July 10, 2013

Amanda Carrier, daughter of local deacon, becomes Sisters of Mercy novice

 

REGIONAL

(Photos courtesy of Sisters of Mercy)

Staff report

HARTFORD, Conn. – Amanda Carrier (center in above photo), the daughter of Deacon Roger and Carol Carrier, was received as a novice for the Sisters of Mercy-Northeast Community on Saturday, July 6, at St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church in Hartford.

Deacon Carrier serves at St. Mary Parish, Westfield. The Carrier family resides in Granby, Conn., and are members of St. Mary Parish, Westfield.

More than 125 Sisters of Mercy, Mercy associates, companions in Mercy, family members and friends were present at the ceremony, during which Amanda was officially named “Sister” and received the Mercy Cross which identifies her as a sister of the Sisters of Mercy-Northeast Community.

According to the Sisters of Mercy Constitutions, “The novitiate program provides the opportunity for a novice to intensify her commitment to prayer, community living and service; deepen her understanding of the charism of mercy within the church; and discern the authenticity of her call to the profession of vows.”  

Mercy Sister Patty Moriarty (pictured left in above photo), who, as the Northeast Community’s incorporation minister, had guided Amanda during her three years of candidacy, reflected on Amanda’s journey.

“For Amanda, candidacy has been a time of becoming more rooted in her call to Mercy, a call filled with a future full of hope for her and the entire Mercy community,” said Sister Moriarty. 

After Amanda received the Mercy Cross for the first time, Mercy Sister Lindora Cabral (at right in above photo), Northeast Community president, pronounced, “We welcome you into deeper communion with us and we name you our Sister Amanda.” The pronouncement was followed by applause. 

Sister Carrier had spent the last three years as a candidate learning and experiencing the Mercy lifestyle and ministry while deepening her relationship with God. Upon entering Mercy, she became the chef at St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen in Middletown, Conn. – her ministry position during her candidacy. She now will enter the novitiate of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas in St. Louis, Mo.

“I couldn’t be happier to enter a community full of such wisdom, hope and love,” Sister Carrier said after the reception ceremony.

She began her journey to religious life while a student at Northwest Catholic High School, where two favorite teachers – both laypeople – encouraged her to volunteer and think deeply about her faith. Her older sister, who eventually married after a prayerful discernment process, also was an influence.

“I don’t think I would have been so willing to discern religious life if she hadn’t discerned her own path,” Sister Carrier said. 

At the University of Dayton in Ohio, where she initially studied aerospace engineering, Sister Carrier became involved in student-run worship services and changed her major to religious studies. By the time a campus minister gave her the VISION Vocation Guide, published by the National Religious Vocation Conference, she had amassed two thick binders of literature about various religious orders.

VISION’s website had a quiz an interested reader could take to see which religious orders could be a good fit. “Mercy came up as a result,” Sister Carrier recalled. 

The Sisters of Mercy is an international community of Roman Catholic women who dedicate their lives to God through vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and service. Through prayer and service, the sisters address the causes and effects of violence, racism, degradation of the Earth and injustice to women and immigrants. The sisters sponsor and serve in more than 200 organizations that work with those in need in the U.S., Central and South America, Jamaica, Guam and the Philippines. More about the Sisters of Mercy can be found at www.sistersofmercy.org.

Having already explored the ministries of some other religious orders, Sister Carrier said, “Mercy hospitality was what spoke so strongly to me – not just how sisters interacted with the poor, but also how they interacted with each other.”

The 27-year-old is a former Girl Scout who enjoys blogging in her free time. Art journaling and walking a labyrinth are two of her favorite spiritual practices. Joan of Arc is her patron saint.  “I’ve always admired her courage,” she said.

Before entering the novitiate in mid-August, Sister Carrier will spend the summer volunteering at St. Mary Home in West Hartford, Conn., visiting Mercy Farm in Vermont and participating in an immersion experience on Indian Island in Maine.