Salve Regina University - Regina Maris Yearbook (Newport, RI)

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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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20 Jtninistrat o r