“Do you wish to be consecrated and to be solemnly espoused to our Lord Jesus Christ, the most high Son of God?”

"I desire this above all things!"

On Saturday, May 13, 2023,
Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima,
the eldest of our junior Sisters
pronounced her solemn vows of
obedience, poverty, chastity and enclosure promising to observe
the Rule of our Holy Mother Clare
for the whole time of her life.

Most Rev. Michael G. McGovern, Bishop of Belleville, was joined at the altar by six other priests for the Mass which enfolded the profession ceremony. Family and friends of the bride from her native North Dakota were also present along with the faithful of the Belleville Diocese.

The bride (foreground) prostrates in the nave of the choir during the
Litany for the Consecration of Virgins as our Bishop solemnly chants:
"Bless, + sanctify, + consecrate, + this Your servant."

Bishop McGovern looks down from the altar as the bride sings the “Suscipe” which customarily precedes monastic profession: “Receive me, O Lord, according to Your word and I shall live, and let me not be confounded in my expectation.”

“Receive this ring that marks
your sacred marriage with Christ.
Keep unbroken faith with your Bridegroom,
and so be able to enter into
the wedding feast of eternal joy.”

“Behold, what I have desired, I now see; what I have hoped for, I now possess; I am joined to Him in heaven, whom I have loved on earth with my whole heart. I am espoused to Him whom the angels serve, whose beauty the sun and moon admire."