Vocation Stories

On October 14th we rejoiced to welcome to the novitiate Sr Mary Catherine, op. (previously Riana George). At the clothing ceremony Sr Teresa, our Prioress General, preached the following sermon:

In August we joyfully celebrated the first vows of Sr Philomena Benedict. Here is a video of the event 

It was in an article by Vivian Boland o.p. that I first read of the metaphor of the Trinity as Silence, Word and Music, and much of what I say is gleaned from that article. I remember Vivian saying he thought the first mention of the metaphor was by a companion of St Augustine.

‘Father, I think I may be going mad’ ‘Have you ever thought of becoming a lay Dominican?’ This is more or less the beginning of my vocation story.  I was doing pro-life work full-time, and finding the relentless round of contemplating horror after horror was getting to me.  I finally thought: ‘So it’s true that killing babies is wrong, but that is not the Good News of Jesus Christ.’  Something had to be done!

At the time I was born my Father was the Catholic, my Mother was not.  A year or so later, after the birth of my first sister, Gillian, my Mother became a Catholic.  So I grew up in a practising Catholic family; a family that went regularly to Mass on Sundays, said night and morning prayers (not always together), went sometimes to Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. When I started primary school, it was a convent junior day school, of the Daughters of Wisdom, a French foundation.  I loved them very much, especially Sr. Angela.  It was in their chapel that our family attended Mass each Sunday.