This Will Reaffirm Your Faith in Humanity

Sister Maria Veritas

Mary Anne Marks was Harvard's Valedictorian in 2010. Upon graduation, she entered religious life with the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I had forgotten about Ms. Mark's story, after seeing video of her commencement address in Latin — until the other day, when someone brought up the subject of the Dominican Sisters and I wondered about her.

This may be old news to many of you, however, on Aug. 1, 2011, Mary Anne Marks received the habit, and a new religious name: Sister Maria Veritas.

Sister Maria Veritas recently discussed her call to consecrated life from Harvard to the convent. She writes in part:

"Between each day’s bookends, opportunities abound to provide a mother’s tenderness to all, young and old, whom God places in my life. I will not have the joy of a family of my own, but I have the joy of being completely available to anyone who approaches me. And they do come: a classmate unsure of her future, an unemployed father seeking prayers for his job interview, a tourist thrilled to see a habited Sister... ... They come as I type my paper in the library, they come as I eat lunch in the cafeteria, they come on the street and in the airport. I am theirs because I am His."

"I no longer have a closet-full of clothing and shoes, but I can now empty the contents of my room into three bags in half an hour and be wherever He needs me. I never have to wonder whether I’m dressed appropriately: in the habit, I’m as ready for a soccer game on the quad as for a meeting with the university’s president. I don’t get to choose when the wake-up bell will ring, and I don’t get to choose where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing next year, but I do choose the exhilarating adventure of being fully available for Him."

Deo gratias!

Here is a video of her commencement address in Latin.

Mary Anne Marks: "Cor Harvardianum, Cor Nostrum"