Persons of Color and Religious at the Same Time
The Oblate Sisters of Providence, 1828-1860
Diane Batts Morrow
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 10/2003
Pages: 360
Subject: Social Science, Religion
| University of North Carolina
Print ISBN: 9.78E+12
eBook ISBN: 9780807862155
DESCRIPTION
By their very existence, the Oblate Sisters challenged prevailing social, political, and cultural attitudes on many levels. White society viewed women of color as lacking in moral standing and sexual virtue; at the same time, the sisters' vows of celibacy flew in the face of conventional female roles as wives and mothers. But the Oblate Sisters' religious commitment proved both liberating and empowering, says Morrow. They inculcated into their communal consciousness positive senses of themselves as black women and as women religious. Strengthened by their spiritual fervor, the sisters defied the inferior social status white society ascribed to them and the ambivalence the Catholic Church demonstrated toward them. They successfully persevered in dedicating themselves to spiritual practice in the Roman Catholic tradition and their mission to educate black children during the era of slavery.