On a rainy Monday afternoon, Sister Norma invited a couple other young women and me to Fellows Riverside Gardens. We’d had a busy morning visiting with Ursuline Sisters and Associates, and Sister Norma said that the rose garden is a good place to pray and reflect. One of the girls had never been there before, and as we entered the garden, she marveled at how many different kinds of flowers and plants there were. In response, Sister Norma turned to us and said, “It all started with a couple of bushes!” As I walked the paths of the garden with all of its colors and kinds of flowers, I tried to imagine its simple beginnings.
So far that day, the sisters and associates we’d met with had opened my eyes to how the Ursuline legacy has evolved and taken shape over the course of its 500-year history. Earlier that morning, Sister Mary McCormick, General Superior, spoke with us about the origins of the Ursuline order. Amidst the tumult of the reformation, St. Angela founded her company and advocated for education beyond formal schooling, like teaching women necessary day-to-day skills. Despite the corruption and conflict around them, Angela’s group was a budding promise, like a few small shrubs nestled in the heart of Youngstown that, with time, evolved into a beautiful twelve-acre garden.
The Ursulines remained committed to their mission of education, though the form of education adapted as they served different populations. As Sister Mary McCormick explained, it was a question of what the people needed at the time. When early Ursuline communities faced stricter regulations from the Church, they opened convent schools to teach young girls on the convent grounds. Then, when the Ursulines settled in the New World, they taught the children of slaves, and later they opened Catholic schools to teach the children of immigrants.
Almost five hundred years later, the sisters and associates we met with showed us how they are meeting the need for education in today’s world. Casa Madre, which serves children infected and affected by AIDS, provides tutoring services to help the kids with their academic studies and also teaches the children necessary day-to-day skills. The set-up of the building, for instance, models what a typical home looks like. Opportunities for teaching and learning are all around us, as Sister Dorothy told us when we met with her on Wednesday to show us pictures from her experiences camping and gardening. No matter where you go, she said, you are learning: each experience, though not in a classroom, has some seed of insight to offer.
The Ursulines remained committed to their mission of education, though the form of education adapted as they served different populations. As Sister Mary McCormick explained, it was a question of what the people needed at the time. When early Ursuline communities faced stricter regulations from the Church, they opened convent schools to teach young girls on the convent grounds. Then, when the Ursulines settled in the New World, they taught the children of slaves, and later they opened Catholic schools to teach the children of immigrants.
Almost five hundred years later, the sisters and associates we met with showed us how they are meeting the need for education in today’s world. Casa Madre, which serves children infected and affected by AIDS, provides tutoring services to help the kids with their academic studies and also teaches the children necessary day-to-day skills. The set-up of the building, for instance, models what a typical home looks like. Opportunities for teaching and learning are all around us, as Sister Dorothy told us when we met with her on Wednesday to show us pictures from her experiences camping and gardening. No matter where you go, she said, you are learning: each experience, though not in a classroom, has some seed of insight to offer.
Education has been an important part of the Ursuline charism, and at its core, Sister Mary McCormick added that the motivation is always love. When I saw the passion and compassion the sisters and associates brought to their ministry, it reminded me of the homily from my home parish this past weekend about caring for those who suffer. When a young child gets hurt and asks a parent to kiss it, the kiss is not to take away the pain but to take away the loneliness. I thought of the priest’s words as we met with Sister Mary Dunn, who talked about her ministry at the soup kitchen. Whenever someone walked in the door, she greeted them with a hug. The moment of embrace touches their loneliness and, at least for an instant, takes it away.
I felt so inspired hearing about the impact the sisters and associates have had in their ministries. In addition to their success stories, they also told us about the challenges they’ve faced. It made me think of Sister Dorothy’s comment as she showed us her gardening journal: “I never knew there was so much loss involved.” As she transplanted the seedlings, some of them took root and some of them died. By the time she got to the end of her diary, though, there were flowers and vegetables in abundance.
On the final evening of the retreat, we attended Sister Bridget’s mandala experience. We began by identifying the circles around us in the room—the clock, the tables, the thermostat. There are circles in art and architecture and music, and it is such an ancient and universal form that we take it for granted. By making the mandalas, we become more in tune with the harmony of circles, and as Sister Bridget read from a book about Native American spirituality: “Birds make their nests in circles for theirs is the same religion as ours… Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.” After two very busy days of immersion and learning, the mandala experience gave me a chance to slow down, relax, and explore the feelings and questions that I didn’t yet have words for. Our time from the retreat had come full circle, and the end was just the beginning.
I felt so inspired hearing about the impact the sisters and associates have had in their ministries. In addition to their success stories, they also told us about the challenges they’ve faced. It made me think of Sister Dorothy’s comment as she showed us her gardening journal: “I never knew there was so much loss involved.” As she transplanted the seedlings, some of them took root and some of them died. By the time she got to the end of her diary, though, there were flowers and vegetables in abundance.
On the final evening of the retreat, we attended Sister Bridget’s mandala experience. We began by identifying the circles around us in the room—the clock, the tables, the thermostat. There are circles in art and architecture and music, and it is such an ancient and universal form that we take it for granted. By making the mandalas, we become more in tune with the harmony of circles, and as Sister Bridget read from a book about Native American spirituality: “Birds make their nests in circles for theirs is the same religion as ours… Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.” After two very busy days of immersion and learning, the mandala experience gave me a chance to slow down, relax, and explore the feelings and questions that I didn’t yet have words for. Our time from the retreat had come full circle, and the end was just the beginning.