Through the Windows: A History of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas (Paperback)

~ Mary Daigler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Sister Mary Jeremy Daigler, R.S.M., paints a picture of the important work in higher education carried on by the Sisters of Mercy in the United States since 1843. She traces their story through the energy and vision of their founder, Catherine their in Ireland, through thier gradual spread across the United States.

Product Details

• Paperback: 275 pages
• Publisher: University of Scranton Press (April 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940866927
• ISBN-13: 978-0940866928
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #586,403 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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4.0 out of 5 stars THROUGH THE WINDOWS, July 24, 2001

By	Sister Patricia Smith, RSM (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews

"The light comes through the windows in that place." These words of her late uncle Gustave Weigel, SJ., impelled Mary Jeremy Daigler, D.Min. to choose Mt. St. Agnes College, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, as her college. The light of truth becomes the theme of her history of the work of higher education among Sisters of Mercy. Written in a clear and readable style, her book includes consideration of Sisters' ministries on Mercy and non-Mercy campuses, and institutional changes that resulted in mergers and closings.

Most of the book is written in the style of a history - that is, in reporting factual events. So, for example, we learn that more than 190 colleges (30% of all established for women in the U.S.) were founded by Catholic Sisters in response to women's need for higher learning which would have been otherwise inaccessible to them. As of 1997, 29 of those colleges had been founded by Sisters of Mercy. Profiles of 19 of these colleges today reveal a mosaic of diverse beginnings, strengths and programs. The chapter on Sisters who work at non-Mercy campuses includes their comments on compatibility with the Sisters of Mercy mission, especially the opportunity to serve women and culturally diverse persons, and to put students directly in touch with persons who are poor and marginalized. Dr. Daigler chronicles early collaboration among Mercy-sponsored colleges, from the 1952 appointment of Sister Mary Xavier Higgins (Baltimore) as chair of a new Mercy Education Conference to the establishment in 1974 of the Mercy Higher Education Colloquium.

While most of the book is written in a reportorial style, Dr. Daigler does occasionally present analyses and her own interpretation of the facts (editorial comments). Thus, she describes Sister Mary Josetta Butler(Chicago) as a woman "with gusto and zest (and not a few fireworks)." And "scholarly research and writing by Sisters has occurred despite great obstacles, and the scholarship which they have done has been insufficiently known or celebrated."

Profiles of individual women of achievement - Sisters and lay alumnae- follow each chapter.

Dr. Daigler's study is infused with deep love for the intellectual life, as that has shone through the Sisters' ministry of higher education. It also expresses her own deep love for the visionary and pragmatic legacy of Catherine McAuley, first Sister of Mercy. As Dolores Liptak, RSMs Preface states so succinctly, "For all who have never imagined what one spark from a single dream can produce, this book is indeed another manifestation of Catherine McAuley's fondest hopes."