Great vocation story:
A former journalist and an ex-barrister have said they are “living the dream” after taking the next step in their new lives as nuns.
Martina Purdy [shown in the video above, offering a reflection last year on mercy] previously a political correspondent at the BBC and reporter with The Irish News, and one-time lawyer Elaine Kelly were speaking after making their first profession of vows, more than three years after joining the Adoration Sisters.
The two women joined the community based in the Falls Road within weeks of each other in 2014, both wanting to embark on a life dedicated to their faith.
In a special ceremony held in St Peter’s Cathedral in west Belfast on Saturday, the pair reached the next formal stage in their journey.
Speaking to the Irish News, Sister Elaine said it was the best day of her life.
“It was a beautiful ceremony. The church was packed. They were standing at the back, it was absolutely amazing. For me personally it was the best day of my life so far,” she said.
“It was such a joyful occasion that we got to share with our family and friends.
Read it all and see pictures here.
Two years ago, Martina Purdy talked about her vocation with the BBC:
“To be honest with you, there’s no way that I conceived of a Sister Martina of the Blessed Sacrament.”
Martina Purdy’s decision to quit her job as one of BBC Northern Ireland’s best known journalists and become a nun was a shock to many people last year.
Now, over a year on, she has returned briefly to the BBC to speak about her vocation and her new way of life.
She told BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback programme that her transformation still seems a bit strange, even to herself.
“If I’m going up the stairs in the convent, I catch my shadow – the shadow of a nun – and that kind of sometimes surprises me,” she said.
…A self-proclaimed “chatterbox”, she admitted that she has been described as an “à la carte Catholic” and had envisioned foreign aid work as a glamorous role.
So her decision to enter a west Belfast convent, where her order are expected to spend most of their day in silence, was all the more unexpected.
She gave up all her possessions, including her house and car, to join the Adoration Sisters on the Falls Road.
Sr Martina explained that her vocation was a “slow burn” that began about eight years ago when she visited a church during a holiday to Peru.
