Madeleva: One Woman's Life

Sister Madeleva knew Saint Mary's College as few have: first as a student, then after she became a member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, as a teacher and head of the English department; and finally as its third president. Her association with the college spanned almost sixty years, during which she was first shaped by and then became a shaper of its tradition. We live in an age that hungers for stories of women's lives, both private and public, to help us better understand and appreciate female ways of doing things and thus extend our definition of human experience. Madeleva's life as a religious allows us to explore the concept of vocation in its fullest sense, as a calling to our deepest self as well as to faith and a life's work. furthermore, her experience in a variety of communities of women allows us to explore examples of female society. Madeleva's life affords us unaccustomed views from a feminine perspective of American higher education and American Catholicism at crucial times in their history.