MERIDEN, CT (02-14-2021) – The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist joyfully welcomed a new novice during a simple ceremony in the Chapel of St. John. Mother Miriam Seiferman, FSE, Mother General, received Janice Tumanon of Vancouver, B. C. into the novitiate, and gave her the name Sister Mary Christa. Prior to entering the Community, Janice was employed as a medical laboratory assistant/phlebotomist at St. Paul Hospital and at Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. She then worked at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver as an administrative assistant for the Chancery and for the Archbishop’s Office.
The new novice had chosen the Scriptural account of the Visitation, Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, for the reading to open the ceremony. Mother Miriam explained that Sister’s new name picks up on her devotion to Mary and her growing relationship with Christ during her formation. Mother Barbara Johnson, FSE, Vicar General, assisted in the clothing. She, Mother Shaun Vergauwen, FSE, Co-foundress, and Mother Miriam blessed Sister Mary Christa.
Sister Mary Christa is the daughter of Irene and Theodore Tumanon and is the younger sister of her brothers Andrew and Theodore, Jr.
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