CHILDS, Md. — Sister Rachel Therese entered the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales as a novice during the opening liturgy for Mount Aviat Academy on Sept. 18. She spent the last year as a postulant, when she was introduced to community life, Salesian spirituality and the congregation’s various apostolates.
Originally from the Diocese of Arlington, Va., Sister Rachel Therese met the Oblate Sisters a few summers ago at a summer program for women interested in “growing closer to Christ and learning about consecrated life,” according to the Oblate Sisters. She stayed in contact with the congregation while studying at Mary Washington University.
Before entering the community last November, she was a substitute teacher for schools in Virginia. After arriving in Childs, she helped in the pre-kindergarten program, substituted at Mount Aviat and helped with religious education at nearby Immaculate Conception Parish in Elkton.
After two years as a novice, Sister Rachel Therese can ask to profess vows for the first time if she believes that is what she is called to do, according to the congregation.
Oblate Father Paul Colloton, the superior of the Oblate community in Childs, presided at the Mass, which also included the renewal of vows for Sister Lawrence Therese Hudson, who marked 60 years with the Oblate Sisters.
