Sister Mary Mercy Lee, FSE
Sister Amaris Salata, FSE
MERIDEN, CT (05-26-2024) – Over 300 guests filled the Chapel of Saint John at the motherhouse of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist to witness Sister Mary Mercy Lee and Sister Amaris Salata profess perpetual vows on Holy Trinity Sunday. Mother Miriam Seiferman, Mother General, received the Sisters’ vows in the presence of the Most Reverend Christopher J. Coyne, Archbishop of Hartford, sixteen priests and deacons, family, friends and the Franciscan Community. The Sisters’ parents, Bob and Maryalyce Lee, and Chris and Mary Salata, walked their daughters to the altar in the entrance procession and presented them to Mother Miriam and Mother Barbara Johnson, Vicar General.
Sister Mary Mercy, formerly a professional writer and editor, has been a religion teacher and campus minister at St. Paul Catholic High School in Bristol during her years of religious formation. She inaugurated an “Assistant Campus Ministers” program for students to be involved in planning and executing religious events at the school. A few years earlier, when she entered novitiate in the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, her final blog as an employee of CatholicMatch online dating service, entitled “I Quit CatholicMatch for God,” attracted so many hits that the company server crashed. The article has since been read over 15,500 times. In the coming weeks, Sister Mary Mercy will be entering a new mission, as she is assigned to the Rome Center and will work at the Vatican.
Sister Amaris entered the Community as a young professional working in corporate offices as a Certified Public Accountant. She has since earned a Masters in Marriage and Family Counseling and is a full-time therapist at Franciscan Life Center, the Community’s counseling center in Meriden. She is an assistant program director for the Archdiocese of Hartford Respect Life Ministry. Frequently, she presents talks on the life issues, is a member of the Archdiocese task force to raise awareness of the tragedy of human trafficking, and is a spiritual consultant for young adult groups.
The Franciscan Community welcomes the newly-perpetually professed Sisters during this celebratory 50th anniversary year, and looks forward to the abundant life they will bring forth as spouses of Christ vibrantly witnessing to the Franciscan, Eucharistic spirit.
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