Sisters of Life 'are the very mirror of God,' cardinal says as 3 take perpetual vows

NEW YORK (OSV News) -- "You've been the apple" of God's eye "from all eternity," New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan told three Sisters of Life, quoting his predecessor, Cardinal John J. O'Connor, who founded the religious community.

The Sisters of Life took their perpetual vows Aug. 6 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, surrounded by more than 1,800 clergy, religious sisters and brothers, family members and friends.

Cardinal Dolan was the primary celebrant and homilist of the solemn Mass of religious profession. He was joined by about 15 concelebrants, including Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations; New York Auxiliary Bishops Edmund J. Whalen, vicar for clergy, and Peter J. Byrne; Auxiliary Bishop James Massa of Brooklyn, rector of St. Joseph's Seminary; and Father Enrique Salvo, rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Among those in attendance were Mother Agnes Mary Donovan of the Sisters of Life; Sister Joan Curtin, a member of the Congregation of Notre Dame, who is the New York Archdiocese's vicar for religious; and Sister Mary Grace Walsh, an Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who is the New York archdiocesan superintendent of schools.

"Allow me to recall a pivotal insight (of) your legendary founder, my predecessor, John Joseph Cardinal O'Connor, so often repeated to you, his beloved Sisters of Life," Cardinal Dolan said in his homily.

"The Lord is changing you, not so much into someone dramatically new, but into the very person he's always meant you to be," he continued. "It's not so much transfiguration, the cardinal would insist, but restoration, restoration. 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 solemn Mass was celebrated on the feast of the Transfiguration, the traditional date for the Sisters of Life's profession of perpetual vows.

Each sister professed her vows of chastity, poverty and obedience before Mother Mary Concepta, superior general. Each sister also professes a special fourth vow to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life. Individually, each of the three also received a ring, representing her marriage to Jesus, the eternal bridegroom.

"God is good, and he did it. He's very faithful, and I think today I'm just in awe of his grace throughout my life, just ushering me to this moment so that I could give a generous yes," Sister Beata Victoria, 38, said after the Mass in an interview with The Good Newsroom, the news outlet of the New York Archdiocese.

Her previous missions have included evangelizing and serving with her community's Hope & Healing mission in Toronto, which includes services to vulnerable, pregnant women, and accompaniment on the journey of hope and healing for those suffering after the experience of abortion.

Sister Maria Augustine, 33, described her journey from her native Long Island to professing her final vows at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

"After I was working as a teacher on Long Island, it was quite an unexpected call for me. That was nine years ago," she said. "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."

Sister Léonie Thérèse, 35, has assisted the community's newest members through a mission of formation and also provided support and services to women who find themselves pregnant in difficult circumstances in the Philadelphia area.

The Sisters of Life community was founded in 1991 after Cardinal O'Connor, then archbishop of New York, published an article in 1989 in Catholic New York, the archdiocesan newspaper, titled "Help Wanted: Sisters of Life." Eight sisters established the new order on June 1, 1991. It has now grown to more than 100. Their motherhouse is in Suffern.