In a joyful Mass, Sister Agnes Mary Graves professed perpetual vows as a Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma, Michigan at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in Saginaw on Wednesday, Aug. 16.

Her profession of vows comes at the end of nearly a decade of formation and discernment with the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma.

During the Mass, Sister Agnes Mary professed her vows, reading from a handwritten formulary, while kneeling before Mother Mary Christa Nutt, Superior General of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma. After Sister Agnes Mary professed vows, Bishop Robert Gruss prayed a solemn prayer over her. Mother Mary Christa Nutt then placed a ring signifying religious profession on Sister Agnes Mary’s finger, a reminder that she is betrothed to the eternal King, Jesus. Written on Sister Agnes Mary’s ring is the motto, "I do. Amen."

“At the Easter Vigil this past year, when we renewed our baptismal promises, my spirit surged forth as I responded confidently "I do" to each question,” Sister Agnes Mary said about the motto on her ring. “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, life in the Spirit. We are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God, members of Christ, members of the Church and sharers in her mission. In Baptism, I received the special gift of a vocation to religious life, an invitation to follow Christ more intimately as His spouse. Responding to this call to dedicate my entire life to God by special consecration, rooted in Baptism, I have professed the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and the service of the poor, sick and ignorant.”

The motto is a reflection of these vows.

“Christ gives himself to me, and I give myself to him in these nuptial vows.”