St. Mary Sisters established

An exciting change is coming to the Bismarck Diocese with the arrival of Sister Mary Joseph Campbell and the Saint Mary Sisters. Sister Mary Joseph will be teaching 6th grade religion at the St. Mary’s Academy this fall and hopes to firmly re-establish the presence of sisters in the classroom.

Sister Mary Joseph was in middle school when she first felt a call to religious life. Her 7th and 8th grade classes were taught by Benedictine Sisters whose presence helped her discover a desire to become a sister.

“I realized, wow, I really like sisters a lot,” she recalled. “I kind of got the sense, I think I’m supposed to be one of these.”

When she was a senior in high school, four Dominican sisters came to her parish and started a convent only one mile from her home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She realized this is where she was called to be, and entered. As a postulant, she attended Eastern Michigan University in pursuit of a teaching degree. Her schooling paused once she became a novice, but as soon as she took her first vow, she continued her schooling. She took her final vows in 2000 and started teaching in 2002.

Since then, she has lived in six different states and will have taught in 12 different schools in her effort to help start other religious communities. Her certification is for math and science, grades kindergarten through eighth grade, but her teaching background is varied. “I have this super expansive experience of schools, but I kind of look like I’m a nomad,” she joked.

The move to Bismarck resulted from a personal connection and an interior calling. When Sr. Mary Joseph, who has a biological sister living in Bismarck, heard that Bishop Kagan wanted to bring sisters to the Bismarck Diocese, she took a leave of absence from her community and moved in with her sister to discern what God was calling her to do.

“I had this burning sense that I was supposed to be doing something further to spread religious life, and I just couldn’t shake it,” explained Sr. Mary Joseph. When Bishop Kagan found out she was in town, he asked her to stay for good.

Since then, over the past 10 months, she has been working closely with Bishop Kagan writing up constitutions for the new community, the St. Mary Sisters. On June 1, Bishop Kagan canonically established this as a public association of the faithful. This means other women can join and their vows are canonical. In 10 years, the community can become a diocesan institute if they grow and continue to add to their numbers.

The eventual hope is for them to become aggregated into the Dominican order, but that process can take 15 years. “We’re going to be looking, acting, breathing according to the Dominican charism,” said Sr. Mary Joseph, “but we’re not Dominican yet.”

She also expressed excitement at starting a community in a place like Bismarck. “I’ve been to a lot of places where they haven’t really wanted sisters and to be here where they say, ‘please teach the truth.’ Oh, my gosh, this is what I was made for!”

Many aspects of Bismarck make it a perfect foundation for a new religious community. A large piece of the puzzle is having a bishop like Bishop Kagan who is excited to integrate more sisters into the diocese.

“I’m actually somewhere where the wheels will start turning, because if you have a bishop who’s this eager, stuff happens,” said Sr. Mary Joseph.

Another vital piece is having a Catholic university with a strong teaching tradition already in place like the University of Mary. “Dominicans always start where there is a good university,” she explained.

Additionally, the support that our experienced and faithful teachers and priests will be able to provide the sisters is invaluable. “I’m just one little person. It takes a lot of people to pull this off and they’re here in Bismarck,” said Sr. Mary Joseph. “There’s so many pieces that are in place to have this flourish.”

Sister Mary Joseph is the first superior and novice mistress of the St. Mary Sisters and has already welcomed the first novice who will teach at St. Mary’s Central High School once she makes it through novitiate. Before any sister can teach in the classroom, she needs to earn her degree and go through two years of formation in-house, taking classes on religious life, theology and philosophy.

“It takes a few years to get the women formed, because I prioritize their formation. It is absolutely vital. You can’t cut corners,” she explained.

Teaching junior high students at the St. Mary’s Academy is just the starting point. The eventual goal of the St. Mary Sisters is to have sisters teaching at all the Catholic schools.

“This is a teaching order. That’s our work. The motto of the Dominican order is truth and so bringing truth is basically our goal,” she said. “Our role is in the classroom to transform hearts with truth.”

A larger goal for this new community is to be a witness of the beauty of religious life, and to inspire more women to enter the convent.

“It’s a really beautiful life,” she expressed. “I can’t thank God enough that this is what He asked me to do.”

If you are interested in learning more, find more at their website at www.stmarysisters.org.