Moments before the ceremony was to begin, Sister Jacqueline Steinbrenner leaned in close to Sister Nancy Rose Gucwa '80, took her by the hand and whispered, "You look beautiful."
Sister Gucwa, her brown hair covered by a black veil, smiled and whispered back, "Thank you."
Meanwhile, Sister Virginia Anne Argenziano pinned a flowered boutonniere on the lapel of Gucwa's father, John Gucwa, as guests entered the Adoration Chapel at the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Monastery in Clyde, Missouri.
The event was Sister Gucwa's final monastic profession on August 31, a ceremony that sealed her commitment to the religious life of her order.
"This day of my final monastic profession is truly the happiest day of my life," Gucwa said after the ceremony.
The Staten Island native, U.S. Military Academy graduate, and former finance professional made her first monastic profession in 2009. She entered the Benedictine Sisters community in 2006 and retired from the U.S. Army Reserves in 2008.
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