Three new sisters for Pierced Hearts

By Sr. Ana Margarita Lanzas, SCTJM - Archdiocese of Miami- Vicar for Religious

Sister Ana Margarita Lanzas
Special to the Florida Catholic

MIAMI | The Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus of Mary are celebrating the first profession of vows of three of their novices.

Sister Maria Inmaculada del Corazón Eucarístico de Jesus, Sister Rachel Lucia of Cruciform Love, and Sister Marie Elizabeth of the Fountain of Redeeming Love made their first profession May 31, 2022, the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at a Mass presided by Archbishop Thomas Wenski at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Kendall.

The joyful celebration was attended by many representing the new sisters’ Indian, Dominican, Nicaraguan and Anglo-American cultures. Following are brief biographical sketches of the new sisters:

“We only have one life and it is worth it to give it to the Lord!” Sister Maria Inmaculada said that phrase resonated in her heart throughout her profession of vows. Born and raised in Los Chiles, San Carlos, a municipality in Rio San Juan, Nicaragua, she is one of eight children from a Catholic family with strong Christian values. While working as a psychologist at a Catholic school and a pro-life institute, Sister Maria Inmaculada met some of the Apostles of the Pierced Hearts, the lay branch of the Family of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, who serve in Nicaragua. When their foundress, Mother Adela Galindo, brought the official pilgrim relic of St. John Paul II to her hometown, Sister Maria Inmaculada’s conviction about her vocation to religious life was strengthened. She said she knew she was called to elevate very high the reign of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary in the whole world.

"Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" This is what Sister Rachel Lucia said her soul proclaimed throughout her first profession of vows. Raised in a Catholic Malayalee (from the area of Kerala, India) family, she lived a life full of the sacraments, prayer, and retreats from her childhood. During high school, she encountered the witness, guidance, joy, and maternal love of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary. At the age of 15, she took part in the World Youth Day in Poland where she clearly heard the call to religious life while praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Her love story with Jesus continued to unfold, and at the age of 18 she entered the convent. Sister Rachel said she is filled with the Holy Spirit and desires to embark on this journey to conquer souls for Christ with love.

Freedom, liberation, fullness, love, joy, and gratitude: Those are some of the words that express what Sister Marie Elizabeth felt at her first profession of vows. She is the first in her Catholic family from the Dominican Republic to be born in the United States. In college, she asked herself some fundamental questions: “Who am I? What is my purpose and mission? How will that affect my future spouse?” During her search for answers, she made her consecration to Jesus through Mary where she discovered a deep desire to serve. This led her to volunteer at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. While there, she realized that her purpose in life was to serve the Lord in all things and at all times, for his greater glory and the salvation of souls. As she continued to seek more answers, the Lord confirmed that religious life was the deeper answer to all her questions and that the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary would be the soil where the seed of her vocation would flourish. What most attracted her to their Marian charism was their fourth vow of “total Marian identification and availability.” Sister Marie Elizabeth is from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Kendall and she desires to go across the mountains of humanity to witness to the redeeming love of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary so that many hearts may leap for joy.

Sister Ana Margarita Lanzas is vicar general of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary and director for Religious in the Archdiocese of Miami.