Sister Mary T. Meegan
1925-2008

On the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee, Sister Mary Meegan wrote a reflection. The next few lines are the first part of it and seem to summarize her life.

On a summer day that Sister Mary described in her autobiography as “blistering hot,” July 4, 1925, John William and Mary Josephine (Martin) Meegan welcomed their first child, a daughter, and christened her Mary Therese. Fourteen months later she was followed by a son, baptized John Francis but called Jack, and eight years later by another daughter, baptized Margaret but called Marge. Both parents were Chicago natives and largely of Irish ancestry, with a bit of English and French somewhere along the line.

John William Meegan was one of six children, and was raised by his grandmother. Upon her death he returned to his family and attended St. Columbanus School where he met Sister Lucina Klein, OP, an Adrian Dominican Sister, who became a great influence in his life. He had a cousin who was well known as the bishop’s secretary and director of the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization), Monsignor Peter D. Meegan. There were also several religious in Mary Josephine Martin’s family. Two of her aunts were religious sisters, and two of her uncles were priests. One uncle had died while in the seminary.

Sister Mary’s parents met while both were working for the railroad, her father in the baggage department, and her mother as a secretary. After their marriage, John Meegan worked first as a conductor and later as a bus driver for the Chicago Surface Lines, later the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority).

When Mary and her brother started school, the family was living in St. Sabina Parish in a two-flat building owned by their grandparents, and they started their education at St. Sabina School, where the Sinsinawa Dominicans taught. Since the residents of the other flat were relatives, parents of two boys, Mary grew up with three boys. With them, she played baseball, rode bicycles, played games, and was the only girl on the baseball team. She wrote, “It was Mom who taught us our prayers, and Grandma who told me I would be a sister. It was during these years, I’m sure, that the seeds of a religious vocation were planted and nurtured.” It was also during these years that her sister Marge was born, and Mary was filled with delight at having a baby sister.

In 1938 the family moved into a flat in St. Dorothy Parish. Mary finished her elementary years at St. Dorothy School. There she met Rosemary Conlon, who became a lifelong friend.

Mary then progressed to Mercy High School, where she belonged to the Sodality, played volleyball and basketball, joined the bowling club, went roller skating, was active in CISCA (Chicago Inter-School Catholic Action), and loved to dance. Becoming a religious sister was still in her mind, but neither the Sinsinawa Dominicans nor Sisters of Mercy appealed to her. She was somewhat attracted to the BVMs, but not quite sure whether she wanted to become one. A retreat given by Father Daniel Lord, SJ, intensified her desire. One day she met Sister Mary Philip Ryan, the novice mistress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation, who was visiting her aunt. Sister Mary Philip suggested that she attend St. Joseph Academy in Adrian for her senior year. Mary and her parents visited Adrian, and liked what they saw there. Although she had been offered a scholarship to St. Xavier College, Mary chose to spend her senior year at St. Joseph Academy.

Instead, however, the sisters decided that she was ready for college, and she enrolled as a freshman at Siena Heights College (now University) across the campus from the Academy. The sisters made a deep impression on her, especially Sister Patrick Jerome (Mary Mullins) who taught her how to pray effectively, and she began to recognize her Dominican vocation.

On one of her father’s visits, he brought Rosemary Conlon, who he was sure had a vocation, and she later entered the Congregation. On June 25, 1944, Mary also entered the postulate. Within a short time she discovered that she had a cousin in the Congregation, Sister Florence Therese McKernin. Later she realized that Sister Alice Patricia O’Hagan, who died in 1933, was her father’s cousin.

On January 3, 1945, with her group she received the habit and her religious name, taken for both her father and brother, Sister John Maureen. These were the years of World War II, and Jack had joined the Navy. Sister Mary offered prayers and tears for his safety; then offered heartfelt thanks for his safe return.

In her lengthy and interesting autobiography, she wrote:

In the middle of our novitiate year, Sister Mary Philip was assigned to Santo Domingo. I had been working with Sister Patrick Jerome on the book of meditations we were to publish. Unusual in the novitiate, I had been permitted to stay up late to work on these meditations. What would happen now with a new novice mistress? Sister Edmund [Harrison] arrived on the scene. While she assigned me to continue work on the meditations and allowed me to stay up, she did limit just how late that could be.

Sister Mary professed her first vows on January 5, 1946, and was kept in Adrian to finish her studies at Siena Heights College. She lived in one of the white houses with the preparatory students. In June 1946 she received her bachelor’s degree cum laude with a major in mathematics and minors in English and science.

She was then sent to Florida, where she spent eight years: a year at Rosarian Academy in West Palm Beach with middle grade students, five years at St. Anthony in Fort Lauderdale with junior high and high school, and two years at St. Anastasia in Fort Pierce teaching math, science, religion, and mechanical drawing on the high school level. She had been studying at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and in 1951 was awarded a master’s degree with a major in mathematics and a minor in education.

Brought back to the Midwest in 1954, most of her ministry from that time on was in Illinois. She spent eighteen years as a teacher of math and science: seven years at Aquinas High School in Chicago, five years at St. Edward High school in Elgin, and six years at Regina High School in Wilmette. She was active in the Chicago Science Teachers Association, acting as math chairman and later as president of the group. In summer 1962 she was in an automobile accident that left her with a back injury that caused her much pain for some time, but it did not keep her from her ministry.

In 1972 she obtained a scholarship from the Archdiocese of Chicago and became a full-time student at Aquinas Institute in Dubuque, Iowa. She earned a second master’s degree, this time in theology. She then accepted a position at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, where she taught the New Testament and served as a member of the senior retreat team for eleven years. For two months during summer 1979 she served as a retreat director at Aylesford Retreat Center in Darien, then in the fall returned to Fenwick. She continued her studies at Aquinas Institute during the summers, and in 1981 was awarded a doctorate in spirituality. Her doctoral dissertation was on adolescent spirituality, and the orals board recommended that it be published in book form. This led to the publication of Sister Mary’s book, Climbing the Mountain: A Journey in Prayer, and the accompanying teachers’ guide. During this time she also was a member of Parable, participating in several preaching retreats.

In 1977 she lost her beloved father. Then in 1984 Sister Mary’s mother had a stroke, and was placed at St. Patrick Residence in Joliet. In order to be near her, Sister Mary took a position at Joliet Catholic High School, where she taught for two years. God took her mother to eternity in 1985. Sister Mary then spent a year at Aquinas Center in Atlanta, Georgia, as director of planning/scholar in residence.

During the summer of 1987 she participated in a trip to Israel, then returned to Illinois to teach at McCauley High School in Chicago for a year. In 1988 she began her eleven “life-giving” years as Vicar of Religious for the Diocese of Joliet. These years saw her being given much publicity in the area newspapers. Her retirement in 1999, however, did not lead to idleness. She gave retreats, served on the Fenwick Board of Trustees, and became group spiritual director in the permanent diaconate program in the Diocese of Joliet. She wrote, “My directees include men and women, lay, religious, and ordained. What an experience of standing on holy ground!” In 2004 she delighted in a trip to Spain.

In the year 2006 her brother Jack died of cancer, and she discovered that she was suffering from aggressive bladder cancer. She wrote, “It is at times like this that the word ‘community’ takes on a new depth of meaning. To my Mission Group, Chapter, and Adrian Dominicans, I am most grateful and hold you in prayer.” She returned to Adrian in July 2008 knowing that she had only a short time to live, and she went to God on October 19.

A wake-remembrance service was held for Sister Mary on October 21 in St. Catherine Chapel. Present were her sister Margaret Reilly and her husband Jim; her nieces, Donna Falcone and Mary Ann Petkus and her husband John; her sister-in-law Mary Therese Meegan; students and friends from the Joliet Diocesan Deaconate Program; and her many Dominican friends. Sister Patricia Dulka, Prioress of Dominican Midwest Mission Chapter, opened the service, welcomed those present, and summarized Sister Mary’s life and ministry.

Sister Dorothy Glaister, delegate for the Anawim Mission Group, spoke. She said in part:

Through all these years, Sister Mary was our very own Dominican scholar and historian. She lived and breathed her ministry. In May 2007, our Mission Group spent a weekend together here in Adrian. As part of that weekend, Sister Mary directed us in an experience of centering prayer. This will always be a special legacy that she gave to us.

Milton Leppert, a candidate for the diaconate, read St. John of the Cross’s “Living Flame of Love,” and said:

Sister Mary was my spiritual director since 2005. She succeeded in giving spiritual direction to a raging bull. She’d ask me many times, “How’s your prayer life?” Finally I realized that your prayer life is constant. You’re immersed in it. She was an extraordinary woman! I saw the work she did with the diaconate program. She helped me focus on my spiritual growth.

Sister’s niece, Mary Ann Petkus, Sister’s brother John’s daughter, shared memories:

She had wonderful qualities. One was her dedication—to the Church, to God, to her faith, to her parents, to her Congregation. When my dad was dying, he was deaf and couldn’t speak. We were with him in the hospital for eight weeks. Every Sunday morning we’d hear her heels clip-clopping on the floor as she came down the hall to relieve us so that we could go to Mass. She’d sit and hold his hand.

Another quality was her determination. If she wanted to do something, she’d do it! At my father’s funeral, she wanted to give the homily and was told that she couldn’t. She could give the eulogy. At the end of Mass, up went Sister. She started with a Bible verse from St. John. She gave the homily. And at that time she knew that she was terminally ill. But she never let on. She never thought of herself.

Father Roland Calvert, OSFS, was the presider and homilist at Sister Mary’s funeral liturgy on October 22. Selected lines from his homily are the following:

Sister Mary speaks in her autobiography of falling in love with Jesus at some point. She writes, “Early in my life, so early I recall neither the day nor time nor circumstances, I fell in love with Jesus, and no human person would ever be able to compete.” She had a deep conviction that only Jesus could satisfy her heart’s yearnings.

She quotes St. John of the Cross several times where he says that all growth takes place in darkness. But you also need light for growth to be completed, of course. In 2006 she found darkness in the death of her beloved brother Jack. It was at that time that she heard his voice say to her, “Now it’s your turn.” A few days later she learned that she had cancer. She writes of the importance of her Mission Group and other Dominicans and friends who supported her.

Sister Mary has passed through the darkness of pain and sorrow into God’s radiant light. As Father Roland said, “We rejoice with her.”