The Ear of the Heart: An Actress' Journey From Hollywood to Holy Vows (80 page)

Dawn and James Douglas in
A Caprice,
the first full production presented at our annual fair by our fledgling theater group, the Act Association

A scene from
The Miracle Worker.
Melora Mennesson played Annie Sullivan, and Helen Gilbert, the daughter of core oblates Jim and Joan Gilbert, played the youthful Helen Keller. Jim and Joan had, in fact, named their daughter after Helen Keller
.

With our 1999 presentation, we had our first blockbuster in terms of donations. It was
Love Letters,
the A. R. Gurney play that was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. With only three performances, we made over ten thousand dollars! We never made anywhere close to that on any other production. The reasons it was standing room only were Patricia Neal and James Douglas
.

Nine nuns who after their Final Vows had waited seven years to participate in the ceremony for the Consecration of a Virgin, were finally consecrated in the new Church of Jesu Fili Mariae in the summer of 1998
.

Tom Pomposello’s vision for our first
Women in Chant
recording was fulfilled. Our new church was transformed into a recording studio, and the acoustics were wonderful. I’ve never heard our voices sound better
.

Recording sessions were joyous. But tragically, we lost Tom before the second CD was recorded and Dr. Theodore Marier before the third. Blessed we are that Mother Abbess, a true disciple of Dr. Marier, became our conductor
.

I am recording a special contribution for the second
Women in Chant, Recordare,
composed by our Mother Lucia
.

Mother Abbess and I listen to a playback with Travis Pomposello, who took over the producing chores for his late father
.

During our disappointing trip to Rome in the late nineties, Mother David and I were taken to Saint Peter’s Basilica to hear the Rosary led by Pope John Paul II. Afterward we had the opportunity to exchange a few words with His Holiness. He asked where we were from, and when we told him Regina Laudis, he gave his blessing to the abbey. It was a comforting moment
.

The abbatial blessing of Mother Abbess David Serna was one of the happiest days of my life. She is standing on a Peruvian rug in tribute to her father
.