The feast of All Saints is one of my favorites. It invites memory and reflection about those family members, friends, and Ursuline sisters, who touched and influenced my life. They were generous and large-hearted men and women, companions in pilgrimage. My memory recalls only their self-giving love in all the various forms it takes: advice, conversation, shared fun and work, and all the other small things that make up human relations.

What I’d like to recall this month of All Saints that will culminate in the feast of Christ the King is Ursulines I have known, great women who were my companions on the way. Space is my only constraint in singing the praise of only a few of these women now among the saints.

There was one who is memorable for her courage, good sense, and wit, along with compassion in being able to imagine others’ position and feelings. She led the province during a time of transition in religious life, leading the way through unmapped territory at personal cost. Later in her life, she served to resolve human hurts on the Archdiocesan marriage tribunal, truly a ministry for her compassionate regard.

A most winning personality was one sister who in her short but active life worked in family counseling, created an Associates blueprint, built up communications regarding peace and justice, and was thoroughly likeable under all conditions. She was a good friend to many, full of joy in her words and approach to life, funny, wise beyond her years.

We were blessed with a musician, who, besides teaching liturgical music, also trained Ursulines in things liturgical. An exacting choir directress whose burning zeal sometimes singed, she introduced us to centuries-old great Church music. She launched us in singing within that ongoing tradition and opened our ears to comprehend and savor our rich heritage.

An educator of educators, one Ursuline served as principal in several of our schools, strengthening best practices and transforming where change was needed. She initiated generations of young Ursulines into the vocation of teacher, with great imagination, wisdom, insight, and flexibility. She was student-oriented, kindness itself in challenging them, steadfast in guiding them to fulfill their potential.

Then there are the great women who served for part or most of their lifetimes in foreign countries, building up the church and the Order through their ministry of education and service. When they returned to the province, we had necessarily limited knowledge of their accomplishments elsewhere, yet they brought the same generosity of spirit to the service they could give, as they had given elsewhere.

There are many more whose wisdom and magnanimity brightened the lives of their sisters on our common journey. They inspire and live on in the great women among us who inherit their legacy. They weren’t preachy, yet their presence steadily—often quietly–spoke of God-who-is-love, present in our world: creating, saving, and accompanying us.

What a privilege to praise these great women.

Bridget Puzon, O.S.U.

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