Sister Marie Therese has been a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet for 50 years and “wouldn’t have changed for anything else.”

During her long period of service to the Church she has seen many changes and as a nun has lived during the reign of five popes—Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII and Paul VI.

One of her most cherished memories was an audience at the Vatican with Benedicat XV. “There are no words to express my reaction when I visited the Holy Father,” the teacher at St. Joseph’s in Marietta said.

Discussing some of the changes during 50 years, Sister Marie Therese said, “One of the best changes was when St. Pius X gave children permission, and later when the fast for communion was changed.”

“Another thing that stands out are the interdenominational meetings we now attend, and the communication with people of other faiths. You did not see this in the early days,” the nun said.

“I was also impressed with the Archdiocesan Synod. It was wonderful to see how the priests could disagree, then have a unity of opinion when they voted.”

One of her unique experiences since joining the staff at Marietta was teaching the grandson of a girl she taught in her first class.

Parishioners of St. Joseph’s, St. Thomas the Apostle and St. John Vianney and other friends did not forget her on the anniversary of her Golden Jubilee.

A concelebrated Mass was held Sunday to commemorate her jubilee and another Mass was held Monday afternoon on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. A school holiday was proclaimed in her honor.

At the Masses she received Holy Communion under both species for the first time in her life. Concelebrating the Sunday Mass were Fathers John Martell, SM, Vincent Brennan, SM, James F. Gilbride, SM, Charles Pfab, SM and Joseph Ware, pastor of Sacred heart parish. Father Gilbride preached the homily.

To bring the celebration of Sister Marie’s jubilee to an end, Father Patrick Lynch, a personal friend, came from Pocahontas, Ark., to offer Mass for the jubilarian and her relatives and friends in the Religious. A dinner in the school cafeteria followed the Mass.

Sister Marie Therese, a native of Atlanta, was baptized at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Her family moved to Augusta and she received her elementary and high school education at Summerville Academy.

After entering novitiate of the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1915, Sister Marie studied at Catholic University of America, Loyola University in Chicago and received both her Ph.D. and masters degrees form Loyola in New Orleans.

Her first assignment was at Mount St. Joseph, now a United States Hospital known as “The Lenwood.” Her first mission assignment was at Sacred Heart School in Savannah and then at Sacred Heart School in Atlanta.

Later she was superior and principal of Sacred Heart School in Sharon, Ga., a boarding school for boys, and since then she has been a teacher at Sacred Heart in Atlanta, St. Anthony’s and is completing her second year at St. Joseph’s in Marietta.

Sister Marie Therese said another cherished memory was a three-month vacation in Europe with Sister Rose Lima CSJ and her parents.

During this trip she had the audience with Pope Benedict XV, visited Lourdes and the Shrine of Our lady of Fourviere at Lyons where the Marist Order was founded.

She also visited the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph at Lyons, the second foundation place of the order which was reorganized after the French Revolution.

Asked what it feels like to be a nun for 50 years, Sister Marie Therese said, “It’s a wonderful feeling.”