December 6, 2018 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
thecatholicspirit.com
Visitation Monastery in Mendota Heights to close The Nicholas Center Hill-Murray School dedicates space for students to ask for — and get — what they need to learn well. — Pages 10-11
Women-focused care North Minneapolis pro-life clinic merges with Abria Pregnancy Resources to improve quality of outreach. — Page 5
Catholic Studies at 25 Nation’s first Catholic Studies program begins offering master’s degree online. — Page 12
Ethics outrage Bioethicist criticizes Chinese scientist’s modification of human embryo genes. — Page 14
Scoot over, Scrooge! Columnist Laura Kelly Fanucci writes on preparing hearts for Christmas — and packed-to-thebrim churches. — Page 18
Sisters’ influence to remain central to mission of Visitation School By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit
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ust when Sister Mary Paula McCarthy thinks she’s making headway on packing, she discovers another full cupboard or closet. “It’s going more slowly than one would imagine,” she said. She has condensed 50 years’ worth of liturgical files down to three boxes. She’s designated seasonal decorations for Goodwill, donations for the poor, contributions to a parish fundraiser, materials to archive, resources for the school, offerings for the Minnesota History Center and personal belongings to hand down to family members. After six years of active committee planning, the Visitation sisters are closing their Mendota Heights monastery, the 40,570-square-foot building attached to Visitation School that has housed their community since 1966. Upon move-in, the sisters numbered 45, a count that has steadily dwindled to three remaining occupants: Sister Mary Paula McCarthy, 88; Sister Mary Denise Villaume, 80; and Sister Brigid Marie Keefe, 76. They will move out by mid-January, remaining affiliated with Visitation at a local health care facility or other Visitation monastery. But thanks to meticulous planning, their influence will endure, guiding a school that is as strong as ever, according to Rene Gavic, Visitation’s head of school. The monastery has a remarkable history, beginning in 1873 when six intrepid Visitation Sisters journeyed up the Mississippi River from St. Louis to settle in St. Paul. The school was run entirely by the sisters, who taught virtually every course. What began as a finishing school for girls evolved into a rigorous academic program, and the sisters pioneered courses such as an ahead-of-its-time physics course taught by Sister Mary Christine Martens in the 1960s. She had been part of Harvard’s physics program and received grants from the university to enhance her curriculum. With an all-girls enrollment from grades six to 12, Visitation is the only all-girls Catholic secondary school in Minnesota, although it also has a coeducational elementary school. James J. Hill’s daughters attended Visitation School, as did F. Scott Fitzgerald’s mother. The histories of the sisters and of St. Paul were deeply intertwined. In 1966, the monastery and school relocated from St. Paul to a wooded 80-acre property in nearby Mendota Heights, where they continued to flourish. Over the decades St. Teresa of Kolkata stayed at the monastery four times. “Of course there’s a sadness in leaving,” said Sister Mary Paula, who frequently lectures in classrooms and is fondly
FROM TOP In this archive photo, Visitation Sister Mary Paula McCarthy talks to a ninth-grade religion class at Visitation School in Mendota Heights about the history of her order. She is holding a picture of one of the co-founders, St. Jane Frances de Chantal. The remaining sisters of the Visitation Monastery in Mendota Heights: From left, Sisters Mary Denise Villaume, Brigid Marie Keefe and Mary Paula McCarthy. Sister Péronne Marie Thibert gives etiquette tips to Marie Villaume, left, and Jeanne Mullaney, both 1965 graduates, in the student refectory. Sister Brigid Marie Keefe mows the lawn outside the cloister porch at Fairmount Avenue in St. Paul in 1962. PHOTOS COURTESY VISITATION SCHOOL
known for making popcorn for the Lower School students twice a week. “But we have spent years preparing for this, and the school is thriving. The band plays on.” That sentiment is echoed by the community’s administrative superior, Sister Mary Frances Reis, who lives with six other Visitation sisters at their north Minneapolis monastery, where they will continue to serve the northside community. “The sisters are peaceful about leaving because they are secure in the belief that the school is in great hands, both human and divine,” Sister Mary Frances said. For their part, school administrators say they are grateful for the thoughtful planning the sisters poured into this transition — and for their vote of confidence. “We know that they believe in us, which makes us believe as well,” Gavic said. The sisters’ Salesian spirituality, named after the order’s co-founder, St. Francis de Sales, will continue to permeate the school, Gavic said. “We are all committed to carrying forward the mission of excellent Catholic education in the Salesian tradition. None of us will let them down.” That charge is not a burden or a barrier
to progress, she added. “Our Catholic Salesian legacy is our sail, not our anchor. It propels us to continue to move forward, just as the sisters have done for 145 years.” When confronted with big decisions, Gavic said she tries to draw on the PLEASE TURN TO VISITATION ON PAGE 6