Photo by Alison Girone
Three Sisters of Life — Beata Victoria, Léonie Thérèse, and Maria Augustine — took their perpetual vows Aug. 6 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, the Archdiocese of New York’s news outlet reported Aug. 7.
Each sister joined the order in 2017.
In the Solemn Mass of Religious Profession each of the three sisters professed her vows of chastity, poverty, obedience, and a fourth vow — “the protection and enhancement of the sacredness of every human life, beginning with the most vulnerable” — whose history is outlined on the order’s website. The order was founded in 1991 in response to the dying wish of the late Cardinal John J. O’Connor, published in his column in 1989 in Catholic New York: a religious community devoted to that fourth vow.
At the Mass, the sisters each also received a ring that symbolizes her marriage to Jesus.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan served as the primary celebrant of the Mass, which drew more than 1,800 clergy, sisters and brother religious, family members, and friends, according to the diocese’s news outlet, The Good Newsroom.
In his homily, the cardinal noted an insight the late cardinal often shared with the order — that God is changing them into the persons He wants them to be. It is tradition for Sisters of Life to take their vows on the Feast of the Transfiguration.
“It’s not so much transfiguration, the cardinal would insist, but restoration, restoration,” Cardinal Dolan said, according to The Good Newsroom. “For he would often say to you, ‘You’ve been the apple of His eye from all eternity. You were created in His very image and likeness; you are worth the most precious blood of His only begotten Son. You have the very flame of the divine in the sanctuary of your soul. You are the very mirror of God.’”
The sisters professed their vows before Superior General Mother Mary Concepta, and about 15 clergy members joined Cardinal Dolan in concelebrating the Mass. Among them were Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations; Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishop Edmund J. Whalen, vicar for clergy; Auxiliary Bishop Peter J. Byrne; Diocese of Brooklyn Auxiliary Bishop James Massa, rector of St. Joseph’s Seminary; and Father Enrique Salvo, rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, S.V., Sister Joan Curtin, the New York Archdiocese’s vicar for religious, and Sister Mary Grace Walsh, ASCJ, Ph.D., the archdiocese’s superintendent of Catholic schools, were also present.
Sr. Beata Victoria told The Good Newsroom that she is in awe of God’s grace throughout her life and how He led her to the order.
Sr. Maria Augustine said that she was surprised by her call, which transpired after she had been employed as a teacher.
“After I was working as a teacher on Long Island, it was quite an unexpected call for me,” she said, according to The Good Newsroom. “That was nine years ago. So I prayed about it very seriously for a year and felt like the Lord was asking me to enter. He was stirring up a great joy and eagerness in my heart.”
More about the newest Sisters of Life
Sister Beata Victoria, 38, hails from Belleville, Ontario, Canada. She studied communications and religious studies at the University of Ottawa and journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Before 2017, she worked at the Archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Public Relations and Communications for five years. She interned with the Holy See Mission to the United Nations in New York and was a missionary for a year with Catholic Christian Outreach at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She has served in the mission of caring for women who yearn to heal and experience God’s love after having had abortions.
Sister Léonie Thérèse, 35, received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Lindenwood University of St. Charles, Missouri, in 2012. She taught at Saints Joachim and Ann Catholic School in that city for four years. Her parents, who live near St. Louis, are Jim and Catherine Weis of Florissant, Missouri, parishioners at St. Ferdinand, and have three other children: Elizabeth (husband Brandon Hoff), Sister Anne (a Salesian Sister), and Joseph. Sr. Léonie Thérèse has assisted with the formation of the order’s newest members and helped women near Philadelphia who are facing pregnancies in challenging circumstances.
Sister Maria Augustine, 33, studied history at Adelphi University in New York. She also earned a master’s degree in childhood education and special education from that institution before teaching fifth grade at St. Patrick’s School in Smithtown from 2015-16 and fourth grade at Holy Angels Regional School in Patchogue from 2016-17. Her parents are Mark and Carol Correa of Lake Grove, New York. She has two sisters – Katherine (husband Joseph Mucci) and Victoria (husband Brandon Spiciarich) – and one brother, Matthew (wife Sarah). According to the article, the Correas belong to St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, which is in Smithtown. Sr. Maria Augustine’s previous missions include supporting women during and after their pregnancies.