10/22/2009
Sisters thanked for service to needy, arts, educating whole person
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| Sisters thanked for service to needy, arts, educating whole person |
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Ed Langlois
As the line of 140 sisters processed, the congregation broke into spontaneous applause.
That’s not standard operating procedure for a Catholic Mass, but it was fitting. During their 150 years in Oregon, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary often have surpassed expectations.
“We came in 1859 to start the first distant mission of our community. We’re still here,” Sister Joan Saalfeld said Sunday during an anniversary Mass held in the University of Portland sports dome.
More clapping from 900 supporters followed that simple expression of tenacity from Sister Joan, who is part of the leadership team for the Holy Names U.S.-Ontario Province.
In 1859, a dozen young Sisters voyaged 7,000 miles by land and sea from Quebec, docking at Fort Vancouver. Portland was a frontier town with few women and fewer Catholics. No matter; the women had come to help anyone, whatever the creed.
Piano in tow, the Sisters opened a school within weeks. St. Mary’s Academy is still in operation.
The women began teaching in other Northwest cities, beginning their abiding focus on service, the arts and educating the whole person.
They nursed epidemic victims, fought for labor rights and played a key role in a Supreme Court case saving Catholic education. They built a college during the Great Depression and by the 1960s embraced the Second Vatican Council, recognizing the role of the laity and launching social justice ministries. In the past decade, they renovated their convent to welcome elders.
Reflecting on a 145-year-old photo of the 12 founders of the Holy Names Sisters in Oregon, Archbishop John Vlazny said he could not help but think of the 12 Apostles.
“They empowered our church’s evangelizing mission in this New World,” the archbishop told the sisters and their supporters.
The bishop said the bolstering has continued. He lauded the sisters for standing by those in need and for putting their faith into action.
“You have entrusted your talents, your dreams, your lives to the greatness of God’s power,” the archbishop said. “We are the beneficiaries.”
Citing the sisters’ blessings, Sister Joan saved the ultimate praise for the people of the Pacific Northwest. Many supporters at the Mass, held on a mild Sunday morning, credited the sisters in part for who they are.
“It was a good education,” says Maureen Haines, a 1973 St. Mary’s Academy graduate who now teaches music at a Catholic school in Anchorage. “It was fun, too.”
Haines’ mother, Genevieve (Leipzig) Hainley of Portland, graduated from the Academy in 1945. Genevieve’s granddaughter, Anne Hainley, is now an English teacher at the school.
Theresa (Dethloff) Schierman graduated in 1963 from Holy Redeemer School in North Portland, founded by the sisters a century ago.
“They nurtured my spirituality in a balanced way,” Schierman says, recalling the Sisters’ lesson that Christ can be encountered through others.
She recalls Sister Maureen Oliver who, as a girl, was a friend of Schierman’s sister. Sister Mo, as she is known now, was recalled around the Dethloff home for jumping off the top bunk.
Sister Lynda Thompson thanked the local church and the many other religious communities with whom the Holy Names Sisters have collaborated over the years.
“This was, and still is, missionary territory,” Sister Lynda told the crowd, “where every hand is needed, every charism, every prayer.”
As a sign of the religious community’s abiding welcome, several former sisters attended the celebration and were greeted with warm hugs. The liturgy included dance, banners, a huge choir of St. Mary’s students and the ringing of a long-lost heirloom. The sisters returned a 149-year-old bell to the leaders of St. Mary’s Academy. The hefty artifact had been stored at Marylhurst University for years after a new high school building went up downtown. But soon it will be on display again at its old home.
Symbols carried forth during the prayers of the faithful included a crucifix, a statue of Mary and a model boat denoting the voyage made by the founders. A violin and a painting highlighted the link the sisters have made between art and spirituality. A huge globe denoted the community’s current commitment to sustainability and work to halt climate change.
At the close of Mass, the congregation gave the sisters another ovation, this one of the standing variety with occasional shouts and whistles of appreciation. Archbishop Vlazny led the clapping.
As a sign of the community’s origins, seven Holy Names Sisters came from Quebec for the ceremonies. One reading was proclaimed in French.
Leaders of the U.S.-Ontario province gave a surprise gift, a plaque marking the great occasion. The inscription notes the courage of founders of the past, gives thanks for the sisters of the present and looks forward to “the fruits of the efforts of those yet to come.”
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