Ode to a poem, found

Sister Joseph Adele joins students on the lawn near the
Doheny Mansion for English class. Photo is about 1990.

SISTER JOSEPH ADELE EDWARDS, CSJ, '58, was a poet and longtime member of the Mount's English faculty who passed away last Christmas Day. She is still greatly missed by her many friends and former students.

The Public Relations department sent to the Archives a poem of of hers that turned up the other day in an old file. Inspired by John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn," Sister wrote this paean to the Doheny Mansion in 1965:

If beauty changes for each person and age,

Then who are we to say wherein it lies?

For some it is a garden trimmed and formed,

A roof with gables pointing to the sky,

Two lions standing guard while cold and still,

Or marble panels matched by pillars tall.

An Angel's face, a crystal lamp, a trace

Of pastoral art -- all meant for one, at least,

The source wherein great beauty does reside. 

A marble lion guards the entrance to the Doheny Mansion.

Remembering Sr. Joseph Adele

LIKE ONE OF CHALON'S GRACEFUL ARCHES, Sister Joseph Adele Edwards, CSJ, was part of the Mount's architecture, a Carondelet sister since 1952, professor, administrator, mentor and friend to generations of the College community. She passed away on December 25, literally at the conclusion of the Mass for Christmas Day, during the recessional, "Joy to the World."

Jared Morgan of the Brentwood Patch online community newsletter produced a neat memorial feature on Sister, available at http://patch.com/california/brentwood/brentwood-college-dean-died-on-christmas-day. He gets some terrific reminiscences from Mount colleagues Daniel Aucutt, Bernie Robert and Rosalyn Kempf, and I was delighted to see among them that dynamo, Sister Regina Clare Salazar, CSJ, whose own history at the College is long and impressive.

Several of the historic photos in the video came from the Archives.