News & Events

Sr. Emmanuela Le's final vows

February 2, 2009.

(Grand Prairie, TX) -- Sr. Emmanuela Le professed her perpetual vows of chastity, poverty and obedience at a special Mass at 10 am Saturday, Jan. 31, at Jesus the Good Shepherd Convent Chapel here.

The Most Rev. Kevin W. Vann, JCD, DD, bishop of Ft. Worth, TX, presided at the mass and accepted Sr. Emmanuela's vows on behalf of the whole Church. Sr. Sally Marie Kiepura, CSFN, provincial superior, acceptrf Sr. Emmanuela's profession on behalf of the province and the entire international congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth (CSFN).

Before the mass, Sr. Emmanuela's family held a traditional Vietnamese blessing ceremony outside the chapel as the sisters watched.

Sr. Emmanuela, 30, became a CSFN affiliate in 1999 and joined the congrgation as a postulant in 2000. She spent nine years in formation -- two years as a postulant, two years as a novice, and the past five years as a temporarily professed sister, making her temporary vows on an annual basis. She spent her final week before making her perpetual vows on retreat.

A native of Vietnam, Sr. Emmanuela emigrated to the U.S. with her family in 1985 when she was seven years old. After a year in Baltimore, the family settled in New Jersey. The youngest of nine (six boys, three girls), Emmanuela attended Catholic elementary and high schools, where she was taught by Franciscans and Sisters of Charity. She first encountered the CSFNs in 1999 while on a Marian Day Pilgrimage in Carthage, MO, and soon found herself on a two-week visit to the Grand Prairie, TX, convent.

During her years of formation with the community, Emmanuela completed her B.A. in interdisciplinary studies at the University of Texas at Arlington, while working part-time at Holy Family of Nazareth Parish serving Irving and Grand Prairie, and volunteering on weekends at the local Vietnames parish, St. Joseph.

Another step in the formation process included an August 2008 pilgrimage to Poland, an experience Emmanuela calls 'very profound.' "My whole formation, I learned about our Mother Foundress (Blessed Frances Siedliska), so to be able to walk in her footsteps -- it just had a great impact on my life. It was like going back to the roots of my own mother."

Provincial Superior Sr. Sally Marie Kiepura, CSFN, said, "I speak for our Nazareth community in the U.S. when I say how delighted we are to welcome Sr. Emmanuela. Her youth, her joy in the Lord bode well for our Nazareth mission -- to spread the kingdom of God's love to families."

Sr. Edyta Krawczyk, CSFN, a provincial counselor and initial formation liaison for the CSFNs' Holy Family Province (U.S.), says of Sr. Emmanuela: "She came to our Nazareth family bringing with her the love that she has received in her family of origin. Through Sr. Emmanuela, God has enriched our Nazareth family with her quiet yet strong loving presence and her gentle yet courageous heart. Witnessing her process of growth and 'falling in love' with God and Nazareth's spirit and mission, I often felt called to rekindle the freshness of my love for God and Nazareth and its spirit and mission."

***Sr. Emmanuela was born in Nhatrang, Vietnam. Her parents, Can and Mai Le, now live in Yukon, OK; their home parish is Immaculate Conception in Oklahoma City.

Visit our photo gallery from the Rite of Profession:

http://www.nazarethcsfn.org/news-events/photo-gallery.php?thisGalleryID=20

And please check back with us as we add more photos to this gallery.

***After a post-vows visit with her family, Sr. Emmanuela returned to work at Holy Family Parish. Her colleagues were delighted to see her -- and surprised her by decorating her car with all the lates 'Just Married' fashions! The shy Sr. Emmanuela had to be convinced to drive back to Jesus the Good Shepherd Convent with the decorations intact. Her commute became a blessed journey: Her fellow drivers were waving and tooting their car horns, and pretty soon, Sr. Emmanuela was blessing them right back. See for yourself:

http://www.nazarethcsfn.org/news-events/photo-gallery.php?thisGalleryID=26#

***On March 28, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth (CSFN) will welcome another sister professing her perpetual vows: Sr. Nahida Al Sawa.

***In the U.S., the CSFNs have some 370 sisters in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Puerto Rico. The international congregation, headquartered in Rome, has some 1,400 sisters serving in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.

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