What is Profession?

Sister Kelly Moline will make her perpetual profession of vows on St. Dominic’s Day, August 8, and you are invited to attend via livestream to join in the celebration!

• The Call

  Sister Kelly will be called forward and invited in this very public forum to declare before God and all those gathered that she intends to make profession in the Order of Preachers.

• The Litany of Saints

  Many sisters remember the moment they prostrated themselves on the altar while the congregation sang over them the litany of saints as one of the most powerful experiences of their lives. During this time, Sister Kelly will be stretched out on the sanctuary floor and will not see, but will hear the voices of the congregation praying over her in song. Watch and listen carefully. Imagine what it might feel like to be so close to the moment when she will promise a life of faithfulness and service in the presence of her family, friends, and Dominican sisters.

• The Vows

  Consecrated life consists of a commitment to three vows, obedience, poverty, and chastity. Dominicans are unique among religious orders because we pronounce only one vow—obedience—through which we are bound to adhere to all three evangelical counsels. Watch for the moment Sister Kelly places her hands in the hands of the prioress general and says: “I make profession and promise obedience to God, to blessed Mary, to blessed Dominic, and to you Sister N., the prioress general of our congregation the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, and to your successors, according to the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitutions of this congregation. I will be obedient to you and to your successors until death.”

• Obedience

  While the word has developed negative connotations in some circles, for consecrated religious women and men it is an important word. It comes from a Latin word that means "to listen." Listening to the movement of God's spirit within, to the cry of Earth and the cry of the poor, to the needs of those we serve and the deepest desires of the Church to form disciples of Jesus—these things are at the heart of our Dominican vocation.