Father Lavastida’s niece receives the habit

Sara Lavastida, the daughter of Maureen and Jorge Lavastida and the niece of Father Jose Lavastida, the pastor of Blessed Francis Seelos Parish in New Orleans,  was a junior cross country runner at St. Michael the Archangel High School in Baton Rouge when she felt a call to religious life. After attending LSU for one year, she applied to the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, Tennessee, in August 2020. On Aug. 10 at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville, she professed first vows and received the habit and a new name, Sister Naomi Grace. Sister Naomi will spend the next two years in prayer and study and hopes to serve as a Catholic school teacher.