Profound joy: Omaha native makes her first vows as a Carmelite sister

Carmelite Sister M. Anunciata Grace took a step forward in religious life when she professed her first religious vows on July 1 at her convent in suburban St. Louis.

Declaring vows of poverty, chastity and obedience was more than just a formality for Sister M. Anunciata Grace, who entered the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus nearly four years ago.

The profession of vows changed her, she said.

As she knelt at the feet of the provincial superior of the community – before a congregation that included her religious sisters and a small group of family and friends from the Archdiocese of Omaha – she placed her hands in the hands of the superior. There, Sister M. Anunciata Grace read the words of profession.

Even in her immense joy, she said, she felt the weight of glory in the moment.

“As I spoke the words ‘I vow to the Holy Triune God,’ I just choked up,” she said in an interview earlier this week. Reflecting on those vows “makes me think of Our Lady, her fiat,” she said.

“I just imagine that she went outside” after consenting to become the Mother of God, “and everything around her was normal, and yet something so profound had happened within her.

“I felt that way,” the sister said. “Everything around me is still the same as it was … but this very real change has happened. I am married to God now.”

Sister M. Anunciata Grace professes her first vows before her Carmelite superior. CARMELITE SISTERS OF THE DIVINE HEART OF JESUS

Her vows of poverty, chastity and obedience are made for one year. She will renew them every year for five years before making final vows.

Sister M. Anunciata Grace (the M. in her religious name stands for Mary but is not pronounced out loud) is the former Erin Jones, who was active at St. Vincent de Paul Parish and St. John Paul II Newman Center, both in Omaha.

On July 1, several of the people who’ve helped her discern her vocation were on hand for the profession of vows at the convent in Kirkwood, Missouri. They included family members, friends, priests and seminarians from the Archdiocese of Omaha.

Archbishop Emeritus George J. Lucas was the main celebrant at the Mass. As a former priest and native of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, he has maintained ties with the Carmelite community.

Archbishop Emeritus George J. Lucas hands Sister M. Anunciata Grace a lit candle as part of the ceremony. Serving at the Mass were Archdiocese of Omaha seminarians and friends of Sister M. Anunciata Grace. CARMELITE SISTERS OF THE DIVINE HEART OF JESUS

During the Mass, she received a white mantle, a black veil, a crucifix and a lighted candle from Archbishop Lucas. From her Carmelite sisters, she received a rosary that she now wears around her waist – and a new title to add to her name: Sister M. Anunciata Grace of the Gentle Heart of Jesus.

When Sister M. Anunciata Grace professed her vows before her superior, Carmelite Sister Anna Maria, it was not only significant for the young religious sister, but for her mother, too.

“I couldn’t see Sister M. Anunciata Grace’s face because she was turned from us,” her mom, Kathy Jones, said. “But I could see Sister Anna Maria’s face. … She just looked at her with a mother’s love.”

CARMELITE SISTERS OF THE DIVINE HEART OF JESUS

“It was like me, being the mother who bore her, I’m looking at this new mother, this provincial superior, just delighting in my daughter. And I felt so comforted.”

Her father, Adam Jones, said that his daughter’s vows expressed her choice of “placing God first in her life.”

“The joy and love with which she committed herself to Him and His will can hardly be expressed in words,” he said. “She knows Jesus on a very personal level.”

Sister M. Anunciata Grace and her parents, Kathy and Adam Jones of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Omaha, are about to take part in the offeratory procession. Included in the gifts they were carrying were the religious vows the sister had just professed. The vows were placed on the altar to be offered with the Eucharistic sacrifice. CARMELITE SISTERS OF THE DIVINE HEART OF JESUS

Sister M. Anunciata Grace had been moving toward the day of her first vows since entering the convent. She was a postulant for two years, then a novice for another two.

Carmelite Sister Mary Michael, the vocation directoress for the community, helped form Sister M. Anunciata Grace during those four years.

“Sr. M. Anunciata Grace has a magnanimous heart and a joy for the Lord that touches others’ hearts profoundly,” the directoress said. “Her deep capacity to receive and understand the ‘other’ … expressed in and through the character of her religious consecration, will be a tremendous gift to all those she encounters in our apostolates here in St. Louis, to our congregation, and to the whole Church.”

Their Carmelite community has had numerous reasons for celebration. Two Carmelite sisters renewed their vows at the same July 1 Mass, while another celebrated her 75th jubilee at age 97. The following day, another sister professed her final vows.

On hand for Sister M. Anunciata Grace’s profession were Fathers Andrew Roza, Dan Andrews and Joseph Sund, all priests of the Archdiocese of Omaha.

“It was special to have all three of them here,” she said.

Pictured with Sister M. Anunciata Grace are, from left, Father Dan Andrews, Archbishop Emeritus George J. Lucas, Father Joseph Sund and Father Andrew Roza. CARMELITE SISTERS OF THE DIVINE HEART OF JESUS

Father Roza, a former archdiocese vocations director, had served as her spiritual director in college. He “walked with me through a lot as I discerned religious life,” she said.

Before the vows celebration, Father Roza led a weeklong retreat for the Carmelite community, “which was such a special gift,” Sister M. Anunciata Grace said.

Father Andrews, pastor and director of the St. John Paul II Newman Center, knew her from her time there. Father Sund became acquainted with Sister M. Anunciata Grace when he was still in the seminary and serving at St. Vincent de Paul Parish.

Archbishop Emeritus Robert J. Carlson of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and Bishop Emeritus John R. Gaydos of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri, also took part in the Mass.

Archbishop Carlson serves as a chaplain for the Carmelite sisters, and Bishop Gaydos lives at the religious community’s St. Agnes Home, an assisted living center.

Sister M. Anunciata Grace has been serving at St. Agnes Home since her profession.

“I’ll be working pretty closely with the residents and with their family members,” she said, “which is really exciting for me.”

The sisters also operate a daycare center for 2- to 5-year-olds. Sister M. Anunciata Grace has experience there, too.

The religious community is both contemplative and apostolic. The sisters have their apostolate of working with seniors and children but also a hidden life in their convent and in prayer.

Sister M. Anunciata Grace has found her place there.

“I am filled with such joy,” she said. “It’s been really beautiful to reflect on the gifts He gives when we give ourselves to Him. We receive so much more in return.”

Though the young sister lives and serves about 400 miles from Omaha, she still remembers the archdiocese she grew up in.

“The whole Archdiocese of Omaha has a special place in my heart,” she said, “and I very much keep all of you in my prayers.”

CARMELITE SISTERS OF THE DIVINE HEART OF JESUS

CARMELITE SISTERS OF THE DIVINE HEART OF JESUS

CARMELITE SISTERS OF THE DIVINE HEART OF JESUS