Sister Thao Professes First Vows

The Solemnity of Corpus Christi was an extra-special one for us at Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey this year, as we witnessed our Sr Thao’s self-offering to the Lord in First Vows.
As is customary, we gathered in the Chapter room after Lauds to hear a reading from the Rule of St Benedict on the joyful oblation of monastic obedience:

“It is love that impels them to pursue everlasting life; therefore, they are eager to take the narrow road of which the Lord says: Narrow is the road that leads to life (Matt 7:14). They no longer live by their own judgment, giving in to their whims and appetites; rather they walk according to another’s decisions and directions, choosing to live in monasteries and to have an abbot over them. Men of this resolve unquestionably conform to the saying of the Lord: I have come not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me (John 6:38).” — Rule of St. Benedict 5.10-13

Sr Thao read her profession schedule, written in her own words, and signed it in the presence of her community. She then prayed sections of Psalm 40 together with the community as a prayer of entrustment to God:
“In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”

Read Mother Sofia’s Talk here

After Mass, she is welcomed by the community with great joy – especially by her companion in the novitiate, postulant Caitlyn!

Please pray for Sister Thao, Caitlyn, and all those responding to God’s call.

For those interested in exploring joining our way of life, we invite you to visit our page Becoming a Trappist