Community Corner

Northwest Catholic Graduate Received into Sisters of Mercy

Sister Amanda will spend the summer volunteering at St. Mary Home in West Hartford before entering novitiate.

In a special reception ceremony held July 6, Amanda "Mandy" Carrier, a graduate of Northwest Catholic High School, was received into the Sisters of Mercy Northeast Community as a novice, according to a release.

More than 125 Sisters of Mercy, members of the community and family joined in the celebration at St. Patrick – St. Anthony Church in Hartford, during which she was officially named Sister Amanda.

The release from the Sisters of Mercy describes the ceremony:

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Sister Lindora Cabral, RSM, Northeast Community president, questioned Amanda, “What do you ask of the Sisters of Mercy?” 

Amanda replied, “I ask to be received into the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.”  

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...Following a “rite of reception” that recalled Amanda’s baptism, Sister Patty drew the sign of the cross on the young woman’s eyes, ears, lips, heart, hands and feet while Sister Lindora pronounced a blessing. Moments later, a beaming Amanda received the Mercy Cross for the first time. Smiling, Sister Lindora pronounced, “We welcome you into deeper communion with us and we name you our Sister Amanda!” Everyone in the church burst into applause."

To qualify for the novitiate program, Sister Amanda spent three years as a candidate experiencing life with the Sisters of Mercy. During that time, she worked as the chef at St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen in Middletown.

Before that, Sister Amanda, daughter of Deacon Roger and Carol Carrier of Granby, began her journey to religious life as a student at Northwest Catholic High School.

After graduating, she studied at the University of Dayton in Ohio, initially majoring in aerospace engineering. But after getting involved with a student-run worship group, she changed her major to religious studies. She took an online quiz designed to match students with religious orders an Mercy came up as a match.

“Mercy hospitality was what spoke so strongly to me – not just how sisters interacted with the poor but also how they interacted with each other,” she said. “I couldn't be happier to enter a community full of such wisdom, hope and love.”

The 27-year-old is a former Girl Scout who enjoys blogging in her free time. Art journaling and walking a labyrinth are two of her favorite spiritual practices. Joan of Arc is her patron saint. 

Before entering the Novitiate of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas in St. Louis, Missouri in mid-August, Sister Amanda is spending the summer volunteering at St. Mary Home in West Hartford, visiting Mercy Farm in Vermont and participating in an immersion experience on Indian Island in Maine.

According to the release, the Sisters of Mercy aim to address the causes and effects of violence, racism, degradation of the Earth and injustice to women and immigrants, through prayer and service in the U.S., Central and South America, Jamaica, Guam and the Philippines. For more information about the Sisters of Mercy visit sistersofmercy.org.


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