To God Be the Glory: Sr. Mary Amata's Vocation Story
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| As a solemnly professed nun, Sr. Mary Amata takes her turn as hebdomadarian. She officiates at the Office and in the refectory for a week. |
We prevailed on Sr. Mary Amata to share her vocation story with you. If you are a long-time reader you might remember these previous posts:
Because the gift of my Solemn Profession has been a top item on our blog, a few people have requested my vocation story.
Before God could call me to religious life, He had to get me into the Catholic Church! Through a personal friend, who became my RCIA sponsor, I was baptized at the Easter Vigil in 1992. This friend has been with me all along my journey and flew in from South Carolina for my Solemn Profession. In between these two events is my story.
There was/is a small monastic community of Dominican Sisters in a small town in Michigan. These Sisters decided to start an association with single women to develop their spirituality. They invited six of us to come for a visit and discuss starting this association and it began to take form. There was no mention that this association was to be a vehicle for vocations to their community and religious life never entered my mind. This happened about six months after I was baptized. Three or four months later, I thought God was calling me to religious life, much to my surprise, and the Prioress at the monastery confirmed it.
I entered the monastery and received the name Sister Mary Catherine of Jesus and made my First Profession in 2000 and three years later, I made Perpetual Profession. Later, however, it seemed God was calling me away from that monastery. Through the help of a Dominican Friar, he confirmed God was calling me to another community. He contacted a couple of monasteries of Dominican Nuns and Sister Mary Catharine of this monastery said to come for a one-month visit. Two weeks into that visit, the community and I felt comfortable to start the five-year transfer process according the Constitutions of the Dominican Nuns.
My friend and I drove here and we arrived on my birthday in 2007. For obvious reasons, within a week, I received a new religious name: Sister Mary Amata of Jesus. I lived in the Novitiate for the next year and a half, completing my Visitation year and my second Conical Novitiate. I moved 'downstairs' into the Professed dormitory to integrate into the community for the next three years. With Solemn Profession, I am now officially a Nun of the Order of Preachers. To God be the glory.