Project Canterbury
Ten Decades of Praise
The Story of the Community of Saint Mary during Its First Century.
by Sister Mary Hilary, CSM
Racine, WI: The DeKoven Foundation for Church Work, 1965. 226 pp.
Preface
IN SETTING OUT to publish the centennial story of the Community of Saint Mary, the Sisters elected to tell the story themselves, candidly and objectively, omitting nothing essential to the century's total achievement; they chose to relate this story to relevant conditions and events in Church life generally; and they decided to present selected passages from the primary sources used, hoping thereby to give this popular account something of the integrity and conviction usually found only in scholarly works.
Insofar as these techniques have produced a believable and readable narrative, the credit is largely due, first, to the history-conscious Sisters through the years who have carefully assembled and deposited in the Community archives full accounts of significant events; and second, to the Associates and friends in Chicago, Memphis and New York whose interest and generosity opened many doors. For inaccuracies and inadequacies the author alone is responsible and must one day account to the Sisters now sleeping in nameless graves whose triumphs have taught her much and whose failures she is unworthy to recount.