What's Happening

January 30, 2025, Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Sister Nancy Murray, OP, known for her long-time ministry of performing a one-woman stage presentation of 14th Century Dominican mystic St. Catherine of Siena, recently took on new roles. She portrayed Sister Catarina de Vigri, St. Catherine of Bologna (1413-1463), an Italian Franciscan Sister and later Poor Clare, as well as the two foundresses of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee. 

The presentation took place recently during that community’s 150th-anniversary Gala, held at the Saint Kate Hotel in Milwaukee. The hotel is named after St. Catherine of Bologna, Patroness of the Arts.

“There was such a great enthusiasm about [the presentation and Gala] because they had never done anything like that before,” Sister Nancy said of the School Sisters of St. Francis. The evening included dinner, a silent auction, a live auction, and dancing to the music of mariachis, she recalled. “There was great joy that something they had never tried before was so successful.” 

Sister Nancy said she was invited in April 2024 to portray St. Catarina by Sister Deborah Fumagalli, SSSF, newly elected to the community’s International Leadership Team. Ironically, Sister Nancy said, much of Sister Deborah’s ministry experience was with Dominicans: a few years at Aquinas Dominican High School in Chicago and 26 years at Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, Illinois – both sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Now, Sister Nancy said, she returned the favor by immersing herself in the Franciscan heritage. 

Sister Nancy devoted a great deal of time to studying the materials on the life and times of St. Catherine, provided by Sister Deborah. As a friend of the daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, Catherine was brought up in the Duke’s court, where she enjoyed the advantage of an education. But when the Duke killed his wife and his wife’s boyfriend on learning of her infidelity, Catherine fled the court and joined the Franciscans in her town as a Franciscan Tertiary. Because her superior believed that Catherine’s privileges could make her too proud, she was relegated to tending the animals outside the convent. There, she met and befriended the local people, offering prayers for their intentions. The superior then ordered her to engage in full-time ministry as the community’s novice mistress – inside the convent and away from the people. 

After four years, Sister Catherine left that community and in 1432 co-founded a convent in the Order of Poor Clares. Catherine was named Superioress and later became the Abbess of a second Poor Clare community. Throughout it all, she was always willing to serve in humbler capacities and continued to work on her art – which has received recognition for its quality, Sister Nancy said.

Sister Nancy’s preparation also involved obtaining a habit of the Poor Clares. She asked Sister Barbara Quincey, OP, gifted at quilting and sewing, to create the habit. “The pattern would never have been done if it was up to me,” Sister Nancy said. “[Sister] Barb really was a pro.”

After her years of portraying St. Catherine of Siena, Sister Nancy said she can easily relate to St. Catherine of Bologna – who had probably heard about her Dominican predecessor. Like St. Catherine of Siena, Sister Nancy said, the service of St. Catherine of Bologna involved “compassion, empathy, and care for patients.”

But the focus of Sister Nancy’s presentation changed when she began studying materials about the history of the School Sisters of St. Francis – and especially about their founders: Emma Franziska (Mother Alexia) Hoell, Paulina (Mother Alfons) Schmid, and Helena (Sister Clara) Seiter. The three left their community in Germany in 1843 to come to the United States and establish their community in Wisconsin. 

“I had to change my accent to German so I could be the two Mothers,” Sister Nancy recalled. The story included the Mothers’ building projects – still standing today – and their conflict with bishops as they started their new community. The School Sisters of St. Francis “wanted to convey that they were standing on the shoulders of people whose lives showed a lot of sacrifice,” Sister Nancy said.

The timing of her performance also changed, from one hour to 20 minutes – with much more material. Ultimately, Sister Nancy spent 25 minutes portraying Sister Catherine of Bologna and the foundresses of the School Sisters of St. Francis.    

Sister Nancy comes by her own creative talent as an actress very naturally. A native of Wilmette, Illinois, and a graduate of Regina Dominican High School, she grew up in the talented Murray family, which includes her brother, the well-known actor Bill Murray.  

Sister Nancy took on her ministry of portraying St. Catherine of Siena after the April 2000 death of Sister Kathleen Harkins, OP. She followed in Sister Kathleen’s footsteps, bringing her one-woman performance to parishes, schools, and other organizations throughout the United States and around the world. 

She has also portrayed other women religious, most notably Sister Dorothy Stang, a School Sister of Notre Dame who was martyred in 2005 while helping poor farmers protect their land in the Amazon Rainforest.

Sister Nancy is available to bring her prayerful performance to schools, parishes, and other organizations. Contact her at 517-266-3533 or [email protected].

 

Caption for above feature photo: Adrian Dominican Sister Nancy Murray, OP, portraying St. Catherine Vigri of Bologna, interacts with guests at the School Sisters of St. Francis 150th Anniversary Gala.
Photo Courtesy of the School Sisters of St. Francis