November 21st, 2017
On the Feast of the Presentation of Mary, Sr. Mary Consolata & Sr. Antonetta Maria made their First Profession of Vows and Sr. Laura & Sr. Ciara were invested in the Holy Habit.
It was a beautiful day!
After the homily began the ceremony of investiture:
Archbishop Schnurr: Sr. Laura and Sr. Ciara, Please come forward. Dear Sisters, what is your heart’s desire?
Sisters reply: My heart’s desire is to give myself to God as a Sister of Children of Mary, to love and adore Him and pray that all people will come to adore Him in the Most Blessed Sacrament and be faithful members of His Holy Catholic Church.
The Cutting of the Hair
The Sisters have their hair cut as a sign of their total dedication to God – a symbolic rejection of the world’s idea of beauty and a veiling of what now belongs to God alone.
Blessing of the Articles of the Habit
HABIT: Receive this white linen habit. May it be a daily reminder to you of the white linen with which Our Lord’s dead Body was wrapped after He died a painful death on the cross for love of you. Through your life of prayer and sacrifice, may you bring this white habit to Him on the last day adorned with many souls.
CINCTURE: Receive this cincture, a sign that you are bound to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary as slaves of love, and for love of Them, a servant to all God’s people.
SCAPULAR: Receive this purple scapular, a symbol of the yoke of Christ, a yoke that is easy and light when worn with great love for Him.
The purple signifies the grace with which you are clothed because of the His Passion. It is made of wool, a reminder that you are one of His sheep, following your Shepherd wherever He leads, and obeying the shepherds He places over you – His vicar, Our Holy Father, and all of the bishops and priests in union with him.
VEIL: Receive this white veil, a reminder to put aside all earthly concerns and put on the mind of Christ. May this novitiate be a time of detaching yourself from created things so that your heart can be filled with love for God holy zeal for souls.
The First Profession of vows ceremony:
Archbishop Schnurr: Sr. Mary Consolata and Sr. Antonetta Maria, please come forward. Dear Sisters, what is your hearts’ desire?
The Sisters’ reply: My heart’s desire is to give myself completely to God and to share His life of poverty, chastity and obedience; to live my vows through total consecration to Jesus through Mary, that through Her Immaculate Heart I may partake of Her perfect Motherhood, embracing all of God’s children as my own. Giving my life as an offering to God, I want to love God, His priests and His People, with Our Lady’s love, begging God that all will come to love and adore Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, that all will enter fully into covenant with Him in His Holy Catholic Church and remain faithful to that covenant, and receive with love the greatest gift He has given His People, Himself in Holy Communion.
My heart’s desire is to follow the Lamb wherever He goes, and to quench His thirsting heart with love as a bride of Christ and a Sister of Children of Mary.
Profession of Vows
Mother, I ask you to accept my promise to live a chaste life out of profound love for Jesus, the Spouse of my soul, to live a life of poverty so that I may be attached to nothing or no one except my Lord, to live a life of obedience to Holy Mother Church, to my legitimate Superiors, and to the Rule and Constitutions of the Children of Mary, not as
a slave bound out of fear, but as a child of Mary who finds joy and freedom in lovingly striving to please God through my obedience. I promise to pray for our bishop, for abundant and holy priests and to give my life, as a Sister of Children of Mary, to quench the Thirst of Jesus to be loved in the Most Blessed Sacrament – that all will love and adore Him.
Blessing of the New Articles of the Habit
Black Veil: Receive the black veil, a sign that you have worn the white veil, have put on the mind of Christ, and that you are now willing to die with Him – to be the spouse of your crucified Spouse. Your goal in life will be to please God alone in your every thought, word, and deed. Through this consecration to God, your every act will be an act of worship. Whether you are cleaning, praying, eating, recreating, everything you do will be an act of worship, something beautiful for God.
Crucifix: Receive this crucifix, a symbol of Christ crucified and sacramentalized, proclaiming to the world your love for Him Who died for you and Who now remains with us in the Most Holy Eucharist, longing for our love.
Cincture: As a novice, you received a cincture that was a sign that you were bound to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary as a slave of love, and for love of Them, a servant to all God’s people. Now you will wear the knotted cincture that proclaims your decision to be bound by the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience and the vows to pray for priests and bishops and to give your life to quench the Thirst of Jesus to be loved in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Thank you!
Thank you to all of our friends and family for joining us on such a joyous day!