Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart

Since I was raised by parents who were committed Catholics, I learned from early childhood to love God and Our Blessed Mother and make them a part of everyday life. The several parishes that I lived in as a child all had weekly devotions to Our Lady which were enthusiastically promoted and faithfully attended. Thus a Marian spirituality was absorbed both at home and at church. Later our parish began 24 hour adoration on the First Friday of each month. Our Lady always draws her clients to her Son and so I found this to be a real treat.

The give and take of healthy family life prepared me for community living. It was knowing priests and sisters who loved their vocation and were obviously happy in it that kindled my desire to become a religious too. I had the joys of 'mothering' my baby sister who was thirteen years younger than I. I loved that relationship but I did not feel called to be a mother myself. It was the custom in our parish to view a religious film in the school hall after Stations of the Cross on the Fridays of Lent. One week when I was in my freshman year of high school we has a documentary on Trappist monks. This was my introduction to contemplative life and for a long time I day dreamed about joining some kind of group whose members devoted their lives directly to the service of God. I didn't realize then that there were monasteries for women too, but I longed for the opportunity to be alone with God in silence and prayer. When I would be saying my night prayers and begin thinking about this possibility, I chided myself for distractions in prayer because it seemed so impossible. Since I had been educated by Dominican Sisters and our parish was staffed by Dominican priests, I felt that I somehow belonged to the Order of St. Dominic. But I thought that this meant teaching or nursing, the only apostolates in which Dominican women were engaged at the time. Then one day at the end of my junior year there was a box of altar breads in the church sacristy with Corpus Christi Monastery's return address on it, and that is how I learned about the existence of women contemplatives -- and not only contemplatives, but Dominican contemplatives.

A visit to the monastery was enough to convince me that God could be calling me to enter here. The Golden Jubilee celebration for one of the Sisters was the moment of decision. From then on I daily asked Our Blessed Mother to obtain for me the grace to become a good Dominican nun. Her answer seemed to be evident when all the details for entrance fell into place.

One of my favorite parts of monastic life is the full liturgical celebration of the great feasts. In the Divine Office and the Mass we are privileged to join with the angels and saints in praising the Holy Trinity in thanksgiving for God's abundant goodness to mankind. As our voices swell in loving worship we allow our minds and bodies to become the lowly instruments on which the Holy Spirit plays celestial music. Seven times a day we come together as a community to sing the praises of God and beg His blessing on ourselves and on all of our brothers and sisters in the human race. We end each day with the chanting of Compline and the Salve procession. Our Dominican history tells us that at times of great trial Our Lady herself appeared in choir and blessed each of the brethren as they sang the Salve Regina, the final hymn of the day in her honor. We carry on this tradition as we walk in procession to her statue and each of us is sprinkled with holy water by the officiating Sister.

After Vatican II there were many adjustments to make. These were largely improvements which adapted the ancient monastic life to the women of our culture. The consecration of our lives to God through our vows enhances all the ordinary tasks of daily life and they become the fruitful means of obtaining graces and blessings for souls throughout the world. Whether I am packing altar breads or washing dishes or sewing vestments or working in the garden, I can offer my work in union with the saving work of Jesus for the salvation of all the world. When I kneel before the Lord, I carry in my heart all the pains and joys and needs of mankind.

Now as I have come the year of my Golden Jubilee, I am so grateful to God for leading me by each step along the way. He gradually drew me to this contemplative life by placing in my path people and events which prepared me for the vocation He had planned for me. The graces have been abundant throughout the years. It has not always been easy. At times it has been painful. But it was always worth the effort.

Return to list of Sisters or Return to Home Page