Mary Collins (theologian)
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September 16, 1935
Sr. Mary Collins | |
|---|---|
| Title | Prioress, Mount St. Scholastica monastery |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Mary Collins September 16, 1935 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | May 2, 2024 (aged 88) Atchison, Kansas, U.S. |
| Education | Catholic University of America (Ph.D, liturgical theology) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Denomination | Roman Catholicism |
| Order | Benedictine |
| Profession | religious leader, author, professor |
| Senior posting | |
| Period in office | 1999–2005 |
Mary Collins (September 16, 1935 – May 2, 2024) was an American theologian and Benedictine nun. She was a founding member of the North American Academy of Liturgy (NAAL), an ecumenical and inter-religious association of liturgical scholars who collaborate in research concerning public worship, and went on to serve as president of both NAAL and the North American Liturgical Conference. She was also elected the tenth prioress of the Mount St. Scholastica Monastery in Atchison, Kansas.
Mary Collins was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 16, 1935, to Lauretta (LaCosse) and Homer Collins and had two brothers. She graduated from Mount St. Scholastica College and entered the Benedictine order in Atchinson, Kansas in 1957.[1]
Career
Collins taught high school before entering Catholic University of America (CUA) where she earned a doctoral degree in sacramental and liturgical studies. After completing her doctorate, she taught religious studies at Benedictine College and the University of Kansas and then returned to CUA in 1978 as associate professor of religious studies. In 1983, she became chair of the CUA Department of Religion and Religious Education.[1][2]
In the mid-1970s, she was a founding member of the North American Academy of Liturgy (NAAL),[3] an ecumenical and inter-religious association of liturgical scholars who collaborate in research concerning public worship. She went on to serve as its president (1986)[4] and also served as president of the North American Liturgical Conference.[5] She was also a member of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy and directed its Psalter project.[6][7]
Collins has been classified as among the "first generation of Catholic reconstructionist feminist theologians."[8] In 1983, she joined Mary E. Hunt, Diann Neu, and others to found the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER), a nonprofit organization that describes itself as "committed to theological, ethical, and ritual development by and for women."[9][10]
On June 13, 1999, Sr. Mary Collins was elected the tenth prioress of the Mount St. Scholastica monastery in Atchison, Kansas and left CUA.[1][2] She served in that role until 2005.[11] She also served the Federation of St. Scholastica for twelve years as first councilor and consulted on or wrote many of their documents.[6] Collins was also a frequent book reviewer for the periodical Benedictines[12] and for the Journal of Religion.[13]
Collins died at the Mount St. Scholastica monastery on May 2, 2024.[14]
