Share:

Mother Mary Assumpta Long, O.P., has accepted President Michael F. McLean’s invitation to serve as Thomas Aquinas College’s 2012 Commencement Speaker. The prioress general of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, Mich., will travel to campus this spring to participate in the College’s May 12 graduation exercises.

In just 15 years, Mother Assumpta has helped to establish one of the most vibrant, orthodox religious communities in the United States. Inspired by Bl. Pope John Paul II’s exhortation to the New Evangelization, she and four consoeurs from the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, Tenn., formed a new community in 1997. With more than 100 members today, including two alumnae of the College, the sisters have outgrown their motherhouse in Michigan, and are now planning new houses in Northern California, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas. Their apostolate is education, and they teach at the elementary and secondary levels in various dioceses across the country.

Mother Assumpta is well known as a public champion of the Faith and the religious life. In addition to giving talks at colleges, universities, and conferences, the Sisters of Mary host Truth in the Heart, a catechetical television series for children on EWTN. Perhaps most famously, they have also appeared twice in recent years on the Oprah Winfrey Show, generating international interest in their lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

In a recent letter to Dr. McLean, Mother Assumpta wrote, “My relationship with Thomas Aquinas College goes back to almost its beginning, and I have been amazed at the growth and success of this wonderful institution. The good its graduates have done for the Church and society as a whole is incalculable.” Dr. McLean, meanwhile, has expressed admiration for the Sisters of Mary and gratitude for Mother Assumpta’s agreeing to serve as Commencement Speaker.

“We are honored that Mother Assumpta would come celebrate Commencement with us,” says Dr. McLean. “She is one of the great voices in the Church today, and we are eager to hear the words of wisdom she has for our graduates.”

 

Posted: January 12, 2012