Named in honor of Mary Milligan, RSHM, and hosted by the Department of Theological Studies, the lecture series creates a forum for critical reflection on spirituality in service to the Church, the academy, and the world – in keeping with the charism of the RSHM community, “that all may have life and have it to the full.” The series began in 2013, with lectures published by the Marymount Institute Press through 2023:
- 2025: Spirituality for a Time of Fear and Division
- 2024: Mary Beth Ingham, CSJ (LMU), Reclaiming Assisi: The Transformative Power of Spiritual Identity
- 2023: Mary Catherine Hilkert (University of Notre Dame), A Time to Keep Silence and a Time to Speak
- 2022: Kwok Pui-lan (Emory University), Spiritual Maturity for Our Time
- 2021: Susan Abraham (Pacific School of Religion), “Blessed Are Those Who Mourn”: Depression, Anxiety, and Pain on the Path of an Incarnational Spirituality
- 2020: no lecture because of COVID
- 2019: Maria Luccetti Bingemer (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro), Love of God, Love of Justice: The Cases of Dorothy Day and Simone Veil
- 2018: Kristy Nabhan-Warren (University of Iowa), American Woman: The Virgin of Guadalupe, Latinos/as and Accompaniment
- 2017: Diane Bergant, CSA (Catholic Theological Union), God So Loved the Cosmos But Do We? Toward an Ecosensitive Spirituality
- 2016: Shawn Copeland (Boston College), Discipleship in a Time of Impasse
- 2015: Ron Rolheiser, OMI, Spiritual Maturity: Blessing Others as the Ultimate Mark and Fruit of Maturity
- 2014: Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ (Fordham University), Creation: Is God’s Charity Broad Enough for Bears?
- 2013: Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM (Jesuit School of Theology | Graduate Theological Union), Resurrection: Did It Really Happen and Why Does That Matter?
The Mary Milligan, RSHM, Lecture in Spirituality Series is made possible by the generous donations of friends of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary and Loyola Marymount University.
About Sister Mary Milligan, RSHM
Sister Mary Milligan was born on January 23, 1935 in Los Angeles, California. She entered the RSHM Novitiate in New York and was later sent to the International Novitiate in Béziers, France. She earned a BA in French at Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York, in 1956; an MA in sacred scripture at St. Mary’s College in Indiana in 1966; a PhD in English at L’Université de Paris in 1959; and in 1975 was the first woman to receive a doctorate from the prestigious Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. In 1988, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia.
Sr. Mary’s dissertation on the Spirit-Charism of Father Jean Gailhac provided a solid foundation for future research and study of RSHM history and spirituality. She published numerous arguments on subjects such as scripture, women in religion, spirituality, and the relationship between feminism and religion. She spoke and wrote in several languages and traveled extensively as part of her training, leadership, and scholarship.
Sr. Mary was a leader in the Church and represented the needs of women both locally and globally. She was elected Councilor during the second mandate of Sister Margarida Maria Gonçalves. In 1975, and at the request of Sister Maria de Lourdes Machado, she coordinated the process of revising the Constitutions of the Institute. In 1980, the General Chapter elected Sr. Mary as the 10th Superior General of the Institute of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. She was a participant in the International Synod on the Laity in Rome in 1987 and was one of the prime movers of the Synod process for the Diocese of Los Angeles (1987-1989), for which she co-wrote the final draft of a document that would outline the direction of the diocese in the years to come.
In 1986, Sr. Mary moved to Loyola Marymount University. She assumed many roles at LMU, including Professor of Theology, Provost (1986-1989), and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts (1992-1997). Sr. Mary died on April 2, 2011 at the age of 76.