AUGUST 2020
VOL. XXV, NO. 1
www.ursulinesmsj.org
associates.msj@maplemount.org
Associates and Sisters recall early days at the Mount
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pending so much time separated from each other these days gives Ursuline Sisters and Associates time to reminisce. We asked questions, and Sisters and Associates responded with a wonderful array of answers. Here are some of their replies. If you have a memory to share, email doreen.abbott@maplemount.org.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH THE MOUNT? Associate Pauline Goebel, of Louisville: “I was very young when I first went to the Mount. My sister (Sister Marietta Wethington) was there in the novitiate. I remember thinking the dining room was huge. My younger siblings and I would run down the meadow in front of the church –often times rolling down the hill. We thought it was glorious. I was very impressed with all of the statues all over the grounds.” Sister Rebecca White, a native of Glennonville, Mo.: “I came to the Mount for the first time when I was about 5 years old. A friend of our family was entering the novitiate. That was the ceremony during which the young postulants wore bridal gowns. During the ceremony, they left to put on their religious garb. The little bit I recall is that we left our house in the middle of the night to get here on time – but we were WAY too early. After the Mass, we went to a basement, complete with high windows, to celebrate or eat. What most stood out for me was that, before the ceremony, I had to change out of my play clothes into a beautiful dress that Grandma Hagan had made for us. I hated that I had to do that with my whole family in the car with me!” Associate Karen Lasher, Owensboro: “My first experience of the Mount was when I was 13. We had just moved from Dayton, Ohio, to Owensboro. My mom went to school at the Academy. We went to the Mount for their huge annual picnic. I remember how hot and muggy it was in Owensboro, but when we got to the Mount there was a cool breeze blowing and it was so shady with all those huge trees. … I remember it being such a peaceful place then, like it is now.”
Sister Mary Ellen Backes, Springfield, Ill.: “What comes to me was when we, as Belleville Ursulines, around 2003-2004 were struggling with questions about our future as a community of Ursuline Sisters. What would happen to us? Would we just ‘die out?’ Where would we go? Who would be the last one to ‘turn out the lights?’ Two of us decided to make a little retreat at Mount Saint Joseph in order to pray for some guidance. What happened in those couple of human days really did change the course of our history because it started the initial practical steps into our merger process. (The late) Sister Frances McDonagh (right) and I, unbeknown to each other, picked the very same Gospel passage (Matt. 17) concerning Jesus’ transfiguration as our retreat focus for meditation. It seemed to be a time of clarification for both of us. And as we ‘came down from the mountain,’ so to speak, we met a couple of the Council members and asked if we could meet with them to share our story, and perhaps the possibility of our sharing our lives with the Maple Mount Sisters. From that moment onward the hospitality of these Maple Mount Sisters and these grounds welcomed us in with love and hospitality that has grown until the present.” Associate Suzanne Reiss, Lanesville, Ind.: “I cannot tell you the year, but it was during the time when (the late) Sister Rose Marita O’Bryan (right) was congregational leader. (The late) Sister Bartholene Warren (pictured below) was my great aunt, my mother’s aunt. My mother and her sister Cecelia wanted to come to the Mount and visit Sister Bartholene. The drive from Louisville is 2 1/2 hours and it is more than either one of them wanted to tackle on their own. So, they asked me to drive them. I had not been to the campus before, so I did not know where to go. The switchboard was located in the area that is now the Angela Oratory. It was on a Saturday morning and not a lot of people Continued on page 2