AS107 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on March 28, 2012. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Guest: Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson. Topics include: nuns in history books, following God’s call into chaos, saying yes to God when tempted to say no, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

SPECIAL GUEST: Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson, professor of History at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, where she also holds appointments in the departments of religion, political science, and women and gender studies.

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• I want to study the history of Catholic sisters. Can I find that in a Women’s Studies course? In a U.S. History course?
• Why does history include primarily the experience of men but not women (let alone nuns)?
• In ecclesiastical history, which is often organized by a bishop’s term of office, where do Catholic sisters and nuns fit into that kind of organizational scheme?
• Dr. Thompson offers suggestions around how to research the history of congregations of women religious
• What if I take a risk and follow where I think God is calling me, and then all hell breaks loose? Is it a sign I should quit? Is God testing me or what? The nuns discuss a number of themes including Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s understanding of consolation and Saint Alphonsus of Liguori’s understanding of “il distacco” or “detachment“
• In scripture, Mary said yes to God without hesitation. But what if we’re tempted to say no?

On the broadcast we mentioned a number of great resources on Catholic sisters and nuns in history. Check ‘em out!

• Dr. Thompson’s own 18-lecture series on The History of Women Religious in the United States. The publishers of this series, Now You Know Media, have provided the first lecture for free. Listen to the Introduction and Lecture 1: Discovering Foremothers: Origins of Women’s Religious Life.
• Dr. Thompson on our show “In Good Faith” back in 2011
• Building Sisterhood: A Feminist History of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Women and Gender in North American Religions. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1997. (be sure to check out the bibliography which we’ll post as a PDF asap!)
• Weavers of the Tapestry – the story of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland by Kathrine E. Bellamy, RSM (2006)
• Rebel, reformer, religious extraordinaire: the life of Sister Irene Farmer by Geraldine Anthony (1997)
• Work by Elizabeth Smythe including Wisdom Raises Her Voice: the Sisters of St. Joseph (2001)
• Work by Rosa Bruno-Jofréas at the University of Ottawa on Canadian French-speaking sisters
• Conference on the History of Women Religious

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

“Do not think I am sitting here to pass the time away telling you that
religious life is poetry. It is the roughest kind of prose.”
- Mother Justina Reilly, IHM (b. 1848)

Tis the season to be romantic — an awesome thing to behold! Just a few letters away however, is the word romanticize — and that can be anything BUT awesome.

Let me start with my unabashed biases:

1. I love religious life.
2. I love being a Catholic sister in community with my nuns.
3. I never lived pre-Vatican II religious life having been born after the fact.
4. I love all things “nun” — from old-school nun stories, finding a beloved copy of Bernie Becomes a Nun, bumping giddily into nuns at the airport, meeting corporate board room sisters, and more!
   …. I honestly can’t help myself!

Sister Chloe the Convent Cat reads "Bernie Becomes a Nun"

Given #3 above, I have spent a lot of time reading and asking questions and learning about religious life not only in my Sitz im Leben but religious life throughout the years, across the globe, and spanning theologies and cultures. I’m no expert, but my explorations have been enough to give me a good flavor of religious life as a whole and to see myself situated within it.

One of the challenges in not having experiencing religious life before the second Vatican Council is that we can sometimes romanticize what it was like — nuns in their flowing habits, serenity and silence, compliance both within and outside of the convent, blissful singing and playing of guitar, etc. Aspects of these things were and continue to be accurate and beautiful! Yet it gets a little dicey when we begin to imagine that that is all it was or when we focus only on the poetry of religious life and forget the rugged prose.

In addition to the sisters and nuns whom I know, there are many great resources to check out in terms of seeing what religious life was and is really like. For historical scholarship I always turn to Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson, the leading expert on the history of Catholic sisters and nuns in the United States. Here are some links for Dr. Thompson:

• Guest appearance on In Good Faith – an hour-long show including a section where Dr. Thompson discusses what “the “good old days” of religious life was actually like.
• An 18-lecture series on The History of Women Religious in the United States. The publishers of this series, Now You Know Media, have provided the first lecture for free. Listen to the Introduction and Lecture 1: Discovering Foremothers: Origins of Women’s Religious Life.
• “Concentric Circles of Sisterhood” – an essay that appears in the book Building Sisterhood: A Feminist History of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Monroe, Michigan (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997)
• Faculty and publications information at her page on Maxwell School of Syracuse University

For theological and scriptural scholarship I turn to my own nun, Sister Sandra Schneiders.

• Guest appearance on our very first episode of In Good Faith
• Another guest appearance for our A Nun’s Life fundraiser where Sister Sandra talked about saints, saints, and more saints! Father James Martin, SJ, is also featured on this podcast — he’s got some great stuff on religious life and vocations as well!
• A series of essays on religious life initially published by National Catholic Reporter and now gathered in the book Prophets in Their Own Country
• Books on religious life by Sandra Schneiders

This is only a smattering of what is out there, but very good places to begin!

So let’s talk about past and present religious life? What are “romanticizations” that you’ve encountered? What questions do you have about “the good old days” and today?

P.S. Check out the last night’s Ask Sister where we tangled with this topic as well — recording will be up by Saturday!

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

Icame across this article yesterday about Prof. Thompson, one of my fav historians! Through her work, she tells the stories of U.S. women religious and how they have shaped U.S. culture and society. Plus she’s a lively writer–she makes history come alive! I am grateful to her and all historians who help to share accurate, authentic stories about sisters!

Sister Julie and I were delighted to have Prof. Thompson join us on a live podcast last year. To hear a recording of the conversation, go to the In Good Faith webpage.

Are there sisters you know whose stories should be told? Please share your stories here and on the A Nun’s Life Discussion Forum

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

IGF002 In Good Faith with historian Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson recorded live on October 7, 2010. Produced by aNunsLife.org ministry. Our hosts talk with Dr. Thompson about the history of U.S. Catholic sisters and nuns and find out some surprising things.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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Guest: Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson

Dr. Thompson is professor of history at Maxwell School of Syracuse University, where she also holds appointments in the departments of religion, political science, and women and gender studies. She is a leading expert on the history of Catholic sisters and nuns in the United States.

Topic: The History of Catholic Sisters and Nuns in the U.S.

The sisters talk with Dr. Peggy Thompson about calling and history, her experience working with women’s religious communities across the country, the significance of Catholic sisters and nuns in the context of the American experience, and what the “good old days” of religious life was actually like. We’ll also talk about how many of the stories of founders and pioneer sisters can inspire us today in our daily quest for God.

Dr. Thompson recently did an 18-lecture series on The History of Women Religious in the United States. The publishers of this series, Now You Know Media, have provided the first lecture for free. Listen to the Introduction and Lecture 1: Discovering Foremothers: Origins of Women’s Religious Life.

Show Notes:

• from broadway aspirations to history scholar
• history, it’s not about “dead things”
• the first sister-President of the United States (and Vice President too)
• what the lives of pioneering sisters can tell us about living an active live and a life of prayer
• what we can learn from religious founders about living a faith-filled life
• sisters caring for the wounded during the Civil War
• the impact of Catholic sisters and nunson U.S. culture
• skeletons in the closet and other surprising tales from religious archives
• habits for apostolic religious — not as traditional as they seem
• revisiting their founding inspiration — lots of surprises along the way
• apostolic orders : are they morphing into Beguines?
• prayer: always central to Catholic sisters and nuns throughout the ages

In Good Faith is a conversation exploring God’s call in everyday life hosted by A Nun’s Life Sisters Maxine and Julie. Our monthly program features guests who are nationally known for their ministry in spirituality, religious life, and discernment. We’ll look at how our guests understand their own life as a calling and discuss a variety of perspectives on living faith and call in everyday life. The program is broadcast live every first Thursday of the month from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Central Time. Tune in at www.aNunsLife.org/LIVE.

For more information, including upcoming guests on In Good Faith, please visit the program page of In Good Faith.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “nun”? Risk-takers? Innovators? Entrepreneurs?

The Oblate Sisters of Providence -- Mother Mary Lange, the founder of this religious community, is another foremother you should know! www.oblatesisters.com

The more I study the history of sisters, the more I see the truth of those images. A number of scholars are helping bring those images to light. One is Margaret Susan Thompson, a historian at Syracuse University. In her work, she shows how risk taking and innovation, as well as lots of persistence, are part of the very nature of religious life.

Sister Julie and I often talk about religious life as an adventure, and history helps us see that it always has been!

Here are some examples that Prof. Thompson uses in her discussion about religious life in her article “Discovering Foremothers.” (To listen to a 25-min based on this article, click here.)

What examples come to mind for you?

Mary Ward, [a] seventeenth-century Englishwoman … founded the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a society she envisioned as a female counterpart to the Jesuits: without habits, convents, or fealty to local bishops. [She] was imprisoned by one Pope and who walked hundreds of miles to Rome to win the patronage of another and whose descendants did not … [gain] permission to acknowledge her as their founder until the 1800.

Katharine Drexel, an American … used the millions of dollars left to her use by her banker father (a partner of J. P. Morgan) to found and fund the works of a community dedicated solely to “Indians and Colored People” and who, because her father authorized that only she receive the income from his estate and only for the duration of her natural life, managed to survive until the age of 97 so as to get as much of that income as possible.

Sister Julie and I are delighted to have Prof. Thompson as our guest on “In Good Faith” tomorrow, Thursday, at 7 p.m. Central Time (your time zone). Hope you can join us!

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. FOR TONIGHT ONLY we’ll be one hour earlier than usual at 5 p.m. CST (your time zone). Join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

FP006 Feature Podcast on Discovering Foremothers: Origins of Women’s Religious Life by historian Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson. Published in her 18-lecture series, The History of Women Religious in the United States, through NowYouKnowMedia.com.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Introduction and Lecture 1: Discovering Foremothers: Origins of Women’s Religious Life

If you are interested in purchasing or learning more about the lecture series, visit Now You Know Media.

Listen to Sister Maxine and Sister Julie’s interview with Dr. Thompson on the In Good Faith program.

Today’s post continues a conversation from the last few days about Sister Sandra Schneiders’ writing. Sister Sandra has written and presented much on Religious Life. To each endeavor she brings herself and the variety of “coordinates” from which she speaks: a Catholic woman, an IHM Sister, an internationally recognized scholar in Scripture and in Religious Life, Professor Emerita at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

When addressing topic it’s not always easy (or desirable) for an author to speak only from one “coordinate”. In this context we’re talking about the specific issue of Religious Life, which is my lived experience and also the lived experience of my IHM Sister Sandra. It’s not always easy or even possible to separate oneself from the subject of inquiry.

Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson, known as “Peggy” here at A Nun’s Life, has graciously given us permission to post an essay she wrote on this topic. Click on the link below to view a PDF of her essay.

Concentric Circles of Sisterhood

Introduction to Building Sisterhood: A Feminist History of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Monroe, Michigan (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997)

by Margaret Susan Thompson, PhD

Associate Professor of History and Political Science at Maxwell School of Syracuse University

A note about the use of “feminist” in Building Sisterhood: A Feminist History of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary … The IHM congregation has a long history of what today we would call “feminism.” The word has many different meanings. It’s rooted in the belief that all people deserve respect, equality, and justice. Many women around the world lack these things and suffer as a result. In this regard, feminists are women and men who desire a world where the fullness of life is available to all people. “Feminism” also refers to a perspective. For much of recorded history, the experience of women was articulated by men. Feminists are women who articulate their own experience as women, and this can yield a perspective on events, such as the birth of a child or the decision to enter religious life, that may be very different from the perspective of men.

There’s more information about the feminist perspective in Dr. Thompson’s introduction to Building Sisterhood.