The New Sisters of SMCHS

Written by Bella Sletteland Photos provided by the Sisters

Sisters have been teaching in schools for centuries, all over the world. But our very own St. Mary’s High School hasn’t had sisters teaching in it for a long time. Thankfully, that is changing very soon. I am sure that some of you have heard of the new religion classes coming to St. Mary’s next year. These classes will be taught by Sister Scholastica of the St. Mary’s Sisters. I had the privilege of talking with the St. Mary’s Sisters of Bismarck near the end of February. So far, there are three great ladies living in the temporary convent near the Cathedral. I was able to interview Sister Mary Joseph and Sister Scholastica. The St. Mary’s Sisters is a community of the Dominican Order. The purpose of Dominican Sisters is to teach and to prepare other young ladies to become teachers as sisters. At first they plan to stay in Bismarck schools to teach, but eventually will spread out to wherever they will be needed.

Meet the Sisters

Sister Mary Joseph is the current Superior of the convent and was the first sister in this new community. She came from the Dominican convent in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which currently houses over 150 sisters. Sr. Mary Joseph came to Bismarck in order to prepare for a trip to Australia to start a House of Formation there, but God had a different plan for her. As she stayed in Bismarck and met with Bishop Kagan to talk about her plan, Bishop informed her that the Bismarck diocese was in desperate need of more sisters and a House of Formation for women to enter into an order. So, on June 1, 2020, the St. Mary’s Sisters of the Bismarck Diocese was founded. Sr. Mary Joseph officially became a member on July 22, 2020 after transferring over from Ann Arbor and Sister Scholastica will make her final vows this summer. Currently, the sisters live in a house near the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, but for the future they have bigger plans. Sr. Mary Joseph said that there discussion for a convent to be built in Bismarck. The house will be able to accommodate 180 sisters. It will be a motherhouse, meaning that there will always be sisters in Bismarck after it is built. Women in this region who want to enter the religious life of the

Sister Mary Joseph

“As Dominican Sisters, the charism is teaching. In order to do that well, we study, and we study a lot. And we find that that is actually how we are able to grow closer to God. When you are close to God, you want to share that with everyone....”

-Sister Scholastica

Sister Scholastica

Dominicans wouldn’t have to go to the Nashville or Ann Arbor convents, they would be able to enter from here. At this point of this huge process, they are building up funds to start this project.

After getting the community started this summer, Sr. Mary Joseph began teaching 6th grade Religion classes at the St. Mary’s Academy. She loves working with the students there and being part of the Light of Christ family. She said there will be at least 40 more students next year than during this year, so Sr. Scolastica will work part time at the Academy to help out. Sr. Scholastica will be teaching at our school next year as well. She will be teaching two senior religion classes: Prayer and Spirituality and Introduction to Philosophy. In her course about prayer, she will be teaching how to pray the Divine Office and prayers, including chants. She uses the analogy that the Mass is

In LOC Schools

the diamond in a ring, and the Divine Office is like the stones set around the diamond. Her philosophy class will be an introduction to the history of the big ideas of humanity and how we have used reason over human history to identify the importance of things in our lives. She is most excited to get to know the students, to be back in the classroom, and to share her love for Christ with us all.

The St. Mary’s Sisters were established by Bishop Kagan

Besides teaching, the sisters spend a lot of their time in prayer. The sisters told me that one of their favorite parts of the day is praying in community. They pray the Divine Office and the rosary as a community and also meditate and read spiritual texts to keep their minds formed for their purpose. Sr. Mary Joseph explained that praying with others keeps you accountable for your time and builds the fervor of prayer. She said that the community life in general is something she loves. In a community of sisters, you work on the same team to achieve the same goal. You know that you aren’t alone, and you are living with people who are all trying to become saints. I asked the sisters how having responsibilities as a sister and a teacher work together. Sr. Scholastica said, “As Dominican Sisters, the charism is teaching. In order to do that well, we study, and we study a lot. And we find that is actually how we are able to grow closer to God. When you are close to God, you want to share that with everyone. So then it becomes natural to go out and teach, and to be able to be in the schools. It’s a huge gift to be able to share that with the students.” I asked what their advice is for people considering the teaching vocation. Sr. Mary Joseph said, “Remember, it is a vocation. You may pursue it and realize it is not your vocation. You also have to really love kids. It’s not an easy profession… but you do it because you know you were created to do it. You will get a grace and a burn to share what you know. When you are with students you will feel more alive.”

“For young people considering entering the religious life...just know that it is a beautiful life. It is hard, but so is every other calling...” -Sister Scholastica

“For young people considering entering the religious life, Sr. Scolastica says, “just know that it is a beautiful life. It is hard, but so is every other calling. There are so many graces that you will get that you can be open to it, get to know the sisters, and to reach out if you have a feeling that you are called to it.” Sr. Mary Joseph explained that you often feel it right away if you are called to stay. You either feel at home or you feel that it just isn’t quite right. If you just look at it from a distance, you will never know if you are made for it. It takes getting to know the life of sisters to understand if it is your purpose. The sisters are very excited to be teaching in our schools and to a part of our family. They said that they have seen so many great things going on that they will get to be a part of and add more to, such as our Chapel, our virtue clubs, and Catholic Schools Week. I hope you are as excited as I am to welcome the sisters to St. Mary’s and to get to know these incredible women.