Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Sing to the Lord a new song. For he has done marvelous deeds! Psalm 98:1
Today we recall Ursuline founder Angela Merici, once the largest teaching order in the world. They took a different direction after Vatican II when congregations were encouraged to reassess their missions in light of the original charisms of their founders.
This is a significant feast for our family. Two of Mary’s (my wife) aunts, Nora & Annie McDonagh, left Ireland in the 1930s to become Sr. Mary Francis, OSU & Sr. Mary Patrick, OSU. Frances & Patrick joined the Ursulines of Belleville, Illinois (later Ursulines of Mount Saint Joseph in Maple Mount, Kentucky). Mary herself had spent one year as an aspirant in Ursuline formation.
The two sisters couldn’t have been more different. Frances (Nora) had administrative gifts and was passionate for the cause of justice, especially within our own Church. Leadership was natural for her. Patrick (Annie) was a people person with a long list of correspondence of those she’d met along the way of life. She was a pastoral presence in their lives for decades. Blood sisters and fellow Ursulines, they had very different charisms in the Company of Angela.
As for me, the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown staffed my parish school which sat in the shadow of the (then) roaring steel mills of the Mahoning Valley, Sacred Heart, and later co-ed Ursuline High School where I spent four years.
But it is Mary’s aunt Sister Frances McDonagh who stands out. Her brother and Mary’s uncle, Father Jarlath McDonagh OFM of Canterbury England, was commissioned by John Paul II to facilitate the Anglican clergy in the ‘80s who “swam the Tiber” (as they put it) and “returned home” (as they put it) to Rome. Their major issue was the ordination of women in the Anglican communion. A defender of the rights of women, Sister Frances clearly and without reservation let Jarlath know in no uncertain terms how displeased she was about that!
Like thousands nationwide, Sacred Heart school is no longer while Ursuline High School saw the last Ursuline sister retire three years ago. But the charism of Angela still resides at its heart. Similar circumstances are in local institutions such as the University of Dayton & Chaminade Julienne High School. Marianists and Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur are few and far between but the charisms of founders Julie, Chaminade, and Adele remain.
In this spirit, years ago when asked why he didn’t fret more about the shortage of teaching sisters and brothers, Archbishop Pilarczyk commented, “There’s a new religious order staffing our schools. They are called ‘the laity.’” To this, in the spirit of Angela, let us praise our God with today’s psalm refrain, “Sing to the Lord a new song! God has done marvelous deeds!”
—Timothy J. Cronin