Every one of us Sisters remembers the day of our Perpetual Profession. We may not remember everything that happened that day, but we deeply feel to our inner core the gratitude of the mystery of the gift of being a Daughter of Saint Paul. As I knelt in the sanctuary of the chapel in our Motherhouse in Boston to pronounce my vows “for all my life”—back in 1989!—I was surprised that I wasn’t moved with emotion as I had been each time I had renewed my vows as a Junior Professed Sister. Instead, at that moment I felt courage, comfort, and steadiness, almost a readiness to be sent out to the world in Christ, for Christ, as Christ…. It was a strength that surprised me, a movement of my heart impossible to forget.
It wasn’t the result of my having successfully completed what I needed to do to be prepared for what I wanted to do in life. Sometimes people think of the stages of formation as the things you have to do before you get to “make profession.” Instead, in a split second I grasped the words of my father, Saint Paul:
Not that I have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:12-14).
At the end of the month of June we celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Paul. This month, then, is particularly special for our community and is filled with beginnings and transitions and celebrations of religious profession and anniversaries… On June 28, we’ll celebrate Sr. Julie Benedicta’s Perpetual Profession (pictured in the center, with Sr. Orianne – left and Sr. Amanda Marie – right).
Transitions!
Our postulants and novices are in the midst of transitions in their own lives. First, for the past two years Raine, one of our novices from the Philippines, has been here in the US for her novitiate. She made her First Profession in the Philippines on January 25 of this year. Below left to right – Raine, Sr. Khristina, and Postulant Gabby together one Sunday afternoon.
Our Postulants Preparing to Enter Novitiate
Our postulants, Gabby and Mari, have finished their two years of postulancy formation and during the summer will be moving from St. Louis to Boston. In these next couple of months they’ll be preparing to enter the novitiate on August 15. Congratulations! Below from left to right: Gabby, Mari, and Sr Margaret Michael.
Apostolic Experience in Miami
Catherine, who is in the second year of her novitiate formation, has been sent to our community in Miami for her 4-month apostolic experience. During these months she’s experiencing in a deeper way the life and mission of a Daughter of St. Paul…as well as having lots of fun along the way!
What is novitiate? Novitiate is the real initiation into the Pauline religious life. The novitiate is “a school of faith, of discipleship, a journey of life that guides the novice toward the radical choice of Christ” in view of her consecration to God as a Daughter of St. Paul.
Immersed in Giving Christ to the World
“The Church entrusts to us the duty of proclaiming to the world our joy at having met Christ.” The first four years of formation as a Daughter of St. Paul bring a young woman to her first profession of the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience in our congregation. As the newly professed sister begins to live all she has learned and to immerse herself in giving Christ to the world, she develops a great apostolic heart and grows in a pastoral spirit as she responds to the situations that torment humanity today. Below, Junior Professed Sisters, Sr. Allison Regina, Sr. Orianne Pietra René, and Sr. Amanda Marie (pictured left to right next to Sr. Julie Benedicta on the far left) are enjoying some time together.
Sr. Amanda Marie will be going to Rome to participate with Junior Professed Sisters from around the world in the international course of Preparation for Perpetual Vows. She’ll spend a few months in one of our communities in Italy studying and practicing Italian, and then join the other Juniors to begin their course after Christmas. Congratulations!
As the day of our religious profession is forever etched in our hearts, we professed sisters also carry with us through the years many of the lessons we learned and the gift of who we became through our initial years of formation. Each year of that very precious time added new colors and textures to the beautiful masterpiece of Jesus that the Holy Spirit is creating in each of us—and this Divine Artist is still at work!
It is exciting to watch my younger sisters take on the heart of Christ for the world today and with the Apostle Paul’s spirit discover the joy of community and mission and deep prayer. As I get to know these young women, Jesus shows me what I can learn from each of them, for they have been called by the Divine Master to give a particular gift to the world today and…who knows where they will go!
Be on the lookout for our next Formation Update!
Sr. Kathryn James Hermes, FSP
