NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Better known for the guitar-twang and high lonesome sound of country music, Nashville is also home to the Sisters of St. Cecilia.

No, they're not a new country music band. But on one of the hills overlooking this musical town, a visitor can hear them as often as three times a day singing the divine office to the strains of traditional chant at the motherhouse, of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation.

Young women are being drawn here to take part in a religious life steeped in prayer and apostolate. And the flow of vocations is as strong and steady as these female voices lifting their melodious prayers to God.

According to Dominican Sister Catherine Marie, vocations director there, this past year has seen 17 new postulants, as well as 17 novices returning to further discern their calling to religious life.

On Feb. 2, the Feast of the Presentation, the sisters will recommit their vocations to Christ.

Over the past 10 years, the Sisters have received an annual average of 15 postulants— 22 in the year 2000. For this 140-year-old congregation located deep in a notch of the Bible Belt, the median age of its members dropped to 36-years-old.

One hundred and ninety-three sisters strong and with no signs of slowing down, the Sisters of St. Cecilia currently have a teaching apostolate in seven states, including Tennessee, Ohio, Alabama, Colorado, Virginia, Maryland and Illinois.

Found in 22 schools (17 elementary, four high school and one college), the sisters are teaching approximately 8,000 young people around the nation.

A high school literature teacher at St. Cecilia Academy in Nashville, Dominican Sister Anna Laura, remembers she was first attracted by the community's emphasis on the Blessed Sacrament and devotion to the Blessed Mother. But she wondered if her love of study would be a significant part of her religious life. Today, Sister Anna Laura laughs at such a worry as she sees her love for learning magnified through her love for Christ.

“When you join this order,” Sister Anna Laura observed, “you don't become less but more of who you actually are.”

Beating the Trend

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate reported that between 1965 and 1998, the number of religious sisters nationwide fell 53% while the current average age of a religious sister is 69.

In addition, the same report indicated that only 6% of Catholic school teachers are sisters— down from about 75% in 1950.

Why are things so different for the Nashville Dominicans?

“The bottom line is we're growing because God is sending us these vocations,” Sister Anna Laura pointed out.

“Our contribution to the new evangelization,” said Mother Rose Marie, Prioress General of the congregation, “is made in the classroom and convent by both our prayer and our work. We want to make Christ present in the world, and believe that in the youth of our day, the message really can be heard.”

Bishop Edward Kmiec of the Diocese of Nashville, observed that the Sister's devotion to their original charism and mission remains constant.

“I believe that fidelity to their traditions and vows,” Bishop Kmiec said, “has led them to this grace-filled moment in their history. The fact that more young women than ever before are seeking to join their community requires them to seek the support of those who believe deeply in religious life and Catholic education.”

One downside of the congregation's growth: It is running out of space.

Said Sister Anna Laura, “God has blessed us— and has blessed us so much that we're now growing outside our walls.”

According to Sister Catherine Marie, renovation and building are crucial to accommodate the present numbers and to ensure that the momentum can continue.

In the fall of this upcoming school year, as well, the sisters are extending their mission to a school in Stillwater, Minn., in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

They have hundreds of such requests pending and a deep awareness of the need to spread religious witness. While initial efforts in fundraising to build on to the mother-house have been successful, Sister Catherine Marie said an additional $10 million is needed.

“It is our hope,” Sister Catherine Marie said, “that Catholics across the nation will give not only to further the impact of Catholic education but as a pledge of support for religious life.”

Joseph O'Brien writes from La Crosse, Wisconsin.