Dominican Nuns

When Mother Mary Dominic greeted me in the parlor of the Monastery, her manner was so genuinely gracious and warm that I felt truly welcomed. She appeared as so lovely a lady. She was tall and carried herself beautifully. Her eyes looked directly into mine and her smile was full of pleasure in meeting me. I knew I had been accepted as a postulant, but I did not expect to be received as someone already dear to the community.

In time I learned that Mother’s composure and ladylikeness were acquired virtues. Her mother had serious difficulty in giving birth to Mary Ellen, so she begged the help of Our Blessed Mother, promising to dress her little girl in white until the age of seven. Mother and baby did well. The promise was kept but at what cost! The other children in the family were boys, energetic and a bit combative. Mary Ellen joined in all their rambunctious escapades including regular forays onto the back of the ice truck!

The Meadowcrofts lived in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, a small coal mining town where Catholics were few and prejudice was strong. On the way home from school one day, Mary Ellen saw her brothers under attack by a bunch of boys. Flying to the defense, she picked up a brick and began pounding on the topmost boy, peeling him off the pile, returning to mete out the same treatment to the others in succession.

Training in the virtues of a young lady was not neglected however, as her mother and grandmother used every opportunity to instruct her in the way of concern for others and self control at all times. Her mother took her daughter with her as she tended to the needs of the sick and poor among their neighbors. Thus Mary Ellen learned that these were God’s children too and should be given every mark of respect.

Mary Ellen was a good student, progressing so well that her teachers thought she should advance to high school. This was an uncommon step for girls at that time, and was strongly opposed by her father who wanted her to go to work helping to support the family. He was overruled by her mother however. In anger he disowned his daughter, but was mollified eventually by her outstanding completion of the courses and graduation. Earlier refusal now became pride in her accomplishments. She went to work for a lawyer, advancing to the position of what we would call the office manager.

As a very young girl, Mary Ellen promised Jesus to be His bride forever. She did not understand the full meaning of her choice, but did understand that she would not marry. Still her beauty and goodness did not go unremarked. She was able to decline unwanted attentions graciously but for one young man who was determined to catch her eye. Thinking to enlist the help of her mother, he accompanied her home one afternoon. Sure enough, Mary Ellen’s mother welcomed him cordially but, knowing her daughter’s hopes, offered him only cookies and tea as reward for his trouble.

When Mary Ellen announced her desire to become a nun, once again her father objected. As she persisted, his anger drove him to abandon the family. This sorrowful separation lasted the remainder of her life until a few months before his death when remarkable circumstances brought about a reunion. Happy and repentant, her father shed copious tears at being once again with the daughter he loved despite the opposition he had shown her. Only a short time remained to him before God took him home.

At the suggestion of her spiritual director, on March 25, 1919 Mary Ellen entered the monastery of the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary in Catonsville, Maryland (since closed). The Sisters were mostly French-speaking exiles from religious persecution in France. Father wanted to help the community become English-speaking so as to attract vocations in this country.

The community was very poor. There were few benefactors. Food, heat, electricity and other essentials were in very short supply. The superiors came to see Sister Mary Dominic’s abilities and set her to acquire friends who would bring help in their needs. The seminary across the road sent food from their pantry. They too were poor and could not provide much of quality or quantity but it was welcomed nonetheless.

As years passed in the monastery, Sister Mary Dominic was called upon to take on more responsibility. She became portress, welcoming visitors and deflecting salesmen and representatives for the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  She was chosen for the office of subprioress where she assisted Mother Mary of Jesus, inheriting from her the dream of establishing an interracial monastery.

Mother Mary Dominic began this first interracial community in 1944 in response to her sense of the injustice in excluding suitable young women simply on the basis of their color. She did what she believed Our Lord would have her do. The effort met with much resistance and opposition from those who held to “the way things are.” Nevertheless she and Mother Mary of the Child Jesus persevered, forming a family in Marbury that knew no distinctions among its members, all of whom strove to follow the example set before them. Their motto: “That all may be one.”

Mother Mary Dominic was a delightful person to live with. Each Sister came to feel she was important to Mother and could entrust her whole self to her guidance. Her manner of guidance was gentle but firm and unbending where truth was involved. The pursuit of holiness was the only goal to strive for. Her example made the effort required attractive and desirable.  Mother’s serenity seemed unflappable amidst the usual day by day dramas of community life.

The test of any virtue is perseverance. This too Mother Mary Dominic possessed. Her last years were marked by increased illness and lessening of ability to work as she had done previously. Her manner remained pleasant, her expression serene. She was always available to any Sister who needed her, assuring us that we were welcome to come. She could find interesting stories to tell us, listen to our woes, give comfort and joy right up to the night of her death on July 20, 1966. Thank you Lord, for the privilege of living with Mother Mary Dominic. We look forward to catching up with her one day in Heaven.