Passing the Baton

The Past and Future of the Center for Spirituality

Watching Keith Egan, theology professor and Carmelite scholar, and Daniel Horan, Catholic priest and Franciscian friar, joke about the best term to use for ‘spiritual direction’ is a reminder that the study of spirituality is as everyday as it is serious scholarly work.

Egan is the founder of the Center for Spirituality at Saint Mary’s College and was its first director from 1984 through 2002, while Horan is its newest director, appointed in 2021. They recently sat down together to talk about the beginnings of the center and the importance of its work today and
going forward.

Although separated by more than five decades of life, Egan, 91, and Horan, 38, approach their academic lives in similar ways. Egan shared memories of the early years of the center, and the inspiration he drew from the history of the Sisters of the Holy Cross: their heroic beginnings in the 19th century; their voluntary nursing duties to soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, the College itself as a pioneer of education for women, and the Graduate School of Theology. Horan’s attentive listening to his predecessor is as laser-focused as is his modern perspective on spiritual concepts. Both are dedicated to the center’s mission to advance the role of women in the Church, within theological conversations, and throughout society. 

Given the focus on elevating women, Egan and Horan acknowledge the irony and the weighty responsibility of being men leading a center that was envisioned by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, at a college for women. Any discomfort they feel is valuable. “The contextual imbalance is refreshing,” Horan said. “It’s deeply inspiring to be here, as a man.” Egan’s conviction is that men should support the aspirations of Saint Mary’s women.

The Sisters and Studying Spirituality 

In 1984 the College established the center upon the traditions of the Sisters. Their guiding spirit and their financial support, as its first generous donors, made it possible. As its first director, Egan ensured that their values were a concentrated part of the center’s work.

Egan said the center seems to be the first one of its kind among Catholic colleges and universities in North America.“When I came to Saint Mary’s, the officers of the College wanted to
be faithful to the Second Vatican Council and were saying to me, ‘Help us do what we can to be sure that the College is offering up-to-date instruction and study of Christian spirituality,’” Egan said. 

Although nearly 40 years have passed since its first lecture was given by renowned theologian Monica Hellwig, the center remains relevant, both men agree. A Pew Research Center study at UCLA found that attendance at religious services decreases for most undergraduate students, but their overall level of spirituality increases. 

Today the center is a place that is deliberately for them, Horan said. It is also upholding the vision that was part of the original proposal drafted: the study of spirituality in academic settings—in non-denominational,
non-religious contexts. The Sisters and Egan exchanged this idea in early letters about the center, and Horan embraces it going forward.

“There is a hunger for meaning right now,” Horan said. “This generation of our students deeply inspires me…they want authenticity and truth, and what’s real. Spirituality at its best is the lens through which people can make sense of the world and themselves.”

He says he is not concerned about the term “spiritual, but not religious,” even though he knows it can be a challenging concept. “Spirituality is the core of our traditions. It’s the very, very beginning of our capacity of human existence to experience the divine or experience transcendence,” Horan said. “From there, our theology is putting voice to, and giving reflection to, that experience of God.”

Since its start, the center has reflected the vision of Sister M. Madeleva Wolff, CSC. During her time as the third president of the College she imagined a dedicated place where theology and spirituality meet higher education to lift up women’s voices. She created the School of Sacred Theology in 1943, which was the first Catholic institution in the United States to grant advanced degrees in Catholic theology for women. As far as scholars are able to tell, it was also the first of its kind in the world. 

Although the school closed in 1969, it perhaps was a preface of the Center for Spirituality. 

Egan built on this tradition for the center, where Sister Madeleva’s influence is ingrained—from its physical location at 138 Madeleva Hall to its renowned Madeleva Lecture series. For more than three decades the lectures have given wise women from the Catholic tradition a national and international platform from which to speak and be heard. The series continues today. “By my last count, 10 years ago, half a million copies of the lectures have been sold,” Egan said. “The lectures are a phenomenal success.”

As a poet and contemplative, Sister Madeleva’s spirit is also woven into the fabric of education at Saint Mary’s. “She wanted every woman who graduates from Saint Mary’s to have the imagination of a poet, regardless of her major,” Egan said, using the word ‘poet’ in the broad sense: not limited to those who rhyme or write verse, but rather a person with the ability to express herself, live thoughtfully, and be contemplative. 

Raising More Voices

Today the center continues to support the unique role Saint Mary’s has played in elevating women’s voices in the Catholic Church. Over the years it began expanding its reach to include other voices that have not been
heard. Horan is committed to this
extended reach.

The center has partnered with the Division for Inclusion and Equity on events related to racial justice and faith, which Horan calls a highlight of his time at Saint Mary’s so far. “We’re planning some exciting programming for later in the year; spirituality and inclusivity are a natural combination,” he said. Those plans align with the College’s greater strategy for dialogue across disciplines, academic excellence, and inclusivity.

Horan’s intention is to create robust programming that speaks to the spiritual needs of the times, whatever they may be. “There is a collective post traumatic stress from the pandemic, especially for those in helping professions,” Horan said. To address this, the center will offer lectures on the spirituality of resilience beginning in the fall. “You can’t give what you don’t have,” Egan added with enthusiastic approval. 

“It’s my hope that when people think of the study and practice of spirituality in higher education, they immediately think of the Center for Spirituality at Saint Mary’s College as the leader in the field and a hub for supporting and promoting the work of women in
the Church, academy, and society,”
Horan said.

Expansive Ideas Ahead

Offering spiritual direction to interested students was one of Egan’s ideas for the center years ago. Along with the idea of how to design that, he’s passing on to Horan his hope that the center be a place that introduces people to contemplative prayer and living. 

Egan didn’t have to convince Horan. In tandem with this idea, Horan is working on Spirituality in the Disciplines—a monthly program for faculty and students with majors and minors in fields like mathematics, engineering, history, political science, and business, to discover spirituality in those fields. 

Many other ideas are on the table, or even in their early stages, that align with the center’s mission to contribute to the intellectual and spiritual life of Saint Mary’s students beyond the classroom. 

That collaboration is what Egan hoped would come from the foundation he helped build between the center and College departments, including staff and administrators. 

Horan is extending its reach far beyond campus, and that happens to be one of his personal goals. 

“That will not only bring greater awareness of the center, but it will encourage collaboration and partnership in our local, regional, and world communities,” Horan said. †