Sister Maria Rosa's Clothing Ceremony
More than twenty of Veronica Farrell's friends and family converged to share the happiest day of her life – her espousal to Our Saviour as Sister Mary Rose of the Precious Blood, in honour of S. Rose of Lima, to whom Sister has a special devotion. Only a short year ago she had returned home from her sister Adèle's Clothing (Sr Bridget of Our Lady of Sorrows), resigned her job, and returned to the Convent as a Postulant.
The Clothing Ceremony itself was very moving and beautiful. Led by Sr Therese Marie, the schola sang the joyful Missa VIII - The Mass of the Angels, and the ceremony concluded with a Magnificat. The date of the clothing was 29 September, the Feast of the Archangel Michael. During Father's homliy, he mentioned that a nun outranks a bishop in a certain way, because she is the Spouse of Our Lord. Her prayers are the most powerful of all, because her Spouse, to our way of thinking, is under a moral obligation to please His Spouse.
The brilliant, overwhelming golden sunlight, the snug valley at the lovingly-tended groves of olive, the vineyards, the spearlike poplars, the mushroom-like Roman Pines and the neat, attractive houses with the identical orange tiles that the Ancient Romans used, below the crystal clear deep blue of the sky, all led the gathering to believe that the Blessings of God rest in a very special way on Roma Etérna and the many-storied Alban Hills.
