On Friday, November 15, 2019, Sister Carol Curtis made her final profession of vows to become an Ursuline Sister of Louisville during Mass in the Ursuline Motherhouse Chapel. Sister Carol had previously been a nun with the Discalced Carmelites in Louisville. She lived a cloistered life for 25 years, along with her fellow nuns behind the walls of their monastery—a life devoted to simplicity and prayer. Sister Carol was serving as prioress of the Carmelites when they made the decision in 2015 to move out of their monastery on Newburg Road and sell the building to the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Ursuline President Sister Janet Marie Peterworth shared, “I received a call out of the blue one day in 2015 from Sister Carol, who explained that, ‘The Carmelites were moving out of their building, and would we happen to have any room in the Motherhouse for a few of them to move in?’” Of course, she said yes, knowing they had plenty of room, and soon the Carmelites came.
One of the other Carmelites who came was Sister Mary Theresa Burns, who was cloistered for 24 years. Sister Mary Theresa explored many other communities during this transition period, and it wasn’t until she attended an Ursuline Convocation that she felt, “called to become an Ursuline—to have all these women as my sisters, to be a daughter of Angela.” Sister Mary Theresa made her final profession of vows on Monday, January 27, 2020, the feast day of Saint Angela Merici.