Her ministry is the Spirit in song welling
up within her
Kathleen P. Deignan, CND, is a theologian and sacred song writer
who has been engaged in the ministry of liturgical musicianship
for over thiry-five years. Associate Professor of Religious Studies
at Iona College,
she is also the founder and director of the Iona
Spirituality Institute, a project for the celebration and study
of the spiritual life. She received her masters degree in Spirituality
Studies and her doctorate in Historical Theology from Fordham
University in New York. She is the author of Christ Spirit:
The Eschatology of Shaker Christianity and she writes and lectures
widely on issues of classical and contemporary spirituality, particularly
the legacy of spiritual master Thomas
Merton. Her latest book, When the
Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature, is the first collection
of Merton’s writings on nature. (Sorin Books 2003)
Kathleen has
written over two hundred songs for
worship and prayer, many of which have been recorded. She has been
part of two liturgical ensembles. With friend and fellow artist,
Evelyn Avoglia, she founded Schola
Ministries, Inc., a project in service to the liturgical and
contemplative arts. This ministry which began with the worship community
at Sacred Heart University, now flourishes at the Benedictine Grange
where she is composer in residence and leader of song with the ensemble
Anima Schola, and also directs Visitation
Schola, a sacred song performance ensemble.
As a member of the Congregation
of Notre Dame, Sister Kathleen has also been engaged in the
mission of liberating education which at times is expressed in peace
and social justice concerns, and also spiritual animation. She has
particularly been engaged in an international studies venture in
Ireland. She initiated and formerly directed, the Iona
Institute for Peace and Justice Studies in Ireland and the Iona
Spirituality Institute’s Celtic Spirituality Pilgrimage to
Ireland which has fostered and focused her scholarly and creative
interests on the richness of her Celtic inheritance. One of Kathleen's
current projects is exploring the images and metaphors of Celtic
ways of prayer and song.
More recently,
she has designed a Celtic Spirituality Pilgrimage to Ireland each
summer, which has fostered and focused her scholarly and creative
interests on the richness of her Celtic inheritance. Kathleen's
current project is exploring the images and metaphors of Celtic
ways of prayer and song.
Her parents, Patrick Paul and Bridget, were born in the west of
Ireland and later emigrated to London where Kathleen was born. Another
emigration brought the Deignans to New York where Kathleen was raised
on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Her sister Ann Deignan is a physician
and poet, likewise engaged in creative expression, and in ministry
to the poor of Nicaragua. In her first book of poems, Mythos
Gate, Ann escorts us into the creative realm of the poet’s
imagination in its habit of deep storytelling, largely inspired
by the mythologies of the ancient world. Her latest volume is Migrations,
with poems that explore the mystery of impermanence.
The death of their mother Bridget has given rise to a memorial in
her honor - "The BRIDIE FUND"
for orphan girls in Nicaragua. They have also sponsored scholarships
for aspiring Irish musicians participating in the Douglas
Hyde Summer School in County Roscommon, Ireland.
If you are interested in Sister Kathleen's music, or any of the
several projects which have been described, please contact Sister
Kathleen. Or, if you are interested in a spirituality of Visitation
and praise, which is the animating spirit of the Sisters and Associates
of the Congregation of Notre Dame who sings through these songs,
please contact Sister
Kathleen.
