The Visitation
by Anne Marie Mongoven, OP
Sr. Anne Marie Mongoven
As Fra Angelico imagined the visitation of Mary and Elizabeth, he saw them opening their arms in welcoming love to one another. The evangelist, Luke, tells us that Elizabeth, hearing Mary’s greeting, was filled with the Spirit and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Elizabeth then asked Mary, Why has . . . the mother of my Lord come to me? And Mary, whose words are seldom noted in the Gospels, uttered that extraordinary love song we call the “Magnificat.” She even dared to say, The Mighty One has done great things for me.
We, too, will experience a visitation. At the request of Cardinal Franc Rodé, CM, Mother Clare Millea, ASCJ, will visit with the major superiors of religious women in the United States. Her charge is to “look into the quality of life” of apostolic women religious in the United States.
Mother Millea will visit with our Prioress Patricia Mulcahey, OP, in June, and later, she may or may not visit other members of our Congregation. If Mother Millea does come to visit Sinsinawa, we will welcome her, and I hope we will sing Mary’s love song, Magnificat, magnificat, anima mea Dominum, remembering that, The Mighty One has done great things for us, too, and holy is God’s name.
It seems strange to have a Sister who does not know us come to assess the “quality of our life.” I am sure Mother Millea is an exceptional woman, or she would not have been given this task, but if she has only a short time with each congregation, how will she ever make such an assessment?
So, in order to help, I performed a personal and private visitation of our Congregation. I asked myself, “How have we changed since Renewal Chapter in 1967? What is the quality of our life as apostolic women religious?” I used four resources to assist me. First, in the center of my desk I put the Bible. Second, on the right I put the four papal documents on Consecrated Life. Third, I put the Constitution on my left. My fourth source was my 60 years of experience as a Dominican.
I began my assessment with the Beatitudes as they are the criteria for measuring a Christian’s life. I can say without qualification how extraordinarily blessed I am to live as one with Sisters who witness to Beatitude life. We are poor, we mourn, we are meek. We certainly hunger and thirst for justice. We are merciful, pure of heart, and peacemakers, though each one of us struggles with some Beatitudes.
Our lives are not centered on ourselves. We look outward to the whole Church and world in our time. We pray daily for all who are in need. Our Sisters catechize and teach the Church in Bolivia. In the United States, we welcome the immigrants, visit the imprisoned, and bring the Gospel and Beatitudes to both groups. Our lawyers protect those who need legal aid. Our doctors serve through research and caring for people without access to health services. A few of us serve people with AIDS. Others give the gift of education in parishes, schools, colleges, and universities.
We reach out in special ways to women, for we, too, experience the disdain and discrimination that other women experience. We strengthen their self-confidence, teach them how to be parents, prepare them for jobs, help them buy homes, and make their neighborhoods welcoming and safe. We witness to faith and unity as we share our lives with these women.
Some of us serve as pastoral associates, liturgists, catechists, and spiritual directors. We are canon lawyers, chancellors in dioceses, musicians, poets, artists, and writers. One of our Sisters directs a residence for Sisters who study in Rome. Another is based in Rome serving the Dominican Order as International Co-Promoter of Justice and Peace. We go wherever we are needed.
I read carefully the papal documents on Consecrated Life sent to us for the visitation. Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II write as teachers with knowledge and love. The Bible is their primary source. The popes focused on our living the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience as we would expect them to do in writings on religious life.
Our Constitution, which we ourselves wrote over 25 years, calls us to lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Like the papal documents, its primary source is the Bible. Our Constitution speaks poetically and profoundly of the largess of God’s love. Its first words are, “The life of the Trinity is the source of mission,” drawing attention to God’s unconditional love for all people, including us. It describes the integrating qualities of Dominican life as building apostolic community, praying together daily, living a life of study, and serving others. The Constitution prescribes a quality life. That is what we live.
The quality of our life has changed greatly during the past 40 years. We have become older. We have become fewer. We have become happier. We have moved from a life focused on uniformity as a source of unity to a life of unity that emerges out of grace and love. We no longer have uniformity of dress or schedule or ministry. We now experience and witness to a unity of love.
As the arms of Mary and Elizabeth were open to each other with welcoming love, so our arms are open to all who need our knowledge and love. God’s love for all people stirs us and the Spirit of God fills us with grace. We dare to proclaim as Mary did that, The Mighty One has done great things for us. Holy is God’s name.