Detroit — Never assume an elderly religious sister, brother or religious order priest is retired. Like the Cloistered Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament in Farmington Hills, depending on their health they are probably still quite active long after most people would be taking it easy.
Take Sr. Mary Cecilia, OP, for example: At 91, she is not only still employing her fine voice in the daily round of the Liturgy of the Hours, often being called upon to take a speaking part, but she also employs her fine penmanship as she addresses all the thank-you notes to the monastery’s many benefactors.
Sr. Mary Cecilia originally entered a Dominican monastery in Newark, N.J. in 1944, but came to Farmington Hills after that monastery closed in 2004.
The principal work of cloistered nuns is the offering of themselves in prayer and sacrifice for the whole world. But the nuns also have duties associated with the running of their monastery, and — as with their altar bread sales operation — activities to support their continuing ministry of prayer.
Consider Sr. Mary Magdalen, 90: She works in the monastery’s altar breads department, packing boxes and helping with the billing and shipping. The Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament supplies more than 300 parishes, hospitals, schools and other Catholic institutions with the unconsecrated hosts for use at Mass.
Sr. Mary Magdalen also entered the order at that New Jersey monastery, in her case in 1939. Asked what has been the greatest joy of her years as a Cloistered Dominican, she replied, “The ongoing joy of surrendering my whole life to the Lord for His purposes.”
A former prioress, she is serving her second consecutive term on the monastery’s council.
Then there is Sr. Mary of Mercy, OP, 85, who entered the Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament when it was still in Detroit, back in 1948.
Also a former prioress and considered to be “the memory of the community,” she is a regular writer for the monastery’s quarterly newsletter, Echoes. Although she does work on a computer, it would not be quite right to say she has one foot in the modern age, as she works in DOS on an IBM PS2 running Windows 3.11 — about as near to ancient as things come in the computer world.
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Both Sr. Mary of Mercy and Sr. Mary Cecilia said their greatest joy as Cloistered Dominicans has been the privilege to sing the Divine Office — to offer a sacrifice of praise to God — seven times a day for the Church and the world.
These three are just a few of the many older vowed religious women and men who continue working in one way or another long beyond normal retirement age. But many others suffer infirmities that no longer permit them to engage in active ministry, and some of those require expensive nursing care.
Sadly, many religious congregations failed to make adequate provision for the costs of supporting their elderly members in their later years. A combination of greater longevity, rising healthcare costs and fewer vocations made necessary the Retirement Fund for Religious. The nationwide annual collection to support the fund is being taken in churches throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 11-12.
Most people will make their contributions at Mass next weekend, but donations may also be sent by mail to: Collection for Retired Religious, c/o Archdiocese of Detroit, 1234 Washington Blvd., Detroit 48226.
