I was recently both humbled and delighted to be contacted by the archivist of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, Wis. She asked if I would send her scanned copies of any artwork I had created over the years inspired by Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman.
For the last 30 years, Sister Thea has had a huge influence on my life, both as a religious brother and as an artist. As such, I scanned 47 pieces of art inspired by her words and story, which were placed in one of the 10 boxes sent to Rome for review to advance her cause to the venerable stage in her canonization process.
In 2021, I attended a special liturgy at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City as the archdiocese formally concluded its diocesan phase for the sainthood cause of Servant of God Dorothy Day. At that time, Dorothy Day’s writings and other materials for research into her life were packed in special boxes and sealed with wax and red ribbons. Because Dorothy Day was a prolific writer and journalist, those crates contained three-quarters of a ton of materials. It was a beautiful ritual – which I was not familiar with before that evening.
Since I am a huge devotee of Dorothy Day, and because I was invited to create the cover art for the liturgy, I felt blessed to be present. I ended up sitting in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral amidst a huge crowd of people, watching the ceremony unfold on a large television screen attached to a column high above our heads.
It was an entirely different vibe Feb. 9 in the Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle in Jackson, Miss. – Sister Thea’s home diocese – when I attended the special liturgy officially ending that diocese’s phase of her canonization cause. I visited the cathedral the day before to do some preliminary sketching; the next day at noon, I found myself in the choir loft, sketchbook and pen in hand, watching the procession of priests, deacons and bishops while the choir sang, “Lead Me, Guide Me” – one of my favorite spirituals that I have come to know and love through Sister Thea’s inspiration.
Over the years, I have adopted those four simple words as a personal prayer, which I say or write in moments of stress and uncertainty. (So, pretty much all day every day!) Actually, those words came vividly to life the day before the Mass, too, when I visited the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, which is a few blocks away from the cathedral. It was an emotionally draining two-hour visit that left me feeling both depressed and filled with hope at the same time. Depressed because of the ugly, violent and racist realities of our nation’s history in room after room of photographs and artifacts. It all felt too chillingly close to where we find ourselves heading today. When we don’t know history, we are doomed to repeat it.
But hope came my way when I ran into three sisters from Thea Bowman’s community, plus Meg Paulino, their community archivist, and Dr. Emanuele Spedicato, the postulator of Sister Thea’s cause who had come all the way from Rome. They were gentle reminders of how God led and guided me to the real reason for this momentous visit: Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman on the road to sainthood, reminding us that together, we shall overcome.
Brother Mickey McGrath, an Oblate of Saint Francis de Sales, is an award-winning artist and author who lives in Camden.
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