Sister Erin Muldoon Received as Novice
August 9, Adrian, Michigan – Sister Erin Muldoon, who had entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation as a candidate in October of 2009, was formally received as a novice on August 7. The Rite of Reception took place in St. Catherine Chapel in the context of Vespers on the Eve of the Feast of St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order.
Sister Mary Soher, OP, Vocation Outreach Coordinator, welcomed the assembly, made up of special guests “from near and far.” They included Sister Erin’s parents, Sean and Moreen Muldoon, and her sister, Kelly; of Nashville, Tennessee, and her grandparents, Maxine Muldoon and Dick and Elaine Plageman, from Cincinnati, Ohio; Adrian Dominican sisters and associates; co-workers; other women in initial formation; and women discerning their call to vowed religious life.
During the ceremony, Sister Patricia Leonard, OP, Director of Formation, reflected on the famous passage from the letter of St. James, which declares that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:14-17). “Erin knew she wanted to do something different with her life” and she “listened attentively to her heart.” Sister Pat noted that Sister Erin was especially drawn to the Adrian Dominican Sisters after reading about the Congregation’s commitment to hearing the cry of the poor, and their strong beliefs that work for justice and peace is an imperative of the Gospel.
Sister Pat noted that Sister Erin had put her own faith into action throughout her year as a candidate. Sister Erin was involved in such ministries as Share the Warmth, a homeless shelter set up in Adrian during the winter months; serving Siena Heights University. in campus ministry and as a biology lab instructor. She also had an extended ministerial experience in New Orleans.
Sister Pat noted that, as a novice, Sister Erin will take her place among the women and men who, from the 13th century to the present, “follow in the footsteps of our brother, Dominic” and cherish their call to be part of the Dominican family.
After formally examining Sister Erin’s readiness to enter into a period of intense discernment and testing of her call to vowed religious life, Sister Attracta Kelly, OP, Prioress of the Congregation, formally received Sister Erin into the two-year novitiate. Sister Attracta presented the new novice with a copy of the Adrian Dominican Constitution, charging her to study it and to order her life accordingly.
Her mentors, Sister Mary Alice Naour, OP, and Sister Mary Louise Gass, OP, presented Sister Erin in the preaching garment, a “visible sign of the Order of Preachers” and a connection with Dominicans throughout the centuries. During this ritual, the assembly sang the words of St. Catherine of Siena: “Clothe me with yourself, Eternal Truth.” Sister Attracta then formally proclaimed the beginning of the novitiate, a two-year period which includes the canonical year and the year of study.