Sr. Mary Paula Kolar
Serving God with a Poet's Heart

More than anything else, Sr. Mary Paula is known around the convent for her poetry. Writing for her friends, or for the situation at hand, or simply as prayer, her thoughts rise to God in effortless rhymed couplets, words of praise like a song to the Divine Master.

Sr. Mary Paula was born in Youngstown in 1927. She joined the Daughters of St. Paul in 1948, in the first US group of novices. After her profession in 1951, she was stationed in Derby, New York. Over the years, she has carried out the Pauline mission in our Books and Media Centers in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Miami, Boston, Alaska, and twice in Hawaii. She has helped with editorial work for several magazines, and for a time in the 60s was Postulant Directress. In that role, she accompanied the young women in the first steps of their journey in religious life, spending time with them, instructing them, and helping them learn the rich Pauline spirituality, mission, and charismatic identity. Because she graduated college with a Masters in History and Philosophy of Education, she taught high school and college classes in our St. Paul House of Studies, focusing on English Literature and Composition, as well as Sociology and Western and World Culture.

A major part of Sr. Mary Paula's religious life, however, is poetry (ask any of her sisters!). She often treats the community to her poems, written for feast days and community celebrations. She says, "I like poetry. It moves me. Sometimes my thoughts move in poetic lines without trying." She prays daily one poem she wrote as an offering to Jesus.

This Day, O Lord
This day, O Lord, keep me with you,
Your will in all things may I do.
Shed your light upon my mind,
That through its brightness I may find
Your grace for my each work and prayer,
The proof of your excelling care.

O strip me of my blinding pride,
And in self's place be my soul Guide.
To think and act and live in thee,
Possessed by you, I will be free.
Give me your strength, give me your joy,
In serving you may I employ
Your gifts of nature and of grace
And have each day your sweet embrace.
(Nov. 27, 1971)

Sr. Mary Paula keeps her eyes alert for beauty in nature and in people, reflections of the beauty of God. She says as she nears the day of her Jubilee, "I want to write a poem about the beautiful flowers still blooming. The trees are covered with blossoms for all these weeks.... I said to myself, 'Beauty lingers longer this year.'" Her awe of nature translates itself into poetry, and opens her up to the Lord.

Sr. Mary Paula cherishes every moment she has to glorify God. "God is so great and wonderful and merciful to me. His loving kindness seems to be more impressive because I have lived to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of being a professed religious of the Daughters of St. Paul."

Sr. Mary Paula's vocation certainly has given her peace and joy, as evidenced by her cheerful smile. She loves Jesus very much, and will continue to serve him as a Daughter of St. Paul, and as a poet.
Written by Maria Kemper, 2001