Sister Marisa Revert Font, M.D.

A few months before my Perpetual Profession to God as a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, I asked my mother to get a simple gold ring for me, and I asked her to inscribe the words "Amor Meus" inside.

One day she was running an errand near the jewelry shop, and she went in and asked them for the ring. Thinking she remembered the words, she asked them to write "Amor Sumus" inside.

I am not a Latin expert, far from being one, but I know that what she said instead means "we are love," and I am quite pleased with that.

The day I made my vows, I remember particularly the words Sr. Olive Bordelon, General Superior, pronounced as she placed the ring in my hand: "Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ." He is my love (Amor Meus) and I believe that as long as I remain in Him, we are love (Amor Sumus), and that neither death nor life, not things present, nor things to come, not anything at all can ever separate me from that love. I am now permanently bonded to God and to the Congregation.

Before I pronounced my vows, I received the blessing of Sr. Olive, as well as of my family, my friends, and the Sisters present, as we called upon God and all the Saints with a beautiful Kyrie that acknowledged the many times in my life I will continue to call upon God; moments of joy, moments of sadness, moments of strength and moments of weakness, when I find myself falling... or rising.

I remember that moment of blessing and how it empowered me to pronounce my vows with freedom and quiet joy. I also remember experiencing a great desire to serve God's people and to be generous and courageous as Mary in doing that. Sometimes it takes the courage of an Amazon to follow Christ as a consecrated woman. Jeanne de Matel used that image and I like it.

The symbolism of the Rite of Sprinkling and Bishop Joseph Fiorenza's homily reminded me of my Baptism. I reflected on the consecration of my Baptism, when exactly four days after I was born I was baptized. I was bathed in the flowing waters of salvation, in the blood of Christ, and I died with Him, to rise in the Spirit, the Paschal Mystery of our daily lives.

A picture of my sister Juana holding me in her arms the day I was baptized was at the foot of the altar, as well as one with my grandparents the day of my First Communion and one with Sr. Margaret Whooley the day I became an Affiliate in the Congregation. It was a way of including the prayers of those who were/are such a big part of my life and are no longer with us.

Later during the ceremony, my brother Luis brought a statue of Our Lady of Montserrat, the black Madonna from Catalonia. My two nieces, Laura and Sara, brought some beautiful roses as gifts, followed by the bread and wine that my older brother, Celso and his wife Carmen presented. It was a nice little procession enhanced by the rhythm of a sweet Kenyan song that Sister Rose Nyambura Githuka played.

After Communion, Sr. Angelica Gonzalez and Laurie Julian sang a traditional song of Our Lady of Montserrat in Catalan! My parents started singing it as did some Catalan friends. It was a very special moment for all of us and I heard that it was so for many of those attending. The song calls our Lady "Rose of April" and it was our gift and prayer to Mary on the Feast of the Assumption, the day I made my vows.

I am full of gratitude to God and all of my Sisters. Gracias.

<  Sister Stories

Sister Stories