With joyful simplicity, rural Ortonville community stays in touch with the world through social media
Dominican Sisters Anne Mary and Mary Martin, right, are the foundresses of Our Lady of Mount Thabor Monastery in Ortonville, a small rural community in northern Oakland County.Michelle Samartino | Special to The Michigan Catholic
Sr. Saima, Sr. Martin and Sr. Anne wear traditional Pakistani garlands to celebrate Sr. Saima's perpetual vows Oct. 15 at the monastery.-Courtesy of Dominican Nuns of Mount Thabor
Ortonville — Walk through the front door at Our Lady of Mount Thabor Monastery in Ortonville, and you’ll be met with bright smiles from the Dominican nuns who’ll immediately come to greet you.
Dominican Sr. Mary Joseph takes a break from her various monastic duties to enjoy an old favorite pastime: playing in the trees.-Courtesy of Dominican Nuns of Mount Thabor
“Of course! If you give us a smile, you’ll get one right back,” Dominican Sr. Mary Martin, 94, says as she laughs. As one of the foundresses of the monastery, along with Sr. Anne Mary, OP, her spunky attitude is as much a part of her as is her habit.
Within the multiple buildings of the grounds on the lakefront property, seven nuns live a monastic life of prayer, solitude, work, study and recreational activities, including fishing. Their charism, says Dominican Sr. Mary Joseph, vocations director, “is to live simply.”
Though located in rural northern Oakland County, the Dominican Sisters of Mount Thabor (pronounced TAY-bor) are very much in tune with the wider world, thanks in part to the Internet and social media, as well as their extensive library, said Sr. Mary Joseph.
In the early 1990s, explained Sr. Anne Mary, it was Msgr. Robert Humitz, then-pastor of St. Daniel Parish in nearby Clarkston, who suggested that they work on a “homepage.” Soon thereafter, without hesitation and with some help, a website was formed.
“It was a natural way to reach out to the world, just as St. Paul would do, but by using modern means,” Sr. Mary Martin said. By using the Internet, it
Never neglecting manual labor, the sisters work on the patio behind the monastery.-Courtesy of Dominican Nuns of Mount Thabor
was a way for people to ask for prayers (in addition to those who would yell to the sisters at a red light, “Sister! Please pray for me!” and still do).
“I feel that because we are cloistered, we are not in the world much … but we still familiarize ourselves with what is happening in the world and its suffering, and it intensifies our prayer,” Sr. Mary Martin said. “We pray for the world and for all people.”
Though the technological aspects of the community remain mostly in the hands of the younger sisters, which include updating their Facebook page, the eldest of the Dominicans embrace it as well.
Little can stop 97-year-old Sr. Mary Martin from grabbing a paintbrush and helping out around the monastery.-Courtesy of Dominican Nuns of Mount Thabor
At age 97, Sr. Maria is also considered a pioneer of the community, having arrived in 1978, five years after its establishment in Ortonville.
“Oh, I do love it here. I chose this … nobody pushed me into it,” said Sr. Maria, who once served in active ministry before coming to the Dominican Sisters of Mount Thabor, a contemplative ministry.
A beloved member of the community, she is looked after and kept busy, using her walker in the monastery while singing hymns in Spanish. Having served as a missionary in Peru and in other parts of the world, Sr. Maria said one of her lifelong dreams to travel was fulfilled.
Sr. Mary Saima, OP, who professed final vows Oct. 15, tends to a statue in the garden of St. Francis on the monastery's property.-Courtesy of Dominican Nuns of Mount Thabor
“I gave my life to God,” she said. “What a wonderful life I’ve had.”
Sewing remains a vibrant — and vital — aspect of the community, part of which includes taking in alteration orders from the surrounding community. Their talent for sewing goes back to the monastery’s beginnings.
The family who initially offered the sisters the land in 1972 agreed to allow the community to pay for the property over a period of time, and it was through their sewing, mostly by making pocketbooks, that the sisters were able to pay for their 10 acres after moving from Detroit.
“We paid with our pennies,” recalled Sr. Mary Martin. “We worked and paid for it. We sewed to earn. It’s been a happy life.”
The sisters pray the Liturgy of the Hours in the monastery's chapel.-Courtesy of Dominican Nuns of Mount Thabor
Starting off with so little did not deter the two foundresses.
“God was in charge. I don’t remember being scared. Everything fell into place,” Sr. Mary Martin said.
With the help of neighbors and strangers who would become like family, two geodesic domes were built. Never to be found with idle hands, the sisters helped out by digging the footings. And if ever a visitor stopped by, he or she would be handed a shovel, she recalls and laughs.
“We prayed while we worked,” Sr. Anne Mary said. Besides surviving on peanut butter and crackers for weeks on end, a treat would occasionally arrive, courtesy of Sr. Anne Mary’s mother, who would send a crate of oranges.
The order continues to grow with its newest member, 28-year-old Sr. Mary Saima, OP, who hails from Pakistan. Being Christian, she was in the minority in her homeland.
Sr. Mary Martin contemplates her next move while playing chess on an iPad with Fr. Nick Monco, OP.-Courtesy of Dominican Nuns of Mount Thabor
“I was not afraid,” said Sr. Mary Saima, who professed final vows with the community Oct. 15; her mother flew in from Pakistan to be with her for the occasion.
“She’s a tough little girl,” Sr. Mary Martin said with a smile. “And she is good in sewing.”
It was Sr. Mary Saima’s cousin, Fr. Shafique Masih, administrator of St. Jude Parish in Detroit, who guided her to the Dominican Sisters of Mount Thabor, where he also served as the community’s chaplain.
Reflecting on life in the small monastic community, Sr. Mary Joseph has no regrets.
“We are loving our vocation to the fullest. We love our vocation joyfully. Social media is necessary and is good, but real work is living our vocation. Every single vocation is a mystery,” she said.
There are many who are interested in the cloistered life, she added, and if the Lord wants them there, “He will make sure they get here.”
Sr. Anne Mary stresses, “We are here for one reason … and that is to serve God. Love each other. We live real lives but joy is not without pain. We ‘live in the desert.’ But we learn from each other.”
Looking around the room at the other sisters, she speaks from the heart, “You are all my best friends, and age makes no difference. Though we are between 28-97 (years old), everybody is young. God provides.”
