The session I am sharing today is not like most and is not something I have had experience with before.  Minette Sternke became a Consecrated Virgin into the Catholic Church on June 20th of this year.  I was not available on the date of her consecration but she contacted me afterwards to get more images to document her day and her connection to God, her friends, and her dog Mollie.

As a Catholic, I consider myself somewhat knowledgable with the Church and am familiar with many of it’s traditions. That being said, when Minette contacted me I was not aware of what it meant to become a Consecrated Virgin.  After talking more with Minette,  she let me know that in a lot of ways it is like becoming a “nun without a convent” because she is married to the Church but she lives on her own and has a job to support herself.

Since becoming a Consecrated Virgin, Minette has been able to really give her time and contribution to the Church.  Minette is able to give back to the Church primarily through Deaf Ministry because Minette herself is deaf.  She provides Communion for those who are Deaf and cannot attend Mass and does whatever else she can to help out with parish life.

For her session, we were able to photograph Minette and her bridesmaids at Holy Cross Church and then after at some outdoor locations around Champaign.  One of Minette’s bridesmaids, Marietta, is her twin sister and is also Deaf.  Her other bridesmaid, Tracey, is one of her best friends and through the years has become like a second sister to her.  It was apparent how much they all meant to each other and very special to photograph.

Although this session is not my typical post, I wanted to share it with my blog viewers and talk a little bit about the new experience I had with meeting Minette, hearing her story and photographing her with all of the things that mean so much to her.