Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist John Mary Sullivan, a who attended St. Gregory School and St. Mary's High School in Phoenix, professed perpetual vows of chastity, poverty and obedience Aug. 5 at Holy Angels Church in Meriden, Conn.
She, along with Sr. Monica Navalta, professed her vows with her entire family, largely from Phoenix, in attendance. Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell celebrated the Mass. Sr .John Mary's nieces and nephews sung the responsorial psalm with the Franciscan Sisters in formation. Several members of Sister John Mary's home parish, St. Gregory the Great, traveled to Meriden for the profession. Around 57 family members and 20 friends attended.
As Mother Shaun Vergauwen, Mother General, received Sister John Mary's vows, she affirmed her mission to the “domestic Church” through fostering the integrity of marriage and family life as a marriage and family counselor.
Sister John Mary has her Masters of Theological Studies from the John Paul II Institute for studies on Marriage and Family and a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Central Connecticut State University. She is currently a Marriage and Family Therapist at the Franciscan Life Center, a licensed psychiatric outpatient center.
Sr. Monica's guests from out of state represented friends and professional colleagues from her home country, the Philippines, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Long Island, Princeton, Toronto and Halifax. Mother Shaun's response to Sister Monica's profession of vows emphasized Sr. Monica's global call as “an international sister” given to the needs of the Church throughout the world, wherever she is missioned. Sr. Monica currently serves the Church in the Holy Land through her work at the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
