Sister Mary Roy Weiss, S.S.N.D., knew early on she was being called to a vocation. What she didn’t know was how she would use music in her work.
The New Jersey native, who studied piano and organ as a child, was taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
“Their spirit was just wonderful,” she said. “I can remember them being joyful.”
Her parents were resistant at first to her plans to enter the order right out of high school, but she persevered.
“I really loved God and I really loved people, and I wanted to share that love with many more people,” she said.
Today, she is the director of campus ministry at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland in Baltimore. As a young novice, she was sent to Manhattanville College to study music education.
After college, she taught music simultaneously in a grammar and high school.
“I went the full route of having choruses and concerts,” she said with a laugh. While preparing for her final vows, she studied theology and then taught religion.
Her high school students were putting on Broadway shows, and she planned to pursue a master’s degree in musical theater. But when another sister told her about music therapy, Sister Mary Roy became hooked and earned a master’s degree in the subject from New York University. She began incorporating music therapy into the normal school setting.
“It was wonderful because it was a preventive,” she noted. Students explored their emotions and reactions to difficult family situations through music. She also used guided imagery, where students listened to music in a relaxed state and then processed what they pictured. She added psychology to her other teaching duties, too.
After more than a decade teaching in Brooklyn, she became the vocations director for her order’s northeast province.
“In my vocation ministry, I began to really include music,” she said.
Sister Mary composed music for the Stations of the Cross, and also wrote all the songs for the CD “Bridge to Glory.”
“Most are Scripture-based,” she said. The songs can be used for weddings, prayer services or personal reflections, she added.
Naturally curious, Sister Mary Roy is working on a doctorate in instructional leadership for changing populations, and she’s interested in how people approach God – and how God approaches people.
“All religions are interesting to me,” she said, adding that she’s held a Passover Seder prepared by Jews, done interfaith workshops, visited mosques and started an interfaith group on campus.
“It’s all about God’s goodness,” she said. “God really has approached me – I’ve been gifted in many ways.”
