LINK TO MEMORIAL MASS/RECORDING

Sister Teresita Weind, SNDdeN

July 6, 1942 - April 28, 2024

Order my steps in Your word dear Lord,
Lead me, guide me everyday
Send Your anointing, Father I pray
Order my steps in Your word,
Please, order my steps in Your word

Teresita was born Helen Louise Weind and grew up the third of eight children in Columbus, Ohio. Her father died before her second birthday. Her mother worked hard at various jobs to keep her family together and make sure her children had a better education than segregated schools offered. Teresita later recalled attending Shiloh Baptist Church each Sunday with her grandparents and her baptism there at the age of seven. Roots in the Baptist tradition didn’t stop Mrs. Weind from enrolling her children at the predominately Italian St. Dominic Parish School located across the street from their home. It was not always easy for Mrs. Weind to stretch her wages to cover tuition and sometimes the children were kept home until she could. A generous employer learned of the situation when Teresita was in the fourth grade and provided funds for both tuition and books until the children finished school. 

It was not always easy for the Weind children to be among the first African American students at St. Dominic. Teresita often shared that her way of dealing with the difficulty was to act out towards teachers and other students. The teacher who directed the choir knew how to motivate her to improve. She said to Teresita, "You have a beautiful voice. But there's no way you're going to be in my choir in fifth grade unless your grade for conduct goes from an F to an A in one marking period.” Teresita’s love for music and singing got her to the needed A in conduct. It was never again in danger of falling. Teresita’s participation in the school choir helped plant the seeds for her love of the ritual of Catholic worship which drew her into the Catholic Church at age 12. She was very clear it was the devotions that drew her: receiving Communion on First Fridays with her classmates, the rosary, benediction, and the way of the cross. Deeper faith in the mysteries behind the devotions came later. Teresita attended St. Joseph Academy for her secondary education where she met the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Years later she shared how the kindness, affirmation and encouragement of the Sisters who were her role models in grade school and high school inspired her. Combined with her habit of devotional prayer and deepening faith, Teresita felt called to religious life even though none of her role models were African American. "I wanted to do what they were doing. I wanted to live the way they lived, not even knowing totally how they lived." In the spring of 1960, Teresita asked to enter the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She was told the community already had their ‘quota of negro girls’ and were not accepting any more. 

It was the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation in Spring Valley, Illinois, who accepted Teresita into their community on September 8, 1960. She took the name “Teresita”, choosing to make it her legal name in 1974. After pronouncing her vows in 1963, Teresita was missioned to St. Andrew School of Nursing, Bottineau, North Dakota, where she completed her training as a nurse in 1966 and was missioned to St. Margaret Hospital, Spring Valley, Illinois. After a year of full time nursing, Teresita was sent to Mary College, Bismarck North Dakota, to earn a B.S. in nursing which she completed in 1969. By this time her view of herself and the world around her had been up-ended by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was an awakening of consciousness to her African American roots and the place of race in the United States. In the summer of 1968, Teresita responded to a call for Black Catholic women religious to meet in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was one of 150 participants from 79 different congregations at the gathering. Realizing the powerful support to one another and witness to the world they could be, they founded the National Black Sisters’ Conference. Soon after the meeting, a Benedictine priest Teresita knew invited her to join a team ministering in the Cabrini-Greens Projects in Chicago. Her religious superiors missioned her to Chicago in 1970 to serve at St. Joseph Parish. Teresita said, “I took to the ministry like a duck to water.” At the same time it became clear that she would benefit from some pastoral studies. 

A mutual friend introduced Teresita to the head of Mundelein College and soon a teach-study-pastoral ministry plan was worked out for her to complete a M.A. in Religious Studies. Her thesis, Black Theology Begins in Preaching, was rooted in her ministry and she received her degree in 1972. By that time another major life change occurred. At Mundelein, Teresita was re-introduced to a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur who had been her English Literature teacher at St. Joseph Academy in Columbus. They met frequently, and soon it was clear to Teresita she was still called to Notre Dame over a decade after she was refused entrance to the community. As she got to know other Sisters of Notre Dame and how they lived, the call deepened. On a weekend visit back at Spring Valley, Teresita told her superiors she was thinking of transferring to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She was given a leave of absence to continue her discernment, which only strengthened the call. On February 9, 1973, at San Marcello Mission Church in Cabrini-Green, Teresita officially transferred her vows and life to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. 

The Archdiocese of Chicago recognized the value of the work Teresita was doing at Cabrini-Green and saw how she could help other African American parishes revitalize their liturgical life. In 1973 she was appointed Director of Liturgical Formation for Black Parishes in the Archdiocese. 1974 saw the reintroduction of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) in the Catholic Church and Teresita’s work expanded to include introducing the program in parishes where she served. Throughout this time she continued ministering to the folks at Cabrini-Green. Teresita was also called on to speak at workshops and write for publications on implementing the RCIA as well as liturgical formation. She was invited to participate in the International Symposium on the RCIA held in Sénanque, France in 1978. 

In 1979 the pastor of the recently merged St. Catherine of Sienna-St. Lucy Parish in Oak Park asked Teresita if she would be willing to join the pastoral team he was creating. Many of the parishioners were energized by the opportunity to create a new parish from the old, others were mourning the loss of their former parish home, and all were challenged to build new relationships as part of a more racially integrated Congregation.  The pastor believed strongly in collaborative ministry, knew how to delegate and how to build on the strengths of a good team. Teresita accepted his invitation. She was responsible for adult religious education (including RCIA), visited the sick, gave retreats, was asked to give the Sunday homily once a month and chair the Worship Committee. Her singing contributed to the parish choir, made her a natural to serve as cantor, and often was incorporated into her homilies to draw the congregation into the message or make a point. African American parishioners identified with her as one of their own speaking from the richness of the African American faith experience. No matter their race, the parishioners deeply appreciated Teresita’s gentle way of helping them find and trust God’s goodness in everyday life and in the depths of their hearts. 

Teresita also organized Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations that invited everyone present to make or renew a vow of nonviolence. She continued responding to invitations to give retreats and workshops for various groups around the country and lent her voice to a concert organized to raise funds to feed Chicago’s hungry. Her relationships extended far beyond the parish boundaries. She was part of a prayer group of committed Catholic laywomen and religious Sisters whom she joined to found Mary’s Pence in 1987. It continues to be a funding source to help women who want to create social change, start community initiatives, and foster collaboration. In 1991 a new pastor was assigned to the parish. Decisions were made that Teresita would no longer serve as parish RCIA facilitator, chair of the liturgy committee, give homilies or preside at any services where an ordained priest was present. The mandate divided the parish, drew unwanted national attention and was extremely painful. Teresita made the decision to leave the parish and the Archdiocese of Chicago. She was invited back as part of the 125th anniversary celebration for the parish in 2014 that included an evening reception to welcome Teresita, a day-long retreat she led on “The Abundance of God” and a Sunday homily she delivered on the theme of accepting the peace God offers each person and every community. Besides reconnecting with old friends, the experience was an opportunity to share the fruit of her own journey of coming to know God’s goodness and peace more deeply after leaving the parish under such painful circumstances.

Teresita expressed the experience of leaving Chicago as a stripping away of everything she had been doing. She had to go deeper into the grace of God calling her to find a new way of being. It was also a call to step back and reflect on her identity as a woman in the Church. Teresita realized her faith and love for the Church kept growing and deepening because of her relationship with God and how she experienced God in the people and world around her. Her desire to respond to God’s love through loving service to others only deepened. Others affirmed her gifts and she was invited to three different dioceses to explore opportunities for new ministries. One was Saginaw, Michigan, where the Bishop thought her skills would be perfect for neighborhood outreach and evangelization. She was offered the former Sacred Heart church and rectory as a home base for her ministry. It was located in one of the most materially poor sections of the city with a heavily non-Catholic population. Teresita wouldn't have a title, a job description or a reputation she could build on with the community, but she would have an opportunity to simply be totally present with the people in the everyday moments of their lives. She said yes and started by simply walking the neighborhood initiating conversations with people she met. 

Soon Teresita was stopping to join someone on their porch, and introducing herself to parents and teachers as school ended for the day so they would know who she was and what she was about. She simply listened deeply and offered to pray with people. Teresita became known as the “prayer lady” and children would stop her on the street to ask her to pray for specific intentions. Sacred Heart Church did not have a weekend Mass, so each week she led a Sunday morning non-Eucharistic service. Teresita created a space that respected the dignity of each person and provided a haven of peace for gatherings to share life and faith. She emphasized Sacred Heart as a non-violent zone in a city sometimes overwhelmed by violence. She also welcomed spiritual directees for individual sessions and welcomed retreatants for contemplative experiences. Spiritual Direction was a ministry Teresita had been called to begin in 1974 and would continue to be one way she served others throughout her life. Her way of preaching, teaching, listening and evangelizing was to be deeply focused on and attentive to each person. In the process, she found the goodness of God in them and mirrored it back to each person to help them overcome barriers between themselves and God. 

When the church building became a safety hazard and was demolished, Teresita continued offering a safe haven of peace and respect in the rectory. She also took on some liturgical responsibilities and serving those in need at Saints Simon and Jude Parish. Teresita visited terminally ill parishioners daily, and accompanied their families through the stages of dying, death and burial. The pastor recognized her ability to draw the community together when leading prayer or giving the homily. Teresita always approached leading prayer as an act of prayer herself. For her, that meant reaching out to God and the people praying with her, surrendering to the Mystery of God and connecting with the people through praise and worship in ways that allowed them to open their hearts more deeply to God’s love and goodness. In 1997 she was invited to be the preacher for the Pastoral Liturgy Conference at Notre Dame, Indiana. Teresita accepted and later said, “This event pulled up the best of my skills and art of preaching. I am affirmed and grateful.” 

Teresita was asked by her community to come to Cincinnati in 2001 to begin a Spirituality Center at Mount Notre Dame. It was a new endeavor to respond to the thirst for spirituality among the laity and to share the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur with a broader audience. She agreed, formed an advisory group of other Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to help her, and got to work. Teresita organized Mornings of Spirituality for Women to provide Saturday morning respites from the noisiness of the world. Women of all ages were welcomed into a quiet place to receive some food for thought, pray and sharing. Her years in pastoral ministry had taught Teresita the importance of cultivating a spirituality of silence to allow space for God’s goodness to break through. It was growing an attitude of listening long and lovingly to God in the silence that was to overflow into deep attentiveness in relationships and actions with others. The speakers Teresita invited to present for the Mornings of Spirituality, and for day-long events, were gratefully received by participants. Those seeking longer periods of silence were welcomed as retreatants. Requests for Teresita to give inspirational talks to groups of all kinds took the ‘Spirituality Center’ beyond its physical boundaries. Her simple, compelling eloquence touched young, old, black, white, those faith-filled and faith-seeking. Soon after she began serving as Animator of the Spirituality Center, Teresita became one of the founding members of the Julie Community at Mount Notre Dame and accepted the call to serve as the community coordinator. She modeled servant leadership as she went about the task with joy, humor, and a light touch that kept all the members involved in their common life.  

In 2005, the Ohio Unit called Teresita to serve a five-year term as a member of their three person Leadership Team. Shortly after they began, the team member designated as Provincial was diagnosed with cancer and then died in early 2007. This necessitated the Ohio Unit discerning a replacement. Another Sister was asked to join the Team, and Teresita accepted the call to serve in the role of Provincial until 2010. God had other plans. A General Chapter of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur was held in 2008 to set directions and choose leadership for the next six years. Teresita’s role made her an automatic delegate. The first direction set was a call to stress and enrich unity in the Congregation. Who better to lead the Sisters more deeply into unity than Teresita? She held up the needs of the Ohio Sisters and how difficult they would find another sudden change of leadership. The Chapter listened and after more discernment elected Teresita to serve as the 19th Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.  As hard as it was, the Sisters in Ohio came to see the wisdom of the Chapter’s choice. They sent Teresita to Rome with a calendar containing names of Sisters who would be praying for her each day for the next six years. Little did they, or Teresita, know that she would be asked to serve a second term in 2014, or that the second term would be extended by the COVID-19 pandemic until March of 2022.  

Based in Rome, the ministry of the Congregational Leadership Team (CLT) was itinerant. With other members of the CLT, Teresita traveled five continents listening to, supporting and encouraging members. Sometimes stops in Rome were only to “get a change of clothes and repack my suitcase.” Administrative sessions were held in Rome, in Massachusetts and sometimes by Zoom from various locations. The ministry drew on Teresita’s gifts to call people in a gentle but firm way, to be respectful of other cultures and to be attentive to personal concerns. Her gifts of writing, presenting, and speaking in ways that clearly expressed and lifted up God’s goodness were in constant demand. With two CLTs she strengthened collaboration between staff, implemented the mandates of two General Chapters, and collaborated with other religious communities and the Church around the world. Her time of service saw great diminishment in some areas of the Congregation and great growth in others. Throughout the Congregation, Sisters experienced the individual focus and attentive presence that made Teresita so loved by so many throughout her life. In 2020 the CLT was preparing for a General Chapter to be held in July. Teresita was at the Congregational Mission Office at Ipswich, Massachusetts when the world was halted by a global pandemic. Soon it was clear the Chapter would have to be postponed. Eventually Rome gave permission for Congregations to hold “virtual” Chapters and the CLT worked with staff to bring about the Chapter in 2021 via Zoom. 

The end of March, 2022 marked Teresita’s homecoming to Mount Notre Dame and to the Julie Community. She looked forward to some time to rest and re-charge before moving back into ministry. Less than three months later, Teresita was asked to discern a call to serve as Co-Moderator of the Mount Notre Dame Health Center Community. In hospital, parish and community situations, she had attended to the pastoral care for the sick and dying, as well as family members and caregivers accompanying them, throughout her adult life. While serving as Animator of the Spirituality Center, and while in leadership, she often slipped over to the Health Center to sit with Sisters who were dying, provide Reiki to comfort them, and pray with them. When she finished her service on the CLT, Teresita thought she might be drawn to training in palliative care as her next ministry. She also deeply cared about the Sisters and staff in the Health Center. Teresita accepted the mission and threw herself into the ministry in July, 2022. It was a ministry brought to an abrupt halt in March 2023 when cancer, which she had dealt with for years, returned. 

The descriptors of Teresita in ministry apply to how she was present in community with her Sisters: welcoming, deeply present, joyful, caring, creative, inspiring, empowering, trusting, compassionate, discerning, open, deeply committed to living right relationships and rooted in her own identity as a beloved daughter of God. One Sister said, “She never wanted to hurt anybody.” That was clear through her signature on letters: “Loving kindness, Teresita.” She participated in all levels of community life with her whole being. A simple question posed at prayer or at the dinner table inevitably led to deep sharing of faith and life by those present. Her interests were wide and varied. She wrote in 2008, “I am nurtured by the fine arts of ballet and classical music; novels, poetry and song; Eastern and Western disciplines of prayer and spirituality; and by the circle of friends whose shared faith and trust continue to be sheer gift!” Teresita was described as well-read and her inquiring mind lead her into study of a multitude of topics. Added to her interests were good movies and the occasional TV series. She was an avid fan of Call the Midwife and her one consolation found in the long plane rides required while serving on the CLT was the opportunity to catch up on recent movies. Sometimes clips of scenes were incorporated into presentations or homilies she gave as a way to open a door to a deeper level of meaning. Another interest was walking the neighborhood. Not just in Saginaw, Michigan, but in Reading, Ohio, in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and probably anywhere else she regularly visited, Teresita became a familiar sight. She certainly knew what it was like to be discriminated against because of her race and gender. Teresita took every opportunity to participate in efforts to build just relationships. It was a privilege and a joy for her to lend her voice to the choir for the groundbreaking ceremony of Cincinnati’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center June 17, 2002. 

Teresita was so aware of her family’s role in shaping the woman she became. Her family rooted her in her faith, and supported her in her choices. She kept each member in her heart, and held the graces, crosses and resurrection moments of their lived realities in her prayer even as she counted on their prayers for her. Teresita was grateful for the many ways she was able to stay connected with family across distances: phone calls, emails, Facetime, Zoom meetings. In person visits and celebrations brought her profound joy. Her community looked forward to the stories and laughter that would bubble out of Teresita after a holiday or birthday celebration. Her community is especially grateful for how her sister Carol and niece Keah were able to support Teresita through the difficult moments and choices of her last months. 

In 2008 Teresita wrote, “God-loved and graced, I strive to answer the call to serve!” As her Sisters, family and friends around the world gather in the Heart of our good God to celebrate all the ways she made God’s goodness known to each of us, we give thanks for the gift of her life. We give thanks for her attentive presence to each of us. It’s often said God writes straight with crooked lines. We give thanks for the crooked path on which God chose to order Teresita’s steps. The different twists and turns made it possible for each of us to be gifted by her presence in our lives, and through her, come to know our good God more deeply. We know Teresita continues to hold us in prayer. We ask the grace to pray each day that we can follow her example of faithful service:

Order my steps in Your word, Order my tongue in Your word
Guide my feet in Your word, Wash my heart in Your word
Show me how to walk in Your word, Show me how to talk in Your word
When I need a brand new song to sing, Show me how to let Your praises ring
In Your word, In Your word

(All lyrics: Burleigh, Glenn. Lyrics to “Order My Steps.” Performed by GMWA Women of Worship, 2003. Musixmatch)

 

BIO DATA:

• Birth Name: Helen Louise Weind
• Born: July 6, 1942 in Columbus, Ohio
   
• Parents: Lon Weind (born in Henderson, Tennessee) and Lillian Marie Evans (born in Columbus, Ohio)
• Siblings: Charles, Robert, (Teresita), Carol, Mary Janice, James, Thomas, Deborah
   
• Baptized: Shiloh Baptist Church, Columbus, Ohio
• Brought into full communion with the Catholic Church December 24, 1954 at Saint Dominic Church, Columbus, Ohio
   
• Entered the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation September 8, 1960 taking the religious name Sister Teresita
• First Profession: August 26, 1963
• Final Profession: August 15, 1968
• Transferred vows & life to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur: February 9, 1973
• Final commitment with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur: August 13, 1976

EDUCATION:

• St. Dominic Parish School, Columbus, Ohio, 1956
• St. Joseph Academy, Columbus, Ohio, 1960
• School of Nursing, St. Andrew Hospital, Bottineau, North Dakota, 1966
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mary College, Bismark, North Dakota, 1969
• Master of Arts in Religious Studies from Mundelein College, Chicago, Illinois, 1972

Assignments Included:

• 1963-1966 St. Andrew's School of Nursing, Bottineau, North Dakota
• 1966-1967 Nurse, St. Margaret Hospital, Spring Valley, Illinois
• 1967-1968 Student, Mary College, Bismark, North Dakota
• 1968-1969 Nurse, St. Andrew Hospital, Bottineau, North Dakota
• 1969-1972 Pastoral Ministry, St. Joseph Parish, Cabrini-Green Projects, Chicago, Illinois
• 1972-1973 Pastoral Ministry San Marcello, Cabrini-Green Projects, Chicago, Illinois
• 1973-1979 Director of Liturgical Formation for Black Parishes, Archdiocese of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
• 1979-1991 Pastoral Ministry, St. Catherine of Sienna/St. Lucy Parish, Oak Park, Illinois
• 1991-1996 Director, Sacred Heart House of Prayer, Saginaw, Michigan
• 1996-2001 Pastoral Associate/Director of Neighborhood House of Prayer, Sts. Simon and Jude Parish, Saginaw, Michigan
• 2001-2005 Animator of Spirituality Center, Julie Hall, Mount Notre Dame, Reading, Ohio
• 2005-2007 Province Leadership Team, Ohio Unit, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Reading, Ohio
• 2007-2008 Provincial, Ohio Unit, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Reading, Ohio
• 2009-2022 Congregational Leader, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Rome, Italy
• 2022 Sabbatical, Mount Notre Dame, Reading, Ohio
• 2022-2023 Co-Moderator, Mount Notre Dame Health Center Community, Mount Notre Dame, Reading, Ohio
• 2023-2024 Ministry of Prayer and Service, Mount Notre Dame, Reading, Ohio
   
• Died on April 28, 2024 at Mount Notre Dame Health Center, Mount Notre Dame, Reading, Ohio

Sr. Kim Dalgarn SNDdeN
April 30, 2024

Further readings:
Read the story from the Global Sisters Report, April 30, 2024