When one considers the character of Sister Mary Bernard, there are three gifts which stand out as most notable.  She possesses an "insightful" sense of human nature, a keen intelligence, and a strong sense of loyalty.  After fifty years of fidelity, Sister Mary Bernard understands what the Church asks of us in the living of religious life.  While several sisters took part in drafting the present Constitutions of our Congregation, Sister Mary Bernard was the principle writer.  In the years following the Second Vatican Council, Sister's contributions were characterized by a certain directness, and in many instances she acted with courage and conviction.  Now, as we prepare to celebrate her Golden Jubilee, we express our gratitude for her witness of religious life.

The Curran family was deeply Catholic.  Irish by way of Scotland, they were taught by word and example to love their Catholic faith and to respect the religious beliefs of others.  Placed under the patronage of Our Blessed Mother, the only girl born into this family was baptized "Mary," a name she would grow to emulate.

Young Mary's first contact with religious was with the Sisters of the Resurrection in Yonkers, New York.  Home, however, soon became Hampton, Virginia, where the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia taught.  She and her brothers Bernard and Robert attended St. Mary Star of the Sea School.  Around the Curran dinner table the names of sisters became household words: Sr. Mary David, Sr. Loretta, Sr. Emmanuel, Sr. Joan of Arc (who was later to serve as Mother General), Sr. Josephine, Sr. Marie William (who was later to serve as Mother General), Sr. Mary Rita, Sr. Mary Joseph, Sr. Mary Agnes, Sr. Mary Helen and Sr. Mary Clement.  It was the happiness of these sisters that most impressed this grade school student.  The expression of this happiness in their religious lives caused her to consider becoming one of them herself.  While in school, her brother Bernie encouraged her with the idea and once suggested, "Why don't you try it?  They go for three years at first - to see if they like it."  Exposure to the faith both at home and at school began the process, but ultimately, in the words of Sr. Mary Bernard, "it was a strong sense of the love of Jesus, the love He had for me, that attracted me.  The life of a sister seemed to me the ultimate response."

Her first two years of high school were at St. Mary Star of the Sea and the last were spend at St. Vincent's (now Peninsula Catholic).  While her social life was an active one, Mary's focus became more defined the day the principal asked if she had considered a religious vocation.  Moved at the thought that someone else could see her "good enough" for such a life, she sought a priest for confession and afterwards knelt in the back of a dark Church.  In the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in view of a painting of Our Lady giving Dominic the rosary, Mary Curran felt the call to be a sister.

The time was not right, however, and so college came before entrance.  Mary attended Nazareth College in Kentucky where the sisters there encouraged her vocation.  While the Sisters of Charity were expecting a hundred postulants to enter there, Mary Journeyed south to Nashville to see a formidable group of five (including Sr. Mary Richard and Sr. Mary Leonard) receive the habit.  Before returning to Kentucky, the young aspirant found herself in Mother Annunciata's office with an application in hand.  On the feast of St. Augustine she returned to St. Cecilia Motherhouse, this time to stay.

The years that followed were filled with study, teaching, writing and leadership in the Congregation.  Sr. Mary Bernard received a BA in English from Peabody in Nashville, an MA in English from De Paul University in Chicago and a licentiate in philosophy from Catholic University.  True to her identity as a Dominican, Sister continues her studies, this time for a doctorate in philosophy.

Her teaching assignments have ranged from first grade to college level, including some time as an administrator, fourteen years teaching English and philosophy at Aquinas College and several years as an English teacher at St. Cecilia Academy.  She has also served as an instructor for the Catholic Home Study Program.  In 1993 Sister wrote a book entitled Thinkers through Time.  Most recently she has written articles for the Encyclopedia of Monasticism on "Monastic Prayer."  Sister Mary Bernard has lectured on various topics including mystical prayer, as well as issues of philosophy and culture.

Sister Mary Bernard's contribution to ongoing formation within the community have been significant.  Over the past ten years she has authored a number of community studies designed for the assimilation of various Church documents, such as the Gospel of Life, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Fraternal Life in Community and Vita Consecrata.  Most recently, Sister was one of the principal writers of the Congregation's Ratio Institutionis: Program of Initial and Ongoing Formation.  The fruit of a year of meetings and collaboration, this document is a response to a request made by Pope John Paul II in Vita Consecrata that each Congregation formally document the process of formation according to its particular charisms in each state of religious life.

The Gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Lent is about the grain of wheat dying or remaining 'just a grain of what.'  It was that same Gospel that was read when Sr. Mary Bernard made vows.  Looking back on fifty years of her union with Christ, she recognizes that everything in her life was divinely arranged.  He who chose her continues to sustain her and, like the apostles, she follow Him with courage, conviction and a twinkle in her eye.  Indeed, fifty years in the vineyard has produced much fruit.  The Congregation of Sr. Cecilia recognizes the life and service of Sister Mary Bernard as she celebrates her Golden Jubilee in this year of the Great Jubilee.  What a fitting correlation for a Dominican so devoted to the Church.