As September begins with the excitement of back-to-school activities, we remember Sister Mary Lou Dummer, who would celebrate her birthday on September 21. She loved the Oblates and getting ready for the start of the new formation year. At the end of August, Sister Mary Lou always convened the new Oblate class with an introductory session, followed by monthly formation classes on Thursday evenings. This is an exhilarating time of the year, when the languorous heat of summer fades to the crisp air of fall. Many of us who love the sun and the beach feel a sense of sadness, an urgency to enjoy all we can of the last days of August before autumn returns, the precursor to winter.
An integral part of the August introductory session for the new Oblate class was Sister Mary Lou’s tour and orientation of the Monastery chapel, where she loved to pray three times a day and attend Mass with her Community. Sister Mary Lou was very proud of the beauty and architectural elements of the chapel, and the stained glass windows by Michael Pilla. She would point out these details with excitement: “The undulating wooden ceiling of the chapel represents our prayer and the beauty of the music returning to God.” She called attention to the fact that the oval shape of the chapel symbolizes the feminine shape of the womb, evoking the sacred presence of Mary, Mother of God, and a space where Benedictine women worship.
Beloved Teacher
Sister Mary Lou began her ministry as a teacher. She served as an elementary school teacher in the early 1960’s in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, using her Religious name, Sister Stephen. She was a cherished third grade teacher at St. Bernard’s in St. Paul from 1961-1967. A parent from St. Bernard’s attended her funeral in 2025 and brought with him a small assortment of black-and-white snapshots from those early teaching days. One of these photographs depicts Sister Mary Lou in a full black habit with a long black veil sitting at the top of a seesaw on the playground at recess! Sister Mary Lou was always ready to join in the fun with her young students; she was never one to sit demurely on the sidelines.
Sister Mary Lou taught sixth grade and served as Principal at St. Philip’s School in Litchfield, Minnesota from 1969-1978 and then worked in pastoral ministry in St. Peter, Minnesota from 1978-1980. These were happy years when she lived in rural southern Minnesota, closer to her roots on the farm in her hometown of Bird Island.
She came home to the Priory to serve as Subprioress from 1980-1984. Sister Mary Lou served as Subprioress twice; she returned to this role from 2014-2019, with her classmate, Sister Paula Hagen, as Prioress. Sister Mary Lou and Sister Paula were both from Bird Island and had a long history: they entered the Novitiate together at St. Paul’s Priory in June, 1957 and made their vows on July 11, 1958.
Oblate Leadership
Sister Mary Lou became Oblate Director of St. Paul’s Monastery in 2013. In the vibrant decade of her leadership, Sister Mary Lou shepherded close to 100 Oblates through the formation program, many of whom continue to be active in their commitment to the Monastery and joyfully embrace the Benedictine way of life. Sister Mary Lou welcomed all as Christ and made us feel special and appreciated at every encounter. She personally invited me to become an Oblate in 2019, after asking me the previous year when I could not find the time in my work schedule. When I finally accepted her invitation she said, “Alleluia, Mary. Even though it is still Lent. Alleluia.”
Sister Mary Lou said that the Rule of St. Benedict prepares each person during their year in Oblate formation. It is a lifelong process, as they go deeper in studying and living the Rule in prayer, discernment, contemplation, and listening for God’s call; in fellowship, in putting their faith in action, in embracing the joys and challenges in life. Oblates are passionate about prayer, and have great reverence for nature and art. They rely on the spiritual tool of discernment; they listen with the ear of their hearts. It is like living in a mystical state of awe, finding consolation in the beauty of nature and the world that God created. We are filled with gratitude for so many gifts from God and special graces.
Avid Reader
Sister Mary Lou earned a Master’s Degree in Theology from St. John’s University in 1986. She was a life-long learner, immersed in reading and studying. In the last week of her life, she was enrolled to take an online spiritual retreat from the Benedictine Center. Sister Mary Lou was a quiet intellectual, who read countless books by spiritual writers. She loved Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB. Another of her favorite books was Psalms for Praying, by Nan C. Merrill:
You love us more than we can ask
or imagine;
in truth, we belong to You.
For You understand us,
requiting us not according to our
ignorance and error.
As far as the heavens are high above
the earth,
so great is your loving response
toward those who are humble;
So far does your enduring strength
uphold those who face the
darkness within.
–Psalms for Praying; Psalm 103, p. 202
Enduring Love
Sister Mary Lou was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia in 2023. She faced this diagnosis bravely and submitted to many challenging treatments, such as regular blood transfusions, to help maintain her daily functioning. This illness became her darkness, as she was not able to participate in community life as joyfully as she did before due to the decline in her health and resulting physical weakness. In late January, 2025, she fell and broke her hip. This added injury led to her death on February 6, 2025.
Her packed funeral Mass in the Monastery chapel on February 17, 2025 was a testament to the power of her decades of ministry and enduring love of her monastic community, family and friends. Many of her beloved Oblates attended and participated in the liturgy. Her family from Alexandria attended, and shared stories of many happy days growing up in Bird Island, where her parents were farmers and Sister Mary Lou helped out on the farm, even later in her life. Sister Mary Lou returned to her annual family reunions every summer and enjoyed the delightful company of her brothers and sisters who have since passed on, her remaining sister, Janice, and sisters-in-law Patti and Bev Dummer.
This fall at the Monastery will look a little different, as the new Oblate formation sessions will be open this year to all seekers who wish to study Benedictine spirituality and learn more about the Benedictine way of life. The present Oblate leadership team, chosen by Sister Mary Lou herself, will present new exciting class offerings, with other facilitators and enriching spiritual retreats scheduled in 2026-2027.
In the Oblate Christmas card in 2021, Sister Mary Lou enclosed an Advent prayer on a light blue card by one of her favorite writers, Sister Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB. I have had this prayer affixed to the bulletin board over my desk ever since:
I hope a star
Comes out for you
A new one and one
You’ve never seen before.
I hope it’s bright and kind
And shines down
Vibrant
And long
And well
To help you see the things
You really need to see.
I hope it touches
You with gentleness
And runs
Along beside you
All year long.
This star,
Oh, how I hope
It comes
Running
Leaping
Laughing
Bounding
Shining
in your life.
And when
the year is through
I hope this star
Keeps shining on in you.
I can’t begin to describe the significance of this prayer in my life, what it has meant to me and continues to signify. It also illustrates the sincere kindness Sister Mary Lou exhibited toward all she knew, especially the Oblates. She sincerely wanted the best for us, and through her encouragement and always cheering us on, we knew she was right there beside us, through everything.
What a blessing it was to know, pray and work alongside this beautiful soul for years.
May she rest in peace, and may perpetual light shine upon her.
