Sisters in Christ

I was very lucky to have 12 years of Catholic school - elementary and high school.  A mainstay of my education was the presence of sisters who taught us so much more than reading, arithmetic or even theology.  I've heard all of the stereotypes about how nuns were so strict and harsh in their discipline.  Some of that is true.  In first grade, I remember Sister Mary Christopher pulled my hair to keep me in line for the lavatory (we didn't use the word "bathroom") because I was distracted by the second grade.  While their methods would sometimes be a little over the top by today's standards, I guarantee people remember the lessons they learned about discipline.

These holy women were so much more than physical discipline.  I can safely say I learned so many more life lessons than I even recognized at the time.  In the third grade, Sister Mary taught us how peer pressure could be a positive force in school (and society).  When you lose your recess because one kid was being a jerk, you learn quickly two lessons: (1) In society we are our brother's keepers; and (2) Life is not always fair and the actions of one person can negatively affect the lives of others.  When I meditate on those truisms, I again recognize how dangerous relativism is in our culture today.

As I grew older, the dear sisters were role models for me.  I think some of them thought I would make a good nun because I noticed they were "cultivating" me in the 7th and 8th grade.  While my vocation was ultimately not toward the vowed religious life, I acutely feel the loss in the fact that my children will not get a first hand view of various alternatives in life vocations.  It's so sad that even though one of my children attends Catholic school, there are no sisters there to teach.  I miss them.

Of course the sisters did teach practical theology.  My first experience in liturgical ministry began in 4th grade with the guidance of Sister Helen who taught us how to be good lectors.  That also translated well to public speaking and my profession as an attorney.  I also specifically remember Sister Frances Xavier, an older, very traditional sister in full (long) habit who taught us in the 7th grade.  She was very imposing, but you can bet we never showed her the slightest disrespect.  She taught us all the details of the mass, including the names of all the liturgical garments and vessels.  While I can't profess to remember the names of everything, I do understand the significance of each one.  I also will never forget Sister Frances Xavier sternly warning us in a loud voice that using the term "Goddamn" was asking God to damn the person or circumstance to everlasting hell.  You can bet I don't ever say that word and it's not just because it's the second of the Ten Commandments.

As I entered high school, the influence of the sisters was even greater.  My elementary school sisters were School Sisters of Notre Dame but most of the sisters in high school were Adorers of the Precious Blood.  They wore these cool heart pendants with small relics of their foundress.  Sister Catherine Burke was a pistol.  She taught discipline for life.  She used to say she would never teach sophomores because they were "jackasses" and she also had the most pithy sayings that I frequently repeat to young ladies:  "A gum chewing girl and a cud chewing cow; there is a difference I avow; there's a wiser look on the face of the cow."  

Some of the things they said at the time seemed so unfair and contrary, but they come back to me often, even as I approach 50 years old.  Sister Catherine used to say she wished some of her more successful students could fail a course or test in high school so we would know the feeling of failure.  She recognized that we could not escape failure at some point in life.  After I experienced the shock and bitter disappointment of not receiving a job offer from a law firm after my second year of law school, I remembered her words and wished I had failed in high school too.

My all time favorite nun, Sister Olivia Forester, was my latin teacher for four years.  She was elderly and had seen so much as a former principal of an all-girl Catholic high school and as a guidance counselor.  We spent more time "daisy picking" (as she called it) during latin that we wondered how much of the language we were actually learning.  Oh, but she taught us so many important life lessons.  She made us recognize the respective values of  a woman's vocation: "I have touched the lives of so many more of 'my children' than you will ever do as a mother," and "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."  She also warned us of the challenges of surrounding ourselves with people who did not share our values.  She strongly encouraged us to attend Catholic universities and not to marry non-Catholics.  At the time we thought these were such provincial attitudes; now I realize she was trying to shield us from the undue complexities of life in a secular world.  

These women were jewels for Christ and I pray for them everyday.  Many of them have passed on to their eternal reward and I'm confident they are praying for us too.  As vocations to the religious life have dwindled so dramatically, I also try to remember their orders financially as they have fewer and fewer younger sisters to support them in their later years.  If you have the time or inclination, please try to pray and support these women who gave us their lives.  I wish I could remember all of their surnames, but I do remember each one by their religious name:

Sister Mary Christopher (1st Grade)

Sister JoEllen (2nd Grade)

Sister Mary (3rd Grade)

Sister Helen (4th Grade)

Sister Susan (6th and 7th Grades)

Sister Frances Cabrini (7th Grade)

Sister Francis Xavier (7th Grade)

Sister Paulette (8th Grade)

Sister Gail (principal)

Sister Loretta (high school choir)

Sister Surman (religion)

Sister Nancy Becker

Sister Catherine Burke (literature)

Sister Olivia Forester (latin)

Sister Pancratia Schmitt (German dancing)

God graciously bless them all!

CC