Investment Day Brides

During her formation period to become a consecrated sister, the day of a woman’s entrance into novitiate has traditionally been called “investment day.” Novitiate, among many other things, would be the day a woman would begin to wear a formal religious habit (hence the word “investment”). For several decades with the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph and Paola and other communities, women entering would begin the investment day ceremony wearing a wedding dress. Mount Saint Joseph was given permission to open an English speaking novitiate in 1895, and the first class of novices was received in 1896. The tradition of wearing wedding dresses, a symbol of a woman’s spiritual marriage to Christ, continued until 1967. Below is a sample of wedding dresses through the years that Ursulines have worn on their investment day.

Comments

  1. Mary Minden-Zins

    I enjoyed seeing pictures of Sisters Helen Hermerick, Rita Redmond and Celine Leeker on their investment days. Thanks!

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