 18 women will arrive at the Motherhouse to begin a year as postulants, said Sister Marian, O.P., secretary to the community’s prioress general, Mother Ann Marie, O.P.

The community has about 225 sisters, which is the most in its nearly 150-year history, Sister Marian said. 

“Obviously, we know it’s God’s blessing,” Sister Marian said of the community’s growth.

Women from around the United States and Canada have been attracted to the community in recent years, Sister Marian said, and among the new postulants will be a woman from Australia, a first for the community.

The sisters who made their final profession were from Canada, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Virginia, Texas, Colorado, California, Missouri and New Mexico, among other places, Sister Marian said.

The sisters making their final profession were: Sister Mary Martha Hetzler, Sister Mary Pius Prats, Sister Peter Verona Budoh, Sister Mary Olivia Shirley, Sister John Agnes Suh, Sister Mary Rebekah Odle-Kemp, Sister Peter Marie Chrismer, Sister Mary Sabina DeMuth, Sister Maria Kolbe Rossi, Sister Grace Mary Luc and Sister Maria Faustina Large.

Their journey began seven years ago when they entered the community as postulants. After a year, the sisters in the community receive the habit and their religious name. They spend their novitiate year in more study and discernment, Sister Marian said.

At the end of that year, the sisters exchange their white veil for the familiar black veil and make their first profession of vows. After three years they renew their vows for another two years before making their final profession of vows.

Five sisters entered the novitiate on Sunday, July 27, and 12 sisters made their first profession of vows on Monday, July 28.

Women attracted to the congregation “want to live a life that has community and common prayer, a love for the Eucharist, Our Lady, for our church,” Sister Marian said.

“And they always tell us they are attracted by the joy they find at the congregation.”

“They love the witness of the habit,” she added.

“The habit does not make us good religious,” Sister Marian said. “It’s a sign to us of our own consecration and to be faithful to what we’ve promised God.”

“In a sense, it’s sacramental,” she said. “In the world we live in, the signs of the sacred are really important.”

Photos by Andy Telli

Eleven Dominican sisters of St. Cecilia congregation made their final profession of vows on Friday, July 25, at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville. Sister Maria Faustina Large, O.P., top photo, waits to make her final profession of vows as Sister Grace Mary Luc, O.P., in the background, signs the document of profession on the altar.

Sister Mary Martha Hetzler, O.P., second photo, lies protrate with her scapula over her head while the Litany of Saints is recited. Four sisters presented the gifts to Archbishop Raymond Burke, who celebrated the Mass for the Rite of Perpetual Religious Profession. Archbishop Burke, formerly the head of the St. Louis Archdiocese, was recently appointed prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature at the Vatican.