Rosary worn by my 4th grade teacher, Sr. Mary Corita, Religious of the Divine Compassion, 1957

This rosewood rosary was part of the habit of the Sisters of Divine Compassion who taught in Putnam County in Mahopac, New York.  After Vatican II, their 15-decade rosary was re-designed and made into three (3) of the typical five-decade rosaries.  Before my fourth grade teacher went to her heavenly abode, she sent me these, knowing how much they would mean to me.  It was this special woman who knelt beside my desk, back in 1957, to help me with a long division problem.  She noticed me frightened, quietly crying, and biting my nails in the back of the classroom and came to my rescue.  As she knelt, I could hear her long rosary hitting the floor.  It had a comforting musical sound – like small pellets of frozen rain and snow hitting the windshield of a car as you drive up Taconic State Parkway on Christmas Eve.  Sister smelled like rosewater.  She gave my hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance and proceeded to talk me though my anxiety and the steps to arriving at the right answer- with a smile I’ll never forget as long as I live.  Her calm and gentle demeanor brought out the best in me and eventually, the teacher in me.  At that moment, I wanted so much to be like she was.  I wanted to do for others what she had succeeded in doing for me, my esteem, my self-confidence, and my attitude of being patient and never giving up or “blowing up”-  or convincing myself  I was incapable of “thinking on my feet” or handling disappointments or problems thrown my way- math-related or otherwise.  Her kind and understanding witness taught me that the “Christ within” gave me worth, dignity, promise, and strength.  She lived her charism of being that Compassionate Presence of God in my world.

Sister Mary Corita expected my finest effort in any task she assigned ( with my best penmanship, of course ) and always demonstrated her faith in my abilities – academic, social, or musical.  She trusted me to take charge of a classroom of 50 third-graders in their teacher’s absence and teach them a religion lesson until her return, and begin singing Immaculate Mary after our Morning Offering.  Her trust punctuated by her gratitude meant everything.  She was the teacher who said, “Monica, dare to be different.”  Sister Mary Corita left a vestige of herself in me for the many years I helped educate the minds and hearts of children and adults.  Of all the honors and tributes one is capable of receiving in his or her professional life, this is the ultimate as far as I am concerned.  Her rosary was an indispensable part of her life, her holy habit, her prayer – her reason for being.  There will never be another like it, nor will there ever be another Sister Mary Corita Clarke, R.D.C..  She certainly was an original – ” a teacher’s teacher” – and she continues at this very moment to be my inspiration and “light in the darkness” as I “dare to be different” while reaching for something of a lost dream.                                                                                                                                  †  ***In her later years, Sister was an adjunct professor of Theology at Fordham University, authored Spirituality for Active Ministry (Sheed and Ward, 1991), a guide for clergy, and founded the Divine Compassion Center for Spiritual Renewal in White Plains, New York where she offered many retreats and courses combining theology and psychology for spiritual renewal and direction.***   †  Requiescat in pace, mi soror in Christo.  †