Remembering Sister Mary Catherine

Sister Mary Catherine de Ricci of the Immaculate Heart was a remarkable sister and we will all miss her a lot. Here is a very brief retrospective of her life and times.

Sr. Mary Catherine entered the monastery on August 4, 1946. She made her first vows on August 15, 1948.

Sr. Mary Catherine served the community as printer, secretary, head of the Infant Jesus Guild, directress of novices, subprioress, and librarian.

Sister also served as first President of the Conference of Dominican Nuns in the USA (the forerunner of our present Association of Monasteries of Nuns of the Order of Preachers in the USA).

Sister will be remembered for her beautiful smile.

Sr. Mary Catherine celebrating her 60th Jubilee!

We will have more about Sr. Mary Catherine in our next issue of our newsletter,  Monastery Bells. 

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her.

St. Catherine de Ricci

 St. Catherine de Ricci was a Dominican sister, a reformer who also merited to bear the marks of the stigmata. She was well known in her own lifetime and beyond for her meditations on the Passion of Christ and her letters, which were written to famous men and women of her time as well as saints, including St. Philip Neri, St. Charles Borromeo, and St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi. In one of her letters she wrote, \”My dearest son, let us so strive that we may run and obtain that desired reward…We live in a time in which running and taking a stand is more than we are used to doing. Considering the height of the mystery of our redemption which is presented to us in these days, how much more should we stand firm and persevere!\” Catherine was a true mystic, filled with the wonder of God\’s love for His people and yet intensely practical and down to earth. May St. Catherine de Ricci intercede for us all as we run the race and stand firm to persevere!

Presentation of the Lord

The Presentation of the Lord in the temple is a beautiful feast. Christ appears to us as a shining light to the nations, the glory of His people Israel, as we process to the church with our lighted candles. However, as Blessed John Paul II reminds us, this feast is also about Christ as a sign of contradiction. In his spiritual exercises presented to Pope Paul VI (in 1977, when he was still known as Karol Wojtyla), the Pope wrote, \”The times in which we are living provide particularly strong confirmation of the truth of what Simeon said: Jesus is both the light that shines for mankind and at the same time a sign of contradiction. If now…Jesus Christ is once again revealing himself to men as the light of the world, has he not also become at one and the same time that sign which, more than ever, men are resolved to oppose?\” This message rings even more true for us today in a world in which consecrated men and women (and Christians in general) are increasingly seen as a sign of contradiction, even as a threat, to the status quo. Let us truly follow Christ, whatever the cost, and shine like lights in the world!

Our novice, Sr. Bernadette Marie, celebrates the anniversary of her clothing today! You can see our post about this event HERE. Please pray for more vocations to the religious life!