Maria Tram Bui Enters the Dominican Sisters of Peace as a Candidate

Columbus, OH – On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Catholics celebrate the sinless birth and life of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus. This holiday was another sort of celebration for the Dominican Sisters of Peace, as the Congregation welcomed Maria Tram Bui, 41, as a candidate on December 7, 2020, the vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Born in 1979 in Binh Gia, Vietnam, Tram and her family, including her eight siblings, immigrated to America in 1999. The family moved to Houston, TX, in 2005, where she attended Christ the Redeemer and Our Lady of Lourdes churches in that diocese.

Tram earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Lubbock, TX, in 2010. She served as a full-time physical therapist at a short-term stay skilled nursing facility, North Houston Transitional Care.

Tram was initially introduced to the Dominican Sisters of Peace through our Kentucky Sisters, where she also heard the call of God to become a healer through her career in physical therapy. After she returned to Texas to continue her education, Sr. Mary Vuong, another Dominican Sister of Peace who ministers as a physical therapist in Texas, invited Tram to look again at her calling to religious life.

“Meeting the Dominican Sisters of Peace has made me feel very much at home – welcomed to the Community,” Tram says. “I am blessed to experience the joy and caring that they have shared with me.”

Tram was welcomed to the Congregation in a virtual ceremony held at the House of Welcome. Prioress Patricia Twohill and Vocations Director June Fitzgerald joined by Zoom call. Sr. June delivered the preaching during her welcome ceremony. Vocations Minister Mai-Dung Nguyen, OP, attended via Zoom Wichita, KS. She gave the Responsive reading and offered a prayer for Tram’s family in their native Vietnamese.

Tram is the daughter of Nghiem and Hanh Bui, and has four sisters, Teresa, Kieu Anh, Phuong, Lyly, and four brothers, Hoang, Tai, Trung, and Thanh.  She also has two nieces and eight nephews.

During her candidacy, Tram will live at the Dominican Sisters of Peace House of Welcome in Columbus, OH. She will continue her career in physical therapy as she continues to discern her call to religious life.

The Dominican Sisters of Peace have seven women in various stages of formation and ministry. Cathy Buchanan and Tram Bui were welcomed into the congregation with their local convent communities in New Haven, CT, and Columbus, OH, respectively. Canonical Novice, Sr. Annie Killian entered our Collaborative Dominican Novitiate (CDN) in Chicago, IL.  Second-year novice Sr. Ellen Coates returned to Columbus, OH from the CDN in August 2020.  Sr. Phuong Vu professed her First Vows in December 2020.  Both Sr. Ana Gonzalez and Sr. Margaret Uche professed First Vows in 2019, and are currently in ministry as they continue formation.

To view a video of Tram Bui’s welcome ceremony, click here. 

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