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Page 21 text:
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We E DEDICATE THE Regina Maris this year to Sister Mary James, R.S.M., Ph.D., of beloved memory. Though saddened at the loss of her who was our first Dean, we are nevertheless blessed in having an advocate with God during the beautiful days of this Marian year. So truly did her religious life nurture all that was vital in her spirit, that it is difficult to speak of death as claiming Sister Mary James. Rather, time reached full circle for her on December 4, 1953. Her glorious spirit continues to live more abundantly now in the eternal homeland. Nurtured vitality, a spirit purified and made strong by prayer and penance, and a courage ever refusing to slumber in procrastination are concepts easily associated with Sister Mary James. Since her dedicated service as a Sister of Mercy in 1909, her spirit was energized, vitalized by Christ ' s own Life, by close conformity to His Will. And Thy whole Self impart. This invocation to the Holy Spirit was her constant prayer in her hours of teaching, of counseling, and of administra ' tion. The petition kept her ever mindful of the necessity of her own imparting. For hers was the generous spirit of labor without reckoning cost or gain. The price of charity exacted in the exercise of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy was herself — her own convenience, her own will, her own satisfaction. Self must be imparted wholly. Sister Mary James realized this truth in her own living. Once she set a goal for herself, nothing de- fleeted her from it. Whatever the price in prayer, sacrifice, courage, and zeal, her purchasing power was equal to it. Though Sister ' s is a long record of service and achievement, her most outstanding work was done at Saint Xavier ' s where she was principal from 1936-1947, and at Salve Regina College in her ap- pointment as dean from its opening in 1947 until September, 1953. During her eleven-year term as principal of Saint Xavier ' s, the academy enrollment was rapidly in- creasing year by year. Sister ' s administration ably coped with problems created by a large student body and a full program of extra-curricular activ- ities. She successfully co-ordinated student and faculty relations in an expansive curriculum. Sister Mary James departmentalized classes and appointed heads of departments in an effort to make teachers specialists in their own fields. She planned for a creative writing course, a school magazine, and an official student handbook. Complementing a well-functioning club program, Sister Mary James organized the guidance depart- ment, introduced the Placement Bureau, the pho- tography, sewing, art, debating, and foreign lan- guage clubs. During the World War II emergency period, she arranged for home nursing and first aid courses, for aviation and nutritional science. Sister planned an excellent lecture program to supplement class work. Though her community spirit was manifested in her educational work in general, her zeal in fos- tering religious vocations was particularly active. She organized Vocation Week as an annual event at the academy, planned for the writing and circula- tion of vocation pamphlets, arranged for private counseling and for a campaign of fervent prayer in behalf of aspirants to the religious life. In 1947, her final year at Saint Xavier ' s, the academy grad- uated 307 seniors. It was in this same year that Sister Mary James was appointed first dean of Salve Regina College. The work of pioneering the first Catholic College for women in the State of Rhode Island during the last six years of her life was to crown the record of her educational achievements which extended over a period of forty-five years. The General Assembly of Rhode Island granted the Charter for Salve Regina College to the Sisters of Mercy March 16, 1934. From its incorporation until the formal opening of the College September 21, 1947, Sister Mary James made a study of college curricula and organized the Salve Regina College Library. This preliminary work enabled her to lay a solid foundation into whose educational cornerstone went the untiring energy, the unflagging self sacri- fice, and the prayerful planning of an Educator to whose memory the future superstructure will be a lasting memorial in Salve Regina College Archives. The Bachelor of Arts Program with concentration in various fields of study, and the Bachelor of Sci- ence Curriculum with specialization in Nursing were initiated by Sister Mary James who kept abreast of the times in these fields by her study of educational progress in the United States. BELOVED IN MEMORY 17
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Page 22 text:
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Sister ' s realization of the great need for properly trained teaching personnel in our country today gave impetus to the introduction of Teacher Train- ing into the Liberal Arts Program of Salve Regina. She effected an agreement between the College and the School Committee of Newport whereby stu- dents concentrating in education could be given the advantage of supervised observation and prac- tice teaching under competent critics in the New- port public schools. The successful completion of this course merits for the student a Statement of Eligibility for Teaching from the State Department of Education in Rhode Island with the Bachelor of Arts Degree. Zeal for the works of Mercy inspired Sister Mary James to set up a Division of Nursing in the College curriculum. The plan included two years of aca- demic work at Salve Regina, and two years of clinical instruction and experience at St. Joseph ' s Hospital, Providence, and the affiliated agencies — ■ Butler Hospital, Chapin Hospital, and the Provi- dence District Nurses Association. When the re- quirements for this course are fulfilled, the student receives the Bachelor of Science Degree. Sister Mary James welcomed every opportunity for field work in the Divisions of Social Sciences and of Community Service. She encouraged all extra-curricular and co-cur- ricular activities which aided in enriching and broadening the students ' experiences. Intercollegiate affairs such as glee club con- certs, debating, student government conferences, current affairs forums, and social activities were always included in the college agenda. Sister Mary James ' constant planning for the intellectual training and the cultural and social de- velopment of Salve Regina students was accom- plished by her all-absorbing objective — the spiritual formation of Marian princesses whose daily prayer Salve Regina, Mater Misercordiae, Vita, Dulcedo, et Spes Nostra, Salve! would unite with the angelic choirs who cease not to give glory to their Queen. To accomplish this end, Sister Mary James form- ulated the students ' spiritual curriculum — daily Mass, Benediction, the Rosary, Sodality programs, spiritual and temporal, annual retreat, day of recol- lection, the celebration of liturgical feasts, Lenten, October and May devotions, and the renewal of consecration to the Sacred Heart. In the interest of public relations for the material, moral, and spiritual advancement of Salve Regina College, Sister Mary James organized the Salve Regina College Guild and the Association of Friends of Salve Regina College. Her work as an outstanding Educator is paralleled by her life as an exemplary Religious Sister of Mercy. Students and friends were always impressed by her courteous, refined manner, by her dignity and sincerity, by her self-sacrificing devotion to duty. Her prayerful life was reflected in her wise counsel- ing in her all-embracing charity, and in her spiritual outlook on every aspect of the many facets of her life at Salve Regina. Those who knew and worked with Sister Mary James could recognize a living embodiment of Jacques Maritain ' s analysis of America and Ameri- cans wherein he speaks of that tendency to under- take great things, to have confidence, to be moved by large idealistic feelings and the desire for the active repose of the soul breathing what is eternal. Though her work in administration was most out- standing in these two educational projects, Sister ' s record of service in the diocese is a long one and nonetheless valuable. She taught in Tyler School from 1907-1910, in the academy at Bay view from 1910-1915, in Saint Joseph ' s, Pawtucket, from 1915- 1918, Saint Edward ' s Providence, from 1918-1920, Saint Mary ' s, Bristol, from 1920-1926. In 1926- 1932 she was appointed superior at Saint Charles, Woonsocket. Here she organized a junior high school and introduced its school paper, The Papyrus. Transferred to Saint Xavier ' s Academy in 1932, Sister taught English there until her appointment as principal in 1936. Striving ever to improve herself professionally, Sister Mary James obtained her A.M. degree from the English departmnet of Boston College in 1929 and her doctorate from the same institution in 1936. Fidelity to her vocation and singleness of purpose brought Sister Mary James to the Eternal God still young and buoyant in spirit. The ebb tide of her earthly life cast her, triumphant, upon the eternal shores with prayer on her lips, a lifelong desire breathed as a last sigh — Heaven! 18
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