Loretto Magazine, Fall-Winter 2010, part 1 - Loretto Community

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notes and newsNewest Sister of Lorettomakes final vows in El PasoBy Carolyn Dunbar, EditorTop left: Loretto President CathyMueller SL (left) with ElizabethDeines SL. Background: Chapel atLoretto Academy, El Paso, Texas.Photos by Donna Mattingly SL.Elizabeth Ruth Deines SL was bornin El Paso, Texas, in 1957 andappropriately made her perpetualvows as a Sister of Loretto among herfamily, friends, students, and fellow sistersat Loretto Academy, the school where shehas taught since 1997. On August 20 theschool gym was filled to overflowing forLiz’s solemn and joyous celebration.Liz first came to know the LorettoCommunity when she attended St. JosephElementary School in El Paso, which wasstaffed by the sisters. When she joined theteachers at Loretto Academy many yearslater, she began to think seriously aboutmaking a commitment to Loretto.“It was really their compassion,” she said.“I had started working in October 1997,and in January I became sick and washospitalized for a month. I had only reallybeen working there two months, and theteachers pooled their sick days so that Iwouldn’t lose any. They got a permanentsubstitute teacher so I didn’t have toworry. And they treated me like they reallycared, and that got my attention.“The more I was with them, the more Iwanted to be a part of Loretto. I thought,I’ll be a co-member, and started workingwith that process. It was slow going.It turned out that wasn’t the path forme. Once I starting looking at vowedmembership, then things began to fall intoplace.”The process of becoming a vowed Sisterof Loretto is not taken lightly, and thatprocess takes time — six years or longer.A year of study, called the canonical year,followed by a year of ministry, and manymilestones in subsequent years completethe candidate’s preparation to make finalvows.The special ceremonies for Sister Lizbegan with a mass in the Loretto Academygymnasium. Her friends, family, and coworkers— plus the entire student body— packed the service. Sisters of Lorettofrom El Paso and other cities were amongthe guests. A choir of children from theyounger grades sang for the occasion, anda group of high school girls in flowingcostumes performed sacred dance.“I am just so happy. I guess that’s a prettysimple word, but that’s where I am. Ihave everything that I had hoped to have,and it’s all come together for me. I havethis amazing community that I’m a partof, a ministry I absolutely love, living inthe place that makes my heart sing. I’msurrounded by my family and friends I’vehad for the last 20 or 30 years. All thepieces of my life fit together and fit well.”6 • Loretto Magazine
notes and newsNew book details valuable spiritualinsights between two religious leadersBy Carolyn Dunbar, EditorThe Louisville, Ky., publishingcompany, Fons Vitae, has releaseda new book that illuminatesthe friendship betweenreligious scholar Thomas Merton andthe Loretto Community during a briefbut extraordinary eight-year period inthe 1960s. The Roman Catholic Churchwas to undergo profound changesduring that period, and the friendshipbetween Mother General Mary LukeTobin SL and the Trappist monk fromGethsemani Abbey, just 12 miles fromthe Loretto Motherhouse in centralKentucky, would help them both toexplore these changes and to lead theirrespective religious communities intowhat would become a new era forCatholics around the world.The book, “Hidden in the Same Mystery:Thomas Merton and Loretto,” isedited by Merton scholar Bonnie Thurstonand Loretto editor Mary SwainSL. In transcripts of talks, letters,interviews and other writings, readerswill find a delightful recounting of therich intellectual and spiritual exchange betweentwo accomplished religious thinkersand vigorous leaders.Mary Luke Tobin continued to study thewritings of Thomas Merton after his deathin 1968. In fact, she founded the ThomasMerton Center for Creative Exchangein Denver and also helped to found theInternational Thomas Merton Societysome years later. She lectured on his philosophiesin Salt Lake City, Los Angeles,Kansas City, St. Louis, Milwaukee, NewYork City, and tiny Dubois, Wyo., whereshe was a guest lecturer for 15 summersat the interfaith retreat center Ring LakeRanch.Loretto co-member Mary Ann Reesereviewed the book for the the Septemberedition of the Community’s newsletterInterchange. She wrote, “From itsinception, that relationship was a mutualone. Merton came to Loretto in 1960 tofind his friend Dan Walsh a job. He succeeded.Mary Luke then enlisted Mertonto speak at Loretto — to novices, sistersin the infirmary, members of the council.Hidden in the Same Mystery:Thomas Merton and LorettoBonnie Thurston, General EditorMary Swain SL, Loretto EditorPublished 2010 by Fons Vitae49 Mockingbird Valley DriveLouisville, KY 40207www.fonsvitae.comShe returned the favor by addressingGethsemani's monks about the visionof the Second Vatican Council and herparticipation there as an auditor. Theseformal meetings, interspersed with lessformal ones, as well as letters and postcards,continued until Thomas Mertondied in 1968.”Reese continued, “ ‘Hidden in the SameMystery’ shows how their friendshipnurtured both, and so many others aswell. The book came to be becauseLuke possessed several tapes of ThomasMerton speaking to Loretto novices. Histalks centered on prayer, one’s relationshipwith God, and religious vows. Heplaced particular emphasis on beingoneself, and on living the vow of povertyin our consumer society and sufferingworld. Mary Luke believed thatMerton’s talks could be helpful not onlyto those in religious life, but to seekersfar and wide. She urged that they bepublished.” And finally they were.The book is presented in three parts,including Merton's writings for Lorettoand Tobin's remarks on Merton. Thethird part is a fascinating collectionof photos of Mary Luke, the LorettoMotherhouse, and many of the sisters.In another review, the editor of TheMerton Seasonal, Patrick O’Connell,said of the book, “. . . a precious testamentto the mutually enriching friendshipof Thomas Merton and MaryLuke Tobin, and to the bonds thatconnected their religious communities.This collection of Merton’s informalconferences at Loretto and Sr. Luke’srecollections of her relationships withMerton is a gift that illuminates the livesand witness of these two giants of thetwentieth-century American Church.”Fall-Winter 2010 • 7
Page 1 and 2: Fall/Winter 2010 Volume 52, No. 3
Page 3 and 4: Dear Friends,Autumn has arrived, ar
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Page 9 and 10: 1633 —1812Catholics Settle in Ame
Page 11 and 12: y Mark Tenney.and accomplished ling

Loretto Magazine, Fall-Winter 2010, part 1 - Loretto Community

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