Consecrated religious sisters serving in the diocese have taken the next step in their vocation by professing final vows.
Sister Mary Aurea Tesha, 33, a sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Kilimanjaro, professed final vows on Sunday, Aug. 10 at Columbus St. Aloysius Church.
Sister Mary, the second born of four children, is a native of Tanzania. The motherhouse for the Sisters of Our Lady of Kilimanjaro is located in Tanzania by Mount Kilimanjaro.
Five sisters in the religious order currently serve in Columbus. Three serve at Mother Angeline McCrory Manor health care facility and two at Cristo Rey Columbus High School. They reside in the old rectory at St. Aloysius.
The order’s charism is simplicity and readiness to do the will of God for His glory and the salvation of humanity. Its consecrated religious focus on evangelization, education and health services. They serve in schools, hospitals and health centers, parishes and in social work.
Sister Mary works as an office assistant at Cristo Rey. She has been at the school since May 2024 and previously served at Columbus Holy Family soup kitchen, which was her first assignment upon arriving in the diocese in the fall of 2023.
She received word two years ago from the order’s superior general that she would be transferred to the Diocese of Columbus. Sisters in the order take a vow of obedience, and so, if asked to move, they obey.
“I responded positively,” Sister Mary said. “And when I came here, I was so happy because the people here are very welcoming, and they invited me in a good way, and I met my fellow sisters who were already here.”
Sister Mary entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Kilimanjaro in 2011 after graduating from high school. She professed her first vows in 2016.
“I felt a strong attraction to religious life when I was in high school,” she said. “I began to pray to see if this was really God’s will, not just my desire.
“I felt like God wants me to do something, so I shared with one of the sisters who was in charge of the school where I was studying, and those sisters, they were the Sisters of Our Lady of Kilimanjaro.
“She told me, don’t ignore it. You have to keep praying and to see which life will be good for you in serving God. For me, I decided to become a nun because I knew that, by becoming a nun, I will be able to help God’s people, and I will be able to be very close with Jesus Christ.”
Upon joining the congregation in 2011, Sister Mary spent a year each in various stages of formation: aspirancy, candidacy and postulancy. Her novitiate lasted two years before making first vows.
She spent nine years between her first and final profession of vows this month, known as a juniorate.
“During that period, you really deepen your relationship with Jesus, testing yourself if you are ready to give Him your all – your entire life,” she explained.
After making first vows, Sister Mary served in apostolates in Tanzania caring for the order’s consecrated sisters in a community hospital, serving in the local cathedral with the liturgy and religious education, and as a secretary in a secondary school. She also earned a college degree during her juniorate.
In the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist order, Sister Josefa Langhals, OP made her final profession of vows on July 29 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the location of the order’s motherhouse.
Sister Josefa spent the past two years as a middle school religion teacher at Worthington St. Michael the Archangel School. Several of the order’s consecrated religious sisters serve as teachers at St. Michael.
Sister Maria Caritas Schaefer, OP, 25, professed first vows with the Dominican Sisters on July 31. Sister Maria Caritas is a native of Columbus and parishioner at Columbus Ss. Augustine and Gabriel Church.
Bishop Earl Fernandes concelebrated both Masses in which Sisters Josefa and Maria Caritas professed vows. Priests of the Diocese of Columbus were also present.
Many St. Michael parishioners made the trip north to witness the occasion. The parish organized a pilgrimage for the professions, and nearly 50 individuals from the school and parish attended the vows and reception afterward at the motherhouse.
Sister Maria Caritas entered the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in 2022. She attended the former Christifideles School in Granville through 12th grade.
She received a degree in nursing from Franciscan University of Steubenville. She spent a year in Pittsburgh as a neonatal intensive care unit nurse before entering religious life.
She will serve as a teacher assistant at a Catholic school in Ann Arbor this year.
Sister Josefa was raised in northwest Ohio. She entered the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in 2017 and professed her first vows in 2020.
She graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in theology. After spending two years at St. Michael, she has been reassigned to teach high school theology in Ann Arbor.
The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, a recent addition to the Dominican Order founded by St. Dominic in the 1200s, began in 1997.
They embrace the New Evangelization called for by Pope John Paul II with a focus on proclaiming the Gospel of Life and educating youth. The primary apostolate is serving the mission of Catholic education in schools as teachers and administrators.
The order prioritizes evangelization, common life, cloister, times of silence, the Divine Office and daily Mass. It has more than 140 consecrated religious sisters. The average age of the sisters is 37.
