Sister Mara Grace Shares Powerful Reflection on the Passions at Formal Hall

Campion College hosted its first Formal Hall in the newly named George Cardinal Pell Grand Hall on Thursday 3 April, welcoming students, staff and guests for an evening of intellectual and spiritual enrichment.

The guest talk was delivered by Sister Mara Grace, vocation director for the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia. Originally from Kentucky, Sister Mara Grace entered the convent in 2006 and now serves at the motherhouse in Nashville, Tennessee. Her academic background includes degrees in elementary education, Thomistic studies, and Catholic leadership.

In a talk that was both insightful and deeply moving, Sister Mara Grace explored St Thomas Aquinas’s teachings on the passions - what they are, how they affect the moral life, and what they reveal about Our Lady’s humanity. Using examples from daily life and the Gospels, she explained how emotions, when properly ordered by grace, can help us grow in virtue and pursue the good with greater freedom.

“Our Lady would have been the most passionate of people,” she explained. “Those little statues with serene faces were lying to me! She would have been full of the joys and sorrows of life. And that’s not something to fear. That’s something that gives us hope.”

Her message was one of encouragement and clarity for students discerning their vocation and forming their character: “In time, and as we continue to practice virtue, the passions will follow and will actually assist us in that life of virtue.”

Reflecting on her first visit to Campion College, Sister Mara Grace expressed her deep admiration for the college’s unique spirit and mission. “This is my first ever visit to Australia, and I must say, if the whole world knew this little secret that’s here - this amazing place - we’d all move here… I think you all have such a gift here at Campion—to live the full human life and all that entails.”

As a token of appreciation, Campion College President Dr Paul Morrissey presented Sister Mara Grace with a signed copy of Cardinal George Pell’s Prison Journal (Volume III), gifted to the college by His Eminence before his passing.

The evening concluded with warm conversations among attendees - an embodiment of the very human, very joyful life Sister Mara Grace had so eloquently described.

See below for photos from the night.