Three Sisters of Life professed their perpetual vows on Thursday, August 6, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, surrounded by more than 1,500 clergy, sisters and brothers religious, family members, and friends.
Archbishop Ronald Hicks served as the Mass’ principal celebrant, returning to the celebration of public Masses after undergoing eye surgery in July. The day also marked the six-month anniversary of his installation as Archbishop of New York.
Sr. Eden Marie Veazey, Sr. Elena Marie Wathen, and Sr. Maria Annunciata Rabalais took their vows on a humid August day that celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration.
Connecting the day’s events with that feast’s observance, Archbishop Hicks called it “a mountaintop moment” for the three Sisters professing their vows. He explained his long-standing admiration for the Sisters of Life.
“When I first arrived as the new Bishop of Joliet, Illinois, in 2020, one of the very first things I did there as a bishop was I invited a small group of the Sisters of Life to come and start giving talks and informing my pro-life groups there in the diocese. I was so impressed by them, and their witness and their mission, I even asked them to send a group of Sisters of Life to Joliet. But each year, they simply said, they did not have the capacity,” he said.
After trying, and writing more letters, and praying for Sisters of Life to go to Joliet, Archbishop Hicks said, “In God’s wonderful sense of humor, and God’s beautiful and wonderful providence, it turned out that if the Sisters of Life would not come to Bishop Hicks in Joliet, Bishop Hicks would have to go to them in the Archdiocese of New York.”
The profession of vows
Each sister professed her vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience before Superior General Mother Mary Concepta. Each sister also professed a special fourth vow to protect and enhance the sanctity of human life. Individually, each of the three also received a ring, representing her marriage to the Eternal Bridegroom, Jesus.
In a particularly touching and providential moment, the parents of Sr. Eden Marie arrived at the cathedral just in time to join their daughter in bringing up the offertory. The Veazeys’ flight from Louisiana was canceled on Wednesday, and despite transportation delays after arriving in New York, the new Sister’s parents were able to accompany her at that key moment. “It was a miracle,” Theresa Veazey told The Good Newsroom in an interview.
“It is such a tremendous gift, really one beyond what I ever could have hoped or to receive to belong totally to Jesus, and I just feel grateful and blessed and in awe of the mystery of it all,” Sister Elena Maria told The Good Newsroom after the Mass.
The Sisters of Life were founded in 1991 after Cardinal John J. O’Connor, then Archbishop of New York, published an article in Catholic New York in 1989 entitled “Help Wanted: Sisters of Life.” Eight sisters established the new order on June 1, 1991. It has now grown to more than 100, the order remains a pillar of the pro-life movement in the United States and elsewhere. Their motherhouse is in Suffern.
Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Espaillat concelebrated with Archbishop Hicks, along with Bishop James Massa of the Diocese of Brooklyn and rector of St. Joseph’s Seminary, and Archbishop Michael McGovern of Omaha, Neb.
Biographies of the Sisters who took perpetual vows on August 6, 2026
Sr. Eden Marie Veazey, 34, graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2014. Prior to entering the Sisters of Life in 2018, she was studying to be a Marriage and Family counselor while involved in youth and retreat ministry in the Diocese of Baton Rouge and the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
She is currently missioned to Villa Maria Guadalupe, the Sisters of Life retreat center in Stamford, Conn. She previously served in the New York Visitation Mission, providing services and support to women who find themselves pregnant in difficult circumstances.
She is the daughter of Ted and Theresa Veazey of Slidell, Louisiana, and has two older brothers, Beau (wife, Annah), and Brian. The family’s parish church is St. Luke the Evangelist in Slidell.
Sr. Elena Marie Wathen, 31, graduated from Hillsdale College in Michigan in 2016 with a B.A. in History and Art. Before entering the Sisters of Life in 2018, she was the Program Coordinator at the Newman Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
She is currently missioned to the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of New York. Her past missions include upholding the community’s novices in formation, and assisting with retreats in Stamford, Conn.
She is the daughter of James and Carol Wathen and the fifth of six children: Michael (wife, Kelley), Stephen (wife, Bridget), Claire, Angela (husband, Matt); and Mark. The family’s parish church is St. Peter’s in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Sr. Maria Annunciata Rabalais, 31, graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a B.A. in General Studies in December 2017. Prior to entering the Sisters of Life in 2018, she served at the Missionaries of Charity Summer Camp and Catholic Services of Acadiana and twice went to Alaska on mission with the College Missions Company.
Sr. Maria Annunciata is currently upholding the community’s novices in formation. Previously, she served in retreat ministry in Stamford, Conn.
She is the daughter of Arthur and Karen Rabalais of Youngsville in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, and has one younger brother, Cullen (Lily, wife). The family’s parish church is Sacred Heart of Jesus in Broussard, Louisiana.