New vocations are springing up at Queen of Peace Monastery. As the World Day of Consecrated Life approaches Feb. 2, Prioress Sister Claire Rolf shares some thoughts on what it means to be consecrated.
At the heart of all our lives is the celebration of the Eucharist: the celebration of “that moment of utter vulnerability and generosity, when Jesus took the bread and broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, ‘Take and eat, this is my body, given to you,’” wrote Father Timothy Radcliffe OP, former Master General of the Dominican Order (1992-2001).
“This moment of pure gift is at the centre of the Gospel.”
It is fitting, therefore, that in the heart of the Church, there are followers of Jesus who, like Mary, freely place themselves in the hands of God, the Church, humanity and all creation, saying “let it be done unto me according to Thy will.”
What paradoxical freedom! By vowing obedience we become free; free to serve, to learn, to go places, to carry responsibility, to become what we would never have imagined possible. We deliver ourselves into the hands of God, and our superiors, to be instruments at the service of the common good.
Implied in this vow of obedience is the promise to observe evangelical poverty and chastity. By embracing poverty we affirm that consumerism, and gaining material wealth will not be an essential part of our lives and, by our vow of chastity, Father Radcliffe wrote we are “witnesses to the deep love that is friendship.”
We confide to prayer the generous young women who are just beginning their Consecrated lives: Sonia, Sister Imelda-Marie, Sister Diana Marie and Sister Marie Etienne. These young women are freely choosing to follow Jesus in the way of Saint Dominic at Queen of Peace Monastery in the Upper Squamish Valley.
Sonia will receive the Dominican habit and begin her novitiate on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which is the World Day of Consecrated Life (Feb. 2). Last September, Denise received the habit and the new name Sister Imelda Marie.
We were also blessed to celebrate the First Profession of vows of Sister Diana Marie and Sister Marie Etienne last fall. It is with trust and love that they are giving themselves to God, the Church, and all creation, for they believe that, hidden in the heart of the Archdiocese and the world, their prayerful lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience will be as our fundamental constitutions say: “mysteriously fruitful for the growth of the people of God.”
The World Day of Consecrated Life was first celebrated internationally in 1997. It is observed on or near Feb. 2 every year in the Archdiocese of Vancouver. This year, due to pandemic restrictions, Archbishop J. Michael Miller will celebrate a livestream Mass on Feb. 1.
