"This is what Yahweh asks of you, only this - to act justly, to love tenderly, to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6

Walking was an exercise that Sister Marie enjoyed throughout her life. She walked everywhere. She walked in the rain and in the sunshine, she walked when she was happy and she walked when she was perplexed. She walked the streets of the Bronx', the neighborhoods of Columbus and Denver, the hills of Mariandale, the paths of the Mount and the beloved halls of the archives. Marie loved walking, and I suspect that walking was her humble time with God. Catherine Atkinson was the eldest of three daughters born to Edward and Marguerite Atkinson on August 13, 1919 in New York City. She attended schools there before entering the Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor in February 1940. She became a novice the following year and received the name of Sister Marie. She professed her first vows in 1941 and her perpetual vows in 1944. She walked a lot during that time. When Catherine entered the congregation she brought with her a deep faith, a questioning mind, a creative nature and a love of music. Through her Dominican vocation Sister Marie acquired a deep and abiding love for the sick poor. This love was manifested throughout her life in service to them and lots of walking.

Before long she was called into congregation service and served the Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor as superior, novice mistress, superior general, secretary general and archivist. She assumed a leadership role in the congregation just as the windows of Vatican H were thrown open and religious life was challenged to radical transformation. (Sister Marie would later confess that this was the most trying time of her religious life - attempting to uphold the authority of the Church, tenaciously preserving the essentials of religious life, while allowing the freedoms presented to an apostolic religious community.) How could she ACT JUSTLY, LOVE TENDERLY, WALK HUMMLY? She did a lot of walking during that time. After completing her term in congregation leadership, Marie returned to nursing the Sick Poor in Columbus, Ohio and then in Denver, Colorado and finally in Hampton Bays on Long Island. Following those years she became a staff nurse first in the infirmary at Mariandale and then in the infirmary at the Mount. It was in the mid 1980's that she retired from "active" ministry and threw herself into the work of preserving the history of the Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor congregation as the archivist. As the congregation moved toward union with the Fall River and Newburgh Dominican congregations, Marie packed up the archives and moved them and herself Newburgh to continue the task. This venture created the need for constantly walking. It is here, as a Dominican Sister of Hope that Marie has lived and worked for the past six years.

Throughout my own religious life Marie has taught me many things. As one of her novices she taught me the value of a personal relationship with my God, the necessity of a clean, pleated veil and the value of clean window sills. As she aged, she taught me how tough change and transition can be and that one's personal relationship with God is the thing that gets you through. Finally, her last lesson was a glimpse at her soul that always desired her God in abandonment and love. If I asked each of you here who she was for you I think there would be divergent responses. two would say she was a devoted sister, one a loyal sister-in-law, several would reply she was a loving aunt, many would consider her a concerned friend, while others would think she was a companion on the journey. Someone is bound to say she was a lover of the institutional church in all its glory and sinfulness, one or two would agree she was their nemesis, or their superior, or their counselor or even their sharer of secrets. Some would admit she was a contradiction while others would call her a lady. All would agree she was Mrs. Clean. Marie was not perfect, but she strove for perfection. Marie was perplexed with the realities of present day religious life but never wavered in her desire to be a consecrated religious woman. Marie struggled with Dominican common life but, reveled in its companionship. Marie feared change but acquiesced to the transformative process.

In the end, Marie was a piece and part of each of us, with a faith in her God that resonated to each person she met. We thank you, Marie for the gift you were to each of us. And we are confident that finally, you are walking humbly with your God.

Sister Veronica Miller, OP
July 31, 2001

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