Part III:    From the Second Vatican Council to the Great Jubilee

 Mother Marie William MacGregor and the Groundwork for a “Springtime”

The following is an adaptation of the chapter, Renewal After Vatican Council II in The Nashville Dominicans: A History of the Congregation written by Sister Rose Marie on the occasion of the Community’s jubilee celebration of 125 years.

The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia have frequently been asked how, after the rapid changes following the Second Vatican Council, they managed to retain a sense of vitality and stability. In the words of Sister Rose Marie, had not the community the benefit of dedicated and capable leadership at this time, undoubtedly St. Cecilia would not exist as it does today. With an approach direct and insistent, Mother Marie William prepared the community for the renewal of religious life called for by the Council, and led the community through it.

From the start of her term as Prioress General, her understanding of religious life and her vision for the community were clear. In her first Christmas letter to the community in 1964 she wrote a letter that reveals her distinctive strength of devotion and personal concern:

I have searched my heart this season to find words to express my deepest desires for you…

That you will rediscover the beauty of poverty.

That you will come to a fuller understanding of the dignity of obedience.

That you will know complete fulfillment of your virginity.

That any bitterness or hardness or selfishness that steals your smile or halts your laughter, may melt away at Christ Mass, when Divinity comes to nestle in your humanity.

That at this Eucharistic meeting you will come to a fuller realization of the beauty of your vocation.

That you will be filled with a new sense of worth.

That your ideals may again reach for the stars, and coming to rest on the Star of Stars, be filled with awe and wonderment at the great things God has wrought in you…”

As the 60s and 70s progressed, it became evident that what was at stake for all religious in the process of renewal was not any one observance or practice, but the religious life itself. The response given to Vatican Council II by religious institutes varied. After much real suffering, the response given by St. Cecilia Congregation was unequivocal.

With the publication of the document Perfectae Caritatis, the history of religious institutes entered a new era. Their manner of life, prayer, work, government, was to be re-examined in the light of the goals of the apostolate and in accordance with the nature of the institute, as well as of cultural, social, and economic circumstances. In the St. Cecilia Congregation, committees were formed, studies were conducted and the Constitutions were revised in several stages. 

During this period Mother Marie William’s strength and direction were clear. She seemed to know beforehand what was to happen to many religious communities. She was a keen observer. She had a natural sense of the dramatic, the critical moment in a particular chain of events. She was sensitively responsive to what was being spoken and why. She took a stand on all issues of major importance. One such issue was contemplative life. “I am daily more and more convinced,” she wrote in 1968, “that if the contemplative attitude and atmosphere goes, so goes religious life…” In one of her letters to the community she states with conviction:

Our vocation calls for a deep love for Christ. Unless we achieve this, unless we suffer to overcome the relentless demands of our nature, we will have so little to offer. The call to holiness is universal—for Religious the vows were self-imposed and over and above the Christian commitment. Sisters, let us help one another! 

Be faithful to the heritage of community devotion. Above all else, nurture a constant and stable reliance on the Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Pray, not necessarily long, but with deep love and earnestness… 

Mother Marie William was instrumental in the formulation of a new organization of religious women who were concerned to preserve traditional religious life. The group was named Consortium Perfectae Caritatis and consisted of those in leadership of communities committed to a true spiritual renewal while at the same time not neglecting the process of authentically updating. Frequent travel and numerous meetings with members of the Sacred Congregation for Religious strengthened the group and supported their leadership in a time of great turbulence in the Church. It was here that Mother Marie William placed the Congregation in the heart of the Church. Following a meeting in Rome with the Secretary of the Congregation for Religious, Archbishop Augustine Mayer wrote to Mother Marie William:

Mother, I assure you again, as I have in the past, that our Sacred Congregation is pleased and consoled by the attitude and the courage of so many religious in the United States like your own, and that we do support you in your endeavor to be faithful to the ideals of the Religious Life, loyal to the Holy See, respectful of legitimate authority, concerned about the needs of the Church for works that still require your corporate commitment. I know it is not easy to resist the temptations in trying days like these but with God’s help you can continue to be the leader you have always shown yourself to be, encouraging and inspiring your own Sisters and others that look to you for support.

Within the Congregation, the renewal process was punctuated by an emphasis on education that stressed intelligent fidelity. The documents of Vatican II were disseminated and studied and the sisters were directed to look to the Church for the direction and guidance the times demanded. The person and office of the Holy Father was to be respected and the sisters were told by their Prioress General, “listen to him, read and study carefully what he wants so that we may respond as loyal daughters of the Church and of St. Dominic.” 

Along with strong admonitions to preserve the contemplative spirit, Mother Marie William was also a strong advocate of the religious habit and often made reference to it in her letters to the community. In a letter written in January of 1968 she expressed her conviction:

Let’s remember that the habit is a symbol of our life-long dedication. In a crisis of self-identity, it gives you an identity. It is up to us to make it an effective sign, a sign worthy of the One it signifies. Wearing it presupposes a tremendous obligation on our part to be genuine witnesses. The habit will enhance this, not detract from it, if it is worn worthily.

As we reflect on the 40 years that have followed in the Congregation and in the Church herself, we are clearly experiencing a Springtime that is the fruit of the years of transition. Mother Marie William has left us a legacy, as she received from those who preceded her. With gratitude, we continue in the spirit of St. Dominic to live the charism with which we have been entrusted. 

Promoting Religious Life 

The years between 1976 and 1988 were filled with apostolic activity, the promotion of religious life nationally and internationally and work leading up to the approval of the Congregation’s Constitutions. Following the leadership of Mother Marie William, her successor, Mother Assumpta Long traveled extensively for the cause of religious life. She frequently spoke to national assemblies of laity and churchmen to explain in clear terms the teaching of the Church in regard to religious life, as well as topics of interest such as the role of women today and authority in the Church. Contacts were made with members of the Curia and the Church’s hierarchy. Throughout these years the concerns of the universal Church continued to be at the center of the Congregation’s prayer life and concern.

Catholic Education and Standards

Sister Rose Marie writes of the 1976 General Chapter’s statement of policy concerning authentic teaching in the Congregation’s private schools and in the parish schools which St. Cecilia staffed. The policy concerned the responsibility of the school administrator to coordinate the total religious curriculum in the school. Underlying both policies was the Catholic philosophy of education which maintains that only when education provides the individual with a vision of the eternal and supernatural, as well as an appreciation of the temporal and natural, will the person understand the purpose of his life. Catholic educational goals require a constant striving for intellectual excellence, social responsibility, and spiritual perfection. Such was the implicit statement made by this timely document.

School Expansion

• 1977 Aquinas School- Woodbridge, Virginia
  • Rose of Lima School- Cleveland, Ohio
  • Providence High School- New Lenox, Illinois
• 1985 Mount de Sales Academy- Baltimore, Maryland

Participation in the Synod on Religious

 In 1988 the St. Cecilia Dominicans were blessed with the leadership of Mother Christine Born whose gentle spirit and love for the universal Church provided the impetus to bring the Congregation into the next millennium.  

After years of participation in religious organizations such as the Institute of Religious Life and the Consortium Perfectae Caritatis, Mother Christine, in the spirit of her predecessors, joined with others to work on behalf of religious life in the United States. Looking back on what leaders in the early years of the Consortium were attempting to achieve, it appeared the time had finally come for official recognition. In 1992 the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR) was formed and in 1995 the group was given canonical approval by the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life for the express purpose of “serving the Church and to foster the progress and welfare of religious life in the United States”. The CMSWR has proved to be an effective organization for mutual support of communities committed to living a visible and dynamic religious life, as well as providing a forum whereby exchanges between religious orders and the Church’s hierarchy can take place. National assemblies, regional workshops and joint publications benefit more than 108 member communities. Presently, the CMSWR is sponsoring a House of Studies in Rome.

Through her work as an officer in the CMSWR, Mother Christine was invited by Pope John Paul II to participate as a working expert in the 1994 Synod on Religious held in Rome. For a period of four weeks, Mother Christine tracked the identity and nature of religious life, one of the Synod’s points of focus. Working in the heart of the Church, she brought her lived experience of consecrated life to the synod floor.  

As a member of the Synod, Mother Christine had the opportunity to have dinner one night with the Holy Father. During the course of the meal one of the religious sisters present asked the Pope what his goal was for these lengthy proceedings. With his characteristic ability to penetrate to the heart of the matter, the Holy Father replied simply, “Holiness.” At the meal’s end, Mother Christine thanked the Pontiff for all that he has done for religious and religious life. The Pope replied, “It is Christ, it is Christ.” To that, Mother Christine said what every Dominican would consider to be an “ultimate” statement. She looked him in the eye and said, “Yes, Holy Father, it is Christ. But as our sister, St. Catherine has said, ‘You are sweet Christ on earth.’” To that the Pope nodded.
Aquinas College

In 1993 Aquinas Junior College changed its status to a four-year college when approval was given to offer a teacher education program. Such expansion enabled the Congregation to educate our young sisters in the Dominican tradition, providing teacher training tailored to our philosophy of education. With six schools in Nashville, the college has been an invaluable resource, producing teachers with a strong sense of our mission and a commitment to excellence in education. Since that time, the nursing program has expanded to four years, as well. In 1999 Aquinas College added a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

The Great Jubilee

For the Congregation, the preparation for the year 2000 began in 1997. For a number of years the sisters had, as a community, studied the major documents of the Church relative to our apostolate, religious life and general Church teachings (the Catechism of the Catholic Church, etc.) For the past three years the community has formally studied the person and charism of St. Dominic, the history of his Order and the saints and blesseds who have lived faithfully the call to promote truth. This reimmersion in the heritage of our Order was in direct response to the recommendation of the Holy Father at the Synod on religious. The Great Jubilee is to be an opportunity for grace and renewal for religious. Another dimension of this call to “Behold the Heritage” was the opportunity to travel to the Lands of St. Dominic. After years of savings, Mother and her Council have made it possible for the sisters in the community to travel on pilgrimage to Spain, France and Rome to experience the Order on native soil. The summer of 2000 will long be remembered as a time of renewal and rejoicing in all that is Dominican.

Responding to the New Evangelization 

The call of the new evangelization has been constant and compelling. In recent years there has been a resurgence in the mission field of Catholic education. Most of our schools have the burden of waiting lists and countless numbers of requests are made each year for the Dominican sisters to open or assume administration of schools all over the United States and in foreign countries. Beginning in the Fall of 1996 the Congregation has moved in a number of new directions, conscious of the Holy Father’s invitation for religious communities to join him in a concerted effort to reintroduce the person of Christ and the reality of His Saving Grace. 

• 1996: The Archdiocese of Denver- St. Vincent de Paul School
• 1997: The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.- Cardinal Hickey Academy
  • Four sisters missioned in Rome for graduate studies in Theology
• 1998: The Diocese of Birmingham- Dominican sister joins faculty of John Carroll High
• 1999: The Archdiocese of Chicago- Our Lady of Victory School
  • The Diocese of Nashville- St. Rose of Lima School

Such expansion has been made possible by the blessing of many vocations to the community. Since 1988 the community has increased by 90 sisters and presently has a median age of 37.

Conclusion

At the end of her term in 1976, Mother Marie William wrote prophetic words that we can see are coming to pass in this new era of hope. 

Hopefully, many of those who come after us will enjoy the fruit of our suffering – a new springtime in the Church and a reflowering of authentic religious life. As recipients of a marvelous heritage, we have so much to offer those who will be daughters of the Church in the twenty-first century. 

Her statement seems a fitting conclusion of this historical summary. As do the words of our Holy Father in Vita Consecrata:

“We have a glorious history to remember and to recount and a great history still to be accomplished.”