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Sr. Thomas Mary McBride, O.P.
Do whatever He tells you. Jn 2:5
Sr. Thomas Mary Mc Bride was born in New York City, the second child of Thomas and Mary Mc Bride
of Co. Leitrim, Ireland. Upon completing high school she entered the Foreign Missionary Congregation of the Maryknoll
Sisters of St. Dominic. During the early years of religious life, drawn to a more intense life of prayer, she submitted
a request for assignment to the Maryknoll Cloister, a small group of Maryknoll Sisters leading the canonical contemplative
life envisioned as the "hidden heart" of Maryknoll praying for the missions.
In the wake of Vatican II came various changes and adaptations meant to enhance the life of the Cloistered Sisters.
Some of these innovations allowed for unexpected blossomings hitherto undreamed of. In 1978 Sr. Thomas Mary, with
another Maryknoll Sister, opened a House of Prayer on the shores of Lake Titicaca in the altiplano of Peru. Upon
her return to the U.S. in 1981, she was advised by her superiors to study Mariology. These studies at the International
Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio, occasioned a decision to procure her undergraduate degree at Fordham
University graduating in 1990. In 1986 she made a Marian pilgrimage to Lourdes, Nevers, Knock and Fatima.
But her goal of writing a major paper in honor of the Mother of God was not yet realized. A further decision brought
this dream to fruition when she completed her studies for a Masters in Theology taking as her thesis "Mary
Archetype of the Church According to Hans Urs von Balthasar." This paper enabled her to express in the majestic
theology of von Balthasar her own Marian faith-vision and the religious experience of the power and presence of
Mary, Mediatrix of all grace, in the lives of those who turn to her with confidence and prayer.
During these years change continued in the Maryknoll Cloister while Sr. Thomas Mary was turning with renewed insight
to the original charism. In 1993 she transferred to the Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of Our Lady of Grace where
she lives an enclosed life of contemplative prayer and intercession for Maryknoll, the Dominican Order, and the
coming Springtime of the Church in, through and with the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Papers
The Marian Theology of Von Balthasar and the Proposed Definition of Mary
Co-redemptrix
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS AND HIS BELOVED QUEEN
AND MEDIATRIX
BEAUTY, CONTEMPLATION, AND THE VIRGIN MARY
Mary Archetype of the Church According to Hans Von Balthasar
Paper
Bibliography and Footnotes
Gift of the Divine Mercy
Marian Theology up to Vatican II
DISCOVERING AQUINAS by Aidan Nichols, O.P. A book review-essay
Lourdes
EVANGELIZATION & THE GIFT OF UNCTION
Beginning a commentary on THE SECRET OF MARY by St. Louis Marie de Montfort
Continuing a commentary on THE SECRET OF MARY by
St. Louis Marie de Montfort. Part 2: The Secret of Mary and Predestination.
Part 3 of a Commentary on The Secret of Mary
The SECRET of MARY and ELIZABETH of the TRINITY
This Version: 3rd September 2009
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