New Lights from Old Truths

Fourth in the series chronicling the history of the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, the volume covers the period of expansion between 1926 and 1966, a period when hundreds of thousands of children were the beneficiaries of the Catholic school system in the United States. Many will be able to identify with the educational setting described in these pages. At times the students and graduates may have wondered what life was like for the women in the front of the classroom. The photos, memoirs, diaries and correspondence that were drawn from to assemble this narrative will enable the reader to understand and appreciate religious life from the perspective of those who lived it during these years. The wider picture of how congregations of women religious function within the Catholic Church emerges through descriptions of dealings with officials in Rome and with bishops in the United States, as well as with the network of various Catholic organizations such as the National Catholic Education Association. In addition to the sisters themselves, the reader will meet the men and women whose generous contributions of time, money and contacts were essential to the success of the educational mission. Side by side with the administrative and organizational work of the superiors that provides the backbone of the narrative are stories of daily life.