MARBURY FOUNDATION:
THE DOMINICAN MONASTERY OF ST. JUDE
On August 17, 1944, our Mother Foundresses and a novice departed from Catonsville, Maryland.
It was a hot afternoon when they arrived in Montgomery, Alabama where a priest and two Sisters met them at the train station and took them to meet Fr. Harold Purcell, the founder of the City of Saint Jude in Montgomery. To them, it was the end of a journey… a journey which had taken them from Baltimore, Maryland to California, and now, to the Deep South.
The Dream—1930’s
How did it all begin? Mother Mary of Jesus, the prioress of the cloistered Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary in Catonsville, Maryland, saw as in a vision a race riot, with a crowd of angry people with clubs in hand engaged in a violent struggle. As a dark-skinned man in a Dominican habit—St. Martin de Porres—walked through the crowd, rosary in hand, their weapons changed to rosaries. St. Martin pointed up to a monastery on a hill, where Sisters of all races were praying the rosary with arms outstretched before the Blessed Sacrament.
Mother Mary of Jesus felt that God was indicating His desire that there should be an interracial community where any young Catholic woman called to live the cloistered, contemplative life would be welcome. Mother Mary of Jesus died on November 18, 1939, but not before she confided her “dream,” as she called it, to Mother Mary Dominic.
The Foundation—1940’s
When a young woman was denied entrance to Catonsville because of her race, the time seemed right. Mother Mary Dominic and Mother Mary of the Child Jesus obtained permission to write bishops around the country. “Wonderful idea, but not prudent in my diocese at this time,” many responded. After several years and a few false starts, our Foundresses were given permission to write just once more. Mutual friends put them in touch with Bishop Thomas J. Toolen of Mobile, Alabama. He extended a kind welcome and introduced them to Fr. Purcell, who had long desired a monastery of Contemplative Sisters at the City of St. Jude. Since construction materials were not available during wartime, Fr. Purcell renovated the rectory at the Resurrectionist Fathers’ Holy Ghost Mission out in quiet, rural Marbury to serve as the first monastery for the new foundation. Everything was ready when our Mothers arrived on August 17, 1944; by August 28, they were able to start living their cloistered life.
The Building Days—1950’s
Aspirants came and tried their vocation and in time the first two young women persevered to make Perpetual Vows on June 13, 1950. As more Sisters were received, the little house began to bulge at the seams. Dreams and plans for a “real monastery” were discussed and put away for a future day. To ease the strain of limited space, the Sisters installed a folding stairway to the attic. On Archbishop Toolen’s next visit, he was shown their achievement and asked again for permission to build. Archbishop considered a moment, looked at Mother Mary Dominic with a twinkle in his eye and said, “Yes, Mother, go ahead. If the Sisters can help, you will save a lot on expenses.”
The Sisters began to solicit funds to build a permanent Monastery on the adjoining hilltop. There were countless responses to the request, “Just throw a brick at us! Each one is 14 cents.” On January 1, 1953, the bulldozer arrived to begin construction. On October 28, 1953, the Sisters moved into the new half-built monastery, which was completed over the ensuing years as funds allowed, forming the simple yet cherished building we have today.
Civil Rights: Ahead of the Times—1960’s
Sheltered within the cloister walls, the Sisters were already living the harmony and equality before God and man that were so hotly contested in society during this time. Young women continued to be drawn to give their lives to God in our community; in the monastery, no racial tensions arose to mar the focus on love of God and of the Sisters. When Mother Mary Dominic went to her eternal reward on July 20, 1966, she knew that her life’s work had been an offering acceptable to God. Today, we continue to give our lives to God for the salvation of souls, grateful that our community is no longer unique in admitting young women of any race.
Keeping Tradition—1970’s-80’s
As the tumult of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s rocked both society and the Church, the cloister at Marbury represented an oasis of stability and tradition to the young women who entered during this time. Until her death on June 2, 1980, Mother Mary of the Child Jesus wisely protected the community from disturbances and ensured that the Sisters received authentic Catholic teaching. Our hidden life of consecration continued, although as the years passed fewer young women sought to join. In the midst of the Sisters’ daily joys and trials, God was reaping great graces for souls and preparing the seed of future growth.
From Cloistered Sisters to Cloistered Nuns—1990’s
Our community was founded as a monastery of cloistered contemplative Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary, a branch of the Dominican family specifically dedicated to honoring Our Lady and interceding for souls through the perpetual recitation of the Rosary. From the beginning, our Mother Foundresses had desired to continue our life of Rosary devotion more closely united to the Dominican Order as papally enclosed nuns. With a new edition of the Church’s canon law and the need for updated Constitutions, the time seemed ripe. On August 15, 1995, all the Sisters in the community joyfully pronounced their Solemn Profession as Nuns of the Order of Preachers.
“The unanimity of our life, rooted in the love of God, should furnish a living example of that reconciliation of all things in Christ which our brethren proclaim in their preaching of the word.”
New Millennium, New Life—2000’s-present
As the Sisters embraced their vocation with renewed zeal, the seed of new life God had prepared began to flourish. A new generation of young women again sought to give their lives to Christ for souls, and found in the monastery that hidden treasure worth everything to gain: the glowing light of charity, the beauty of traditional monastic life, and the place God called them to serve Him. Decades pass, the times change, but the ideal of Dominican contemplative life our Mothers passed on to us continues to bear fruit today.
Memos from marbury
We are grateful to our Mothers and early Sisters who laid the foundation of Dominican monastic life here at Marbury from which we look to the future. Here are some memories and stories of those early days.
