Wooster native professes first vows with Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, Nashville

Sister Rachel Thérèse Dugan Wood, O.P., a former parishioner of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Wooster, was one of seven women who professed the simple vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as members of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, Tennessee on Aug. 10.

Sister Dugan Wood is the daughter of Thomas Wood and Mary Dugan Wood, St. Mary, Wooster parishioners. She is a graduate of Wooster High School and attended The Catholic University of America, where she majored in theology and English. Sister Dugan Wood also earned a Master of Arts in English from the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas and is working toward a Master of Arts in Teaching at Aquinas College in Nashville, which is owned and operated by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia.

The Mass for the rite of first religious profession was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville with Nashville Bishop J. Mark Spalding as the main celebrant. Father Stephen Moran, St. Mary pastor, was in attendance.

In addition to the seven sisters making their first profession of vows, four sisters professed their perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience with the Nashville Dominicans on July 25, and 17 received the habit on Aug. 8.

The Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia was established in 1860 in Nashville, where its motherhouse is located. The sisters are dedicated to Catholic education.

The community of 330 sisters serves in 52 schools throughout the United States and abroad, with mission houses in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Vancouver, Canada; Bracciano, Italy; Elgin, Scotland; Sittard, The Netherlands, and Limerick, Ireland.

Click here to learn more about the congregation.