As the clock strikes ten the figure of an older sister moves into a familiar routine. No one has ever been known to travel by walker with such speed. While one might wonder about the wheels she spins, there is no doubt that Sister Dominica is the driver. It is at this hour of the morning that she heads down the hall for a rendezvous with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Each day for the past twelve years she has been faithful to her holy hour where she prays for the work of the apostolate, the next group of postulants and the needs of the Church. After sixty years in the field of education she takes seriously her vocation to pray.

Sister Dominica is interested in every aspect of our life and work. While she is Aquinas College’s most dedicated basketball fan, she is also a committed member of the St. Cecilia Vocation Team. She visits with most of the young women who come considering the religious life and is never short on words of encouragement. Her joyful and energetic spirit mixes with her personal warmth for an endearing combination. On a regular basis she inquires into the “postulant stats” and tells our visitors that each day during her holy hour she turns to our Blessed Mother saying, “You know how badly the world needs educators! Please send us fifteen young women, but, Blessed Mother, feel free to send more.” This year Sister is praying for all fifteen “mysteries.”

Sister Dominica knows much of the mystery of religious life. Born on October 30, 1908, she was educated by our Dominican sisters in the first through twelfth grades. She bears the name of her first grade teacher and has been a professed religious for more than seventy-three years. In 1927 she graduated from St. Cecilia Academy, then located at the Motherhouse. Sister entered one year ahead of her high school friend Margaret Keegan, now known as Sister James Marie. The sweetness of their friendship is just as fresh today as it was several decades ago, with a playfulness that also reveals considerable depth. They tell stories on one another and share their time in the infirmary as they did in the novitiate. 

There is much to tell of the time that has passed in between. Sister Dominica taught for over sixty years, beginning as prefect for thirty younger children in kindergarten through the sixth grade who boarded at the motherhouse in those early years. Shortly after, as prefect for the high school girls, Sister experienced a change in clientele when she was assigned for two years to Chattanooga where twenty girls and, for the first time, thirty boys, greeted her in the eighth grade. Although she was an only child, Sister learned to handle the boys with the help of her sense of humor and positive disposition.

Sister spent a number of years teaching at St. Cecilia Academy and Holy Name School in Nashville. As principal at Winchester Academy her years were happy and productive, so much so, that the people had difficulty letting her go when she was sent back to St. Cecilia Academy as principal. Sister Dominica was responsible for moving the Academy across town to the Overbrook property where it is still thriving today. In 1961 Sister was assigned to open Aquinas College where she devoted twenty-eight happy years. This summer alumni from Aquinas gathered to recognize the contributions of Sister Dominica and her cousin, Sister Mary Leonard. In speaking of her years as an educator, Sister Dominica remarked that she has always prayed that her students would end up where God wanted them to be and finds it tremendously satisfying to see them successful with families, career and, most importantly, in their relationship with the Lord. Sister thinks back with gratitude about the six boys she taught who went on to be ordained to the priesthood. Last year, she celebrated with her student, Monsignor Leo Seiner, on the occasion of his golden jubilee and she looks forward to next year when Father Vincent McMurry will commemorate fifty years of priesthood as well. Indeed, Sister continues to teach all of us at the Motherhouse the beauty and whole-hearted joy of religious life well lived.

Her advice to those who are seeking to live this life:

Pray and go to Our Blessed Mother to ask for help to know God’s will. She will help one through the process. She will intercede. After all, Christ gave her to us. Every morning I spend time with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. Such time is a privilege that many do not have.
I pray that He will reveal Himself to you and give you the gift of a religious vocation.

Clearly, Jesus and His Mother are listening. On August 17 Sister Dominica will say a heartfelt thank you when fifteen “mysteries,” and a few more for good measure, process down our chapel aisle in a formal entrance ceremony. One wonders how many she’ll ask for next year?

Sister Dominic passed onto her eternal home on January 19, 2007.