Mount Marty College Reunion: Tea & Treats with the Sisters

Sr. Marielle (front, left) and Sr. Cynthia (back, left)
visit with students and their families.

Greetings,

Srs. Rosaleen (far left), Aurthur (second from right),
and Phyllis (far right) gathered with their MM class...

Sr. Angeline (center) enjoying a break in their
laughter and stories with her high school
 classmates from 1948.

The end of June heralded Mount Marty College's All-Schools reunion.  Alumni from our school in all its forms from Mount Marty Academy, to Sacred Heart School of Nursing, and Sacred Heart Hospital School of Anesthesia, from Mount Marty High School, to Mount Marty Junior College, through Mount Marty College gathered at 'The Mount' for a weekend of tradition, remembering, and celebration.

Sr. Ann (center) with former history students
and their families.

Srs. Kevin (front left) and Jeannette (front right)
with former students and friends

Saturday afternoon, the sisters hosted a "tea & treats" in the Monastic Chapter room.  We joyfully opened our doors to the alumni, for the Rule of Benedict says "Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ, for He is going to say, "I came as a guest, and you received Me" (Matt. 25:35). And to all let due honor be shown, especially to the domestics of the faith and to pilgrims" (chapter 53).

Our sisters have been and continue to be students, teachers, and professors at the college throughout the years.  The tea was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with friends and students from the ages. We weren't sure how many alumni to expect, but soon the room was filling with alumni waiting to share stories with the sisters.  As our sisters began to arrive, alumni would call them over to a group so they could introduce 'their teacher' or 'their classmate'.  Other sisters were welcomed with hugs and the beginning of a tall tale, "I remember when...." So many memories and so much joy to share, the laughter and voices filled our Chapter Room and spilled out into the halls, bringing in more sisters and alumni.  

Srs. Patricia Ann (front left) and
Corrine (back right) reconnecting
with students.

Over the years our sisters have sought the value of supporting education through every possible work in our school on 'The Mount': teachers, professors, presidents, maintenance, cooks, dorm resident assistants...  This service can be seen in Saint Benedict's call to manual labor: "And if the circumstances of the place or their poverty should require that they themselves do the work of gathering the harvest, let them not be discontented; for then are they truly monastics when they live by the labor of their hands, as did our Fathers and the Apostles. Let all things be done with moderation, however, for the sake of the faint-hearted" (chapter 48).

There were no 'faint-hearted' on that joy-filled Saturday.  Only a lightness of spirit that celebrated our ministry of education and love for our students and friends.

Blessings,