NEW HAVEN, CT – On Saturday, November 1, 2014, Margaret Uche was welcomed as a candidate with the Dominican Sisters of Peace at a ceremony held at Albertus Magnus College in St. Catherine of Siena Chapel. Sr. Margaret Ormond, OP, Prioress, welcomed Margaret in the name of the congregation. Sisters and Associates from the area, including Mission Group East, the local community and the Ministry of Welcome Team: Sr. Pat Dual, OP, Sr. June Fitzgerald, OP, and Sr. Pat Twohill, OP, participated. Also in attendance were Margaret’s brother, Dr. Gregory Uche, representing the Uche family, and Dr. Julia McNamara, President of Albertus Magnus College. Sr. Cathy Arnold, OP, Formation Minister, presided at the prayer service.
Margaret is a pediatric nurse who has been ministering to medically fragile children in New Orleans, LA. While there, Margaret lived in Magnificat House of Discernment, a project of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, where women experience community life and discern their vocations.
Sr. Pat Twohill, OP, Vocation Minister said, “I am very inspired by Margaret’s deep trust in God’s Providence, her sensitivity to those who are sick and suffering and her continued listening with the ‘ears of her heart’ to the call she perceives to Dominican vowed life. It was a joy to see her take this first step into Candidacy and to witness her excitement. My prayer is that she finds much happiness on this grand adventure into religious life.”
While discerning, Margaret had an opportunity to participate in a congregational retreat held in Great Bend, Kansas, in 2011. She was excited to finally meet some of the Sisters who had begun the Amokohia Girl’s Secondary School in Nigeria where she studied as a child.
In New Orleans, the experience at Magnificat House was a key element of her discernment. “I moved in to Magnificat House because I needed clarity as I discerned a vocation to religious life. I needed to experience what it would be like to live in community, and I wanted to meet different congregations of women, in order to find the one that was right for me. I am drawn to the charism of preaching the Gospel to a global community, I hope to bring Jesus to everyone I meet and glorify God in everything I do as a Dominican Sister of Peace,” Margaret added.
“I am grateful to the Archdiocese of New Orleans for establishing the Magnificat House of Discernment, to the Mentors who directed the House, and to everyone who has helped me during my time there.
Anticipating life in New Haven with the Dominican community there,” Margaret said, “I feel happy to be here to continue my discernment with the Dominican Sisters of Peace and experience their life of prayer, community, study and service. In New Orleans, I got to meet many Dominican Sisters of Peace and Associates, and I felt very connected with them. Everyone I met touched me, in a way a special way.”
Margaret studied biology at California State University and later earned a BSN in Nursing from the University of Houston, TX. She was a member of St. Laurence Parish, in Sugarland, Texas. She hopes to continue her work in pediatric nursing in New Haven as she begins her candidacy.
Welcome, Margaret!