Sister Gloria Christi and Sister Mara Grace visit SFXMW

Last night at Saint Francis Xavier, RE students, teachers, staff and parishioners were graced by the presence of Sister Gloria Christi and Sister Mara Grace. The sisters are from the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia Congregation of Nashville, TN. In the first slide, Sister Gloria is on the left and Sister Mara is on the left.


These two young, beautiful sisters talked about their biological families, their new family and best friends in their community. They also talked about their motivation for stepping out of our secular, commercialized  world to serve the Church, and the students in the Dominican Sisters 17 schools throughout the United States.


The sisters described their experience in the convent as becoming "Brides of Christ". Their enthusiasm for life, their commitment, and their love for God and God's people was obvious.


The contrast of the families of the two sisters was amazing. Sister Gloria's family is not your ordinary devout Catholic family that you would expect vocations to come from, her father is Jewish. When asked by one of the students what her family thought about her becoming a sister, she replied " that her father wasn't really that crazy about the idea at first." Sister Gloria is from Greenville, SC.



Sister Mara is a convert to the Catholic faith. She and her siblings converted when her mother married a Catholic after the passing of her biological father. Two of her brothers are now priests in the Legion of Christ congregation, and her father is in formation to be deacon for the Diocese of Arlington, VA. Sister Mara's surname is Mattingly and she is from Lexington, Ky. She attended Paul Dunbar High School there.


What a wonderful gift these two sisters are to the Church, their community, and to all of  us last night. With amabassadors like Sister Gloria Christi and Sister Mara Grace it is not surprising that there are 27 first year postulants in their convent in Nashville and the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia Congregation are the fastest growing women's religious order in the country.