GLENDALE — The sound of applause filled St. Pancras Church on May 16 as three women religious renewed their vows and were recognized as the founding sisters of the Daughters of Divine Mercy Missionaries, a
new private association of the faithful.

The occasion recognizing Sisters Monica Okon, Imelda Effiong, and Faustina Quayson was marked by a Mass that Sister Maryann Lopiccolo, the episcopal delegate for religious for the Diocese of Brooklyn, described as “a great beginning.”

Sister Monica said she was overwhelmed by joy after renewing her vows and called the day a moment she could not have achieved “without God’s help.”

“Yes, yes!” she said. “With the new association, we go where God is leading us.”

During the Mass, Sister Maryann accepted the renewal of evangelical vows of the three sisters, marking the start of the new group.

“Ultimately, the purpose is to live the Gospel under the charism of divine mercy,” Sister Maryann said. “Eventually, as the group grows … they can become a public association and be formally recognized by the Church.”

The Mass was celebrated by Msgr. Steven Aguggia, pastor of St. Pancras, who during his homily described the sisters as people who live by example, leading others into a “deep commitment to God’s mercy.”

After Mass, Msgr. Aguggia said it was “an honor” to recognize the new association and that he had been looking forward to the occasion for several months.

“The three sisters started this private association of the faithful, which is the first step in the hopes that they will eventually become a religious community,” Msgr. Aguggia said.

“What a joy to have them here at my parish, welcoming everybody to witness them take their vow, and begin this new endeavor.”

The three women share not just the order but also a history. Sister Monica and her niece, Sister Imelda, were once part of the Handmaids of the Holy Child in Nigeria.

They both left the order at different times, according to Sister Monica, but coincidentally, they ended up in the same order once again.

Sister Faustina and Sister Monica work together as staff chaplains at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, New York. It’s a service that Sister Monica said she will use to fulfill the mission of her new order.

“That’s where God has called me to be able to visit the sick, the elderly, and visit them with compassion, comfort them in their sorrows, and be able to listen to people who are lonely and wish to express themselves,” Sister Monica said. “It’s a calling that I feel that everybody is welcome into.”

Sister Imelda, who has been a nurse for 12 years, works as a medical-surgical nurse in Indianapolis. With the new mission, she said she will continue her call to service as a nurse.

“I put all my work in God’s hands,” Sister Imelda said. “Working as a nurse, I’m serving the people, like Jesus did, healing the sick while he was on Earth.”

Sister Imelda said that although the three founders are the head of the association, she doesn’t want future sisters to be dissuaded by that, emphasizing they will all be “working together for the glory of God.”

Sister Maryann, who knows each of the sisters personally, describes them as “committed to living the Gospel” and surely able to grow the group over time.

“They are faith-filled women, they’re committed, they’re wonderful in ministry,” she said. “Their hearts are in the right places, and they want to do this, and they want to do this together.”