Alumna Sr. Maria Julia of the Eucharist (Becky Derks ’18) made her first profession of vows with the Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary this past Thursday, August 29. Sr. Maria Julia, who has been cloistered with the Dominicans since 2021, is Christendom’s fifty-third alumnae sister, devoting her life to prayer, penance, and fulfilling the college’s mission of “restoring all things in Christ.”
Sr. Maria Julia graduated from Christendom in 2018, earning her bachelor’s degree in theology. Soon after, she entered the Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, New Jersey, joining the Dominicans and beginning her cloistered life. Her first profession on August 29 marks Sr. Maria Julia’s progress from a novice sister to a professed sister. She is now allowed to wear the black veil of a professed sister to “be recognized as a house of prayer for your Lord and a temple of intercession for all people.”
Sister Maria Julia’s family traveled from Wisconsin to attend, along with a number of friends from her time at Christendom, including her friend and fellow Dominican Br. Linus Martz OP ‘18, who served as deacon for the Mass.
2024 has been a tremendous year for vocations at Christendom, with five alumni ordained to the priesthood as well. While Christendom’s founder, Dr. Warren H. Carroll, founded the school primarily to form Catholic lay people who would impact the world in every field, the school’s vibrant Catholic culture has unsurprisingly helped foster nearly two hundred religious vocations over the past 47 years.
In total, Christendom currently has 109 alumni priests, 53 sisters, 5 brothers, 1 transitional deacon, 1 permanent deacon, 2 consecrated virgins and 10 men currently studying for the priesthood, along with 598 alumna-to-alumnus marriages.
Contributed by Helen Davis ’25.