Threshold - Summer 2005

Profession: "I Do, "Vou"
by Cecilia Olson, OSB

The words “lifetime,” “permanent,” and “total commitment” stir apprehension in the hearts of many people. In a culture that proclaims the primacy of self-fulfillment, of doing it “my way” and of having marriage contracts with escape clauses, anyone willing to say “I do” and mean it for the long haul witnesses not only the obvious willingness to risk, but rejects what society upholds as some essential elements of happiness. In the midst of all this, some are still willing to take this faith-filled step. These past few months, our community experienced the joy of two perpetual professions and one triennial profession. Before our eyes, three young women radiated trust, hope, deep faith and a burning desire to live Gospel values not alone, but within a monastic community.

Perpetual profession does not happen quickly. By the time she is professed, a woman has lived in community for a minimum of five years. Hopefully, any illusions of instant sanctity have gradually evaporated and she is eager to commit her entire self to seek God in prayer and community. She not only acknowledges her own strengths and weaknesses, but also recognizes that she is becoming part of a community of very ordinary people with an extraordinary desire to prefer nothing to Christ.

When she is to be received, she comes before the whole community in the oratory and promises stability, fidelity to monastic life, and obedience. (RB 58:17) Unlike those religious who take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, a Benedictine’s promises are somewhat different. Inherent in the profession is the desire to live a celibate life in monastic community, seeking to live simply and to open oneself daily to a discerning, listening and obedient stance toward life. In keeping with the Rule of St. Benedict, the new member makes her promise to God in a public ceremony, surrounded by her community, family and friends.

We would no more think of missing a profession than a parent would think of missing a son’s or daughter’s wedding! Just as a married couple attending a wedding find themselves reflecting on the meaning of their own vocation of marriage, a monastic profession serves as an opportunity for each sister to reaffirm her own vocation to monastic life.

The new member begins the verse: “Receive me, Lord, as you have promised, and I shall live; do not disappoint me in my hope.” The whole community repeats the verse three times. Then the new member prostrates herself to ask prayers, and from that very day she is to be counted as one of the community” (RB 58:21). The new member raises her empty and open hands as she sings these words, called the “Suscipe.” She gives witness to total dependency on God and embraces in faith the unknown future with the community. In turn, the community echoes the same words, uniting their own offering to that of the newly professed.

The prostration and covering of the new member with a pall is an ancient ritual that guests find especially intriguing! The sister, lying face down in the sanctuary, is covered with the same pall that is placed on the casket of a deceased sister. The community asks God to strengthen her desire and resolve to live the monastic life. At the Easter Vigil, the Church prays that “all who are buried with Christ in the death of baptism may also rise with him to newness of life.” Baptized Christians promise to put on Christ and the pattern of his life. In profession, we recall our baptismal call to die and rise with Christ and to refuse to be mastered by selfishness and sin. As the pall is lifted, the community sings: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead and Christ will shine upon you!”

The member writes out this document herself and with her own hand lays it on the altar (RB 58:20). The newly professed does not read her promise from a beautiful commercially printed script, but rather writes it with her own hand. She takes it to the sacred table where the gifts of bread and wine are offered to God. Thus, the new member indicates the voluntary and free choice to offer her very self to God.

This declaration is made for the first time when the member finishes her novitiate. She makes a temporary profession of three years as she and the community move towards a permanent commitment.

The span of one life is brief and most of us grow slowly in recognizing its wonders. Each monastic profession here becomes a graced gathering for the entire community, calling us to renew our own commitment to the wonder of this monastic journey of faith. As many of us know, making a lifetime, permanent and total commitment is truly one of life’s greatest joys.

Where there is great love,
there are always miracles.
Miracles rest not so much upon faces
or voice or healing power
coming to us from afar off, but
on our perceptions being made finer,
so that for a moment
our eyes can see and
our ears can hear
what is there about us
always.
Willa Cather

(Refer to the photo-journalism story of a monastic profession at Mount St. Scholastica.)

Sister Barbara Langel considers the Benedictine way of life a perfect fit. “I am filled with a deep sense of contentment and peace,” she said as she made her profession on January 16. Daughter of Vern and Delores Langel of Omaha, she is the second Omaha native to make profession at Atchison within the past year.

After receiving a degree in art from the University of Nebraska, she earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy at Texas Woman’s University. She has had opportunities not only to deepen her spiritual life, but to enrich her artistic life. Her stained glass work contributes to the beauty of the monastery. Glass insets enhance some doors and a large “Woman at the Well” graces the main hall. The joy she feels in her art “is a way for me to become centered and add a different dimension to my prayer. I feel I let go and let my hands do the creating.”
Press release and pictures




With the word “Vou,” Portugese for “I will,” Sister Giselia Inacio Morais (below, center) made her profession on May 20, 2005, at Mineiros, Goias, Brazil. Her community, Mosteiro Santa Maria Mae de Deus, is a dependent priory of the Mount. Giselia is a student and is involved in parish ministry, especially through her musical talents of keyboard and voice. To unite her to the larger community, Sister Mary Collins was accompanied to the profession by Sisters Mary Mel L’Ecuyer, Elaine Gregory, Noreen Hurter, Cecilia Olson, Alberta Hermann and Mary Palarino.

Sister Giselia (center), with postulants Camila and Joselaine, and a profession cake topped by Saints Benedict and Scholastica.


Sister Barbara Smith, OSB, made her first monastic profession on April 3. She was raised in Edwardsville, Illinois, the daughter of Myrna and Donald Smith. After earning a degree in zoology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, she also worked as a hospital chaplain and at the Benedictine monastery in Belcourt, N. D. before entering Mount St. Scholastica in 2002. She has recently completed her certified nurse assistant training and works in Dooley Center at the monastery.
Press release and pictures