From the category archives:

nuns who rock

Mother Teresa’s 9th Anniversary of Death

by Sister Julie on September 5, 2006

It has been nine years today since Mother Teresa of Calcutta died. The Missionaries of Charity, the religious community she founded, marked her anniversary of death with a special feast day. Check out the Washington Post article “Calcutta Nuns Mark Mother Teresa’s Death” (September 5, 2006).

When I was a grad student in Toronto, I lived with the IBVM sisters. There was a Missionary of Charity sister who lived there as well. I got to know her well. When she moved to California, I went for a couple weeks to see her and go on retreat. We visited their convents in Tijuana and San Diego. It was an amazing experience. I learned a lot about Mother Teresa (I was privileged to use her shower bucket in Tijuana) and their lifestyle. For a time, I considered looking into the Missionaries of Charity. I greatly admired (and continue to admire) their unwavering commitment to care for people who are considered the poorest of the poor. I also met some Missionaries of Charity in Haiti when I was an IHM volunteer (pre-religious life for me). In Port-au-Prince the Missionaries of Charity cared for children who were orphaned and often very sick or dying. While there, I did what the sisters did — I held and talked to or cooed at the little children. It was very difficult; and I was only there for two weeks. These women dedicate their lives to serving the poorest of the poor. I pray that Mother Teresa will continue to watch over her sisters and brothers.

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Sister Mary Luke Tobin

by Sister Julie on August 30, 2006

Sister Mary Luke Tobin, a visionary leader who contributed to the renewal of religious life, died on August 24, 2006. Mary Luke was a former president of the Leadership Council of Women Religious and one of only 15 women who were invited to be an observer at the Second Vatican Council.

Though I never knew Mary Luke, her life and work have had a profound influence on my life as a young religious. Not only did she do much for the renewal of religious life, but she herself was a woman of faith who cared deeply for and worked on behalf of women and people who were poor or oppressed. In the book Hope Is an Open Door, Mary Luke writes:

“We know that we do not go through the door alone, or first. First through the door into the Kingdom, says Jesus, will go the poor, the blind, the lame, the oppressed. But if we have accepted the invitation to accompany them by compassion, and to relieve their oppression by action, this door will welcome us also.”

My prayers and the prayers of many go out to the Sisters of Loretto of Nerinx, Kentucky.

The National Catholic Reporter has a nice article about Mary Luke that was posted on August 25.

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Mercy Sisters Promote Catherine McAuley for Sainthood

by Sister Julie on August 11, 2006

The Sisters of Mercy are in the process of promoting their foundress Catherine McAuley (1778- 1841) for sainthood. In 1990, Pope John Paul II declared Mother McAuley venerable, the first major step to sainthood.

An article posted by Catholic News Service (CNS) describes the sisters most recent effort to promote Mother McAuley’s cause for sainthood. The sisters have designed prayer cards that are intended to be “a source of spiritual refreshment for people and also call their attention to Catherine’s cause for sainthood” (Sister Bernadette Bell, RSM).

In the article, Sister Teresa Okonski, RSM, describes her experience of Catherine McAuley:

I felt an awesome connection to her … I learned in a new way the tremendous generosity of this woman … She was a woman who lived totally for God. It was because of her holiness that she was able to do so much in such a short period of time.

Read the CNS article “Prayer cards promote sainthood cause for Sisters of Mercy foundress” (August 10, 2006).

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