SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 • ThE PiloT • 3By Sister Christina Miriam Wegendt, FSPFew days in the life of a reli-gious community are as eagerly awaited or celebrated with as much unrestrained joy as the first profession of vows. In the Jamaica Plain motherhouse of the Daughters of St. Paul, the last week of August was filled with anticipation and intense preparations for the August 30 first profession of vows of Sister Theresa Aletheia, FDP and Sis-ter Khristina, FDP. Religious profession is the culmination of several years of preparatory studies, prayer, and formation in the life and mis-sion of the religious commu-nity. For the Daughters of St. Paul, the vows of poverty, chas-tity, and obedience are a tre-mendous gift that unites each sister more closely to Jesus, our Way, Truth, and Life. These vows — far from simply being renunciations — are daily “yeses” to the love of God and to his providential care for us. Living these vows in the con-text of community and mission and prayer, they become paths to deep joy. As Sister Theresa Aletheia recently wrote on her “Pur-sued by Truth” blog, “I pre-pared for four years to make vows. I took classes, discussed the vows, observed other sis-ters living the vows, discerned my ability to live the vows. But none of these things adequately prepared me for this covenant with God. What can really pre-pare a person to vow their life to the Creator of the Universe? Absolutely nothing.” The overwhelming gener-osity of God, who wants to enter into personal relationship with each person, is a mys-tery that continues to unfold throughout our lives. Sister Mary Domenica Vitello, who recently celebrated fifty years of religious profession, is still amazed each day by the fidelity of God to us. God’s call doesn’t come just once, she says, but is something we respond to every day. “And even when we don’t say yes, the Lord never says no to us … His care and fidelity have always been there.”Having professed their first vows, Sister Theresa Aletheia and Sister Khristina go forward to live this mystery each day as Daughters of St. Paul. It is the same mystery of God’s faithful love that we are each called to live as members of the Body of Christ. Whether we are still in the process of discovering God’s call or we are living the daily joys and difficulties of our particular vocation in life, God wants to sustain us each step of the way. He wants to continu-ally amaze us with the depth of his personal care for us, giv-ing us hope even in suffering and a joy that no one can take from us. Daughters of St. Paul in over fifty countries around the world dedicate their lives to bringing Jesus to people through the media. As evan-gelizers in parishes and book centers, as writers, artists, edi-tors, designers, singers, and webmasters, the sisters search for the best and fastest ways to get the Good News out to peo-ple. As active contemplatives, the sisters spend hours daily in prayer, meditating on the word of God and adoring Jesus in the Eucharist. There they pray for the many people they encoun-ter in their mission and draw new strength and inspiration to communicate the Gospel mes-sage. The Daughters of St. Paul is part of the Pauline Fam-ily founded by Blessed James Alberione, which celebrates its centenary of foundation this year. For over fifty years, the Daughters of St. Paul mother-house has been in Boston. The motherhouse is also home to the community’s publishing house, Pauline Books and Media. And each year the sisters host their much-loved Christmas con-certs, to the delight of hun-dreds of attendees from around the archdiocese. The local Pau-line Book and Media Center in Dedham is a privileged place of mission for the sisters, who find joy in providing resources to support the ministries and spiritual needs of the people of New England. You can learn more about the life and mission of the Daughters of St. Paul at www.daughtersofstpaul.com. For photos and video from the first profession celebration, go to www.daughtersofstpaul.com/vocations.SiSter ChriStina MiriaM WegenDt, fSP, iS loCal voCation DireCtor for the DaughterS of St. Paul in neW englanD.Give your life with joy to the LordNewly professed Sister Khristina, FDP and Sister Theresa Aletheia, FDP rejoicing with their co-novices. From the left: Sister Chelsea Moxley-Davis, FDP; Sister Julia Karina de la Paz Hernandez Yáñez, FDP; Sister Khristina Galema, FDP; Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, FDP; and Sister Carly Arcella, FDP.Photo courtesy/Sister Mary Emmanuel Alves, FSP
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