Recently at Patheos there was an article by Elizabeth Duffy on Mount de Sales Academy in Maryland, run by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, more commonly known as the Nashville Dominicans, in which the faith is beautifully integrated into every aspect of the educational experience. Duffy writes:

“The Nashville Dominican Sisters have gained a national reputation for helping to facilitate this Catholic Identity wherever the sisters go. Many parents and administrators are wondering, how can we get the Nashville Dominicans to come into our schools and transform them? The Sisters shine a light on the potentialities of Catholic education, but they also point a way for the laity. Christ is the one who transforms us. If he is integral to our lives, he will be integral to our schools. Holiness, not hot air.”

Mount de Sales is living proof that rigorous academics and a vibrant Catholic identity need not be an either/or proposition for our Catholic schools.

The online edition of Catholic San Francisco published an edifying story this past week on the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, who are sending four sisters this fall to Marin Catholic High School, located just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

The sisters will there not only to teach, but also to assist with the student clubs, campus ministry, and retreat program, thereby reinforcing the school’s Catholic identity, which includes daily Mass at 7:30 a.m. for the students.

This is the young community’s second foray into Northern California. Last fall they began teaching at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary School in the Diocese of Sacramento, at the invitation of Bishop Jaime Soto.