8/15/2022 (Nashville, TN) – Eight religious sisters of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, professed perpetual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience on July 25, 2022. Among those who made their Perpetual Profession was Sister Monica Marie Slonkosky, O.P., a former parishioner of St. Augustine Parish in Minster, in the Diocese of Cincinnati, OH.

Sister Monica Marie is the daughter of Mary and the late Casey Slonkosky of St. Augustine Parish. Sister is a graduate of Minster Local High School, OH; Holy Cross College, South Bend IN, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts; and Aquinas College in Nashville with a Master of Arts degree in Elementary Education. Sister Monica Marie is currently serving at the St. Cecilia Motherhouse in the Office of Mission Advancement.

The Mass of the Rite of Perpetual Religious Profession was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville on July 25, 2022. The Most Reverend Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America, was the main celebrant and homilist. He was joined by concelebrating bishops Most Reverend J. Mark Spalding (Bishop of the Diocese of Nashville), Most Reverend J. Peter Sartain (retried Archbishop of Seattle), and Most Reverend David Talley (Bishop of the Diocese of Memphis).

In addition to the sisters making perpetual profession of vows, six sisters professed their first vows of poverty, chastity and obedience with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia on August 10, 2022.

In 1860, the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia was established in Nashville, where its Motherhouse is located. The Sisters of St. Cecilia are dedicated to the apostolate of Catholic education. The community of 300 sisters serves in 53 schools throughout the United States and abroad, with mission houses in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Vancouver, British Columbia; Bracciano, Italy; Elgin, Scotland; Sittard, The Netherlands, and Limerick, Ireland. For more information on the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation, please visit their website at www.nashvilledominican.org.