Sister Mary Blaise Cillessen, a member of Mount St.
Scholastica who died on December 30, had a long and productive career since
making her monastic profession in 1946. Just imagine all she accomplished as a
teacher in elementary schools for 16 years; as music instructor, director of
development, and director of alumni at Donnelly College; as music instructor at
Mount St. Scholastica College; and as registrar and associate dean at
Benedictine College. However, as Mount sisters and her family shared stories
about her after her death, Sr. Mary Blaise’s professional accomplishments were
seldom mentioned. Rather, what was remarked on time and again was her kindness
and tactfulness, her uncanny ability to remember names of family members/students and details of their lives, and her encouraging words.
The following lines from the opening song at Sr. Mary Blaise’s
funeral, All Are Welcome by Marty
Haugen, describe her life well:
Let us build a
house where all are named,
their songs and
visions heard
and loved and
treasured, taught and claimed
as words within
the Word.
Sr. Mary Blaise gave people the gift of remembering their
names and stories, listening to their songs and dreams, and affirming them as words within
the Word of Christ. It was a beautiful use of her life, and a reminder to us
that our acts of attention and kindness ultimately are more important than any professional
accomplishments we might achieve.
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