Oprah Winfrey was surprised after her recent show featuring the Dominican Sisters of Mary when the sisters in the studio said they had a present for her. "No one ever gives me a present," the television star said. Then, as Sr. Teresa Benedicta related in a talk before a packed gathering at The Bean of Ave Maria Tuesday night, "the sisters gave Oprah a rosary, and taught her how to pray it. She seemed really interested."
The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, is one of the fastest-growing orders of women religious in the United States. Founded 12 years ago, it now has 98 women and has run out of space at its mother house in Michigan, Sr. Teresa Benedicta said.
The sisters' appearance on national television earlier in February (click here for previous Ave Herald story) may attract even more women to the order, whose average age is 26. "We had 70 interested women signed up to attend a retreat," Sr. Teresa Benedicta said, "and after the broadcast we now have 135."
Sr. Teresa Benedicta teaches at the Donahue Academy in Ave Maria and is the host of the EWTN television program Truth in the Heart. The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, also teach at schools in Michigan, California, Texas, Arizona and South Carolina.
The order is looking to establish another "foundation" house, probably in Texas or California, Sr. Theresa Benedicta said.
An accomplished speaker, Sr. Theresa Benedicta captivated the group of more than 50 people attending the monthly meeting of the Ave Maria Founders Club with the story of her parents' conversion to Catholicism -- her mother was drawn into the Church by Alice von Hildebrand -- and her own call to religious life.
Ave Maria University National Founders Director Catherine Dailey also expressed thanks to all those who attended or worked on the Spring Style Show, which she said raised $13,000 for student scholarships. |
