Trappistine Sister Mary Jane Smith, born Jane Elizabeth Smith in Springfield, Ky., will celebrate 60 years as a Trappistine Sister this month at Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey in Wrentham, Mass., in the Archdiocese of Boston.
According to information from Father Benedict Brown, Sister Smith has three sisters who regularly attended Mass at Holy Rosary Church in Springfield. Sister Smith attended St. Dominic School and, what was then, St. Catharine Academy in Springfield. After high school, she worked in the library of Nazareth College — now Spalding University.
She entered the novitiate at the Trappistine Abbey in 1954, taking the name Mary Martin when she professed her vows. It was after Vatican II that she took again her baptismal name of Sister Mary Jane.
Father Brown says notes of congratulations and well-wishes can be sent to Sister Mary Jane Smith, Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey, 300 Arnold Street, Wrentham, Mass., 02093.