The editorial column which
appeared with this, the first issue of the Spirit &
Life publication in May 1965, read as follows:
“Tabernacle
and Purgatory” makes its bow under the new name of SPIRIT and LIFE. Caught up
in the surge of renewal which the Spirit of God is breathing upon our era, our
magazine too reaches out toward new horizons and new perspectives. Not that old
ideas and old traditions will be relinquished just for the sake of being new.
Rather, we aim to present them in new perspective, in the light of the New
Pentecost now shedding its radiance on so many facets of our daily living…
Sr. Mary DeSales
Markert, OSB, editor
Welcome to our online edition of Spirit&Life.
Older readers may remember the title it bore for sixty years: Tabernacle and
Purgatory, or T & P as it was called by the sisters. The title reflected a
former era’s popular devotion to the souls in Purgatory.
We believe that ours is the second oldest
continuously published Catholic magazine in our country, with “Emmanuel,”
published by the Blessed Sacrament Fathers, being ten years older. The
“Messenger of the Sacred Heart,” known for its Apostleship of Prayer,
originated in Canada, in 1891.
Two sisters are given special recognition in the
special May/June 2004 centenary issue which you can access from the archives. Sr. M. Juliana
Bresson was born the same year as our magazine, and so celebrated her 100th
birthday at the same time as the magazine. She spent much of her life working
in the printery.
Pictured in the middle of the centenary
cover is our dearly loved Sr. M. De Sales Markert, who was editor from
1935 to 1969, and went joyfully to God in 1993 at the age of 92. With faith,
wit and wisdom she guided the magazine’s transition through the aftermath of
Vatican II, and when it was time to step down, she did so graciously, writing:
“Our life is but the unfolding in time of the eternal purpose of God’s love for
us. The value of all that we do lies in the free and faithful fulfillment of
his divine designs. In his goodness he has permitted me to devote many years to
the literary apostolate in our editorial department—a work which I have loved
and enjoyed. It has woven itself intimately into the warp and woof of my
religious life, and has become a kind of vocation within a vocation. Now at his
call, I gladly relinquish this work to take up a new assignment, which I know
will also be a source of joy….”
“The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and
life,” said Jesus (John 6:63). We hope that Spirit & Life will add spirit
to your life.
