A study in diversity:
Sister Margaret André Waechter, CSC

by Sister Margaret Ann Nowacki, CSC

“Multitalented” is a word sometimes used to describe those rare individuals who possess a number of abilities in a wide range of fields. This term certainly describes Sister Margaret André Waechter, who has always taken on multiple projects and endeavors. 

From being a parish organist as a sixth grader to a university liturgist and leadership director and then to a Congregation formation director, Sister Margaret André has moved gracefully through many positions and responsibilities. But whether she is at the organ, the piano, the lecture podium or the conference table, self-confidence and openness are characteristic of her approach to various challenges. 

These traits were developed in her formative years by parents who nurtured her very best.                                   

“‘You can do whatever you set your mind to,’ was a mantra my father gave me,” says Sister Margaret André. And so entertaining family guests by playing the piano was normal, even expected, behavior at an early age, and her musical talent frequently gave direction to many of her life changes. 

A case in point is her experience as a sixth grader in Our Lady of La Salette Parish children’s choir in Berkley, Michigan. One day when the organist did not arrive for morning Mass, Pat, as she was then known, confidently filled in, because, she reasoned, “the church organ was just like her piano at home.” Following this show of initiative, the pastor arranged organ lessons for her, and she soon became the regular parish organist. She remained loyal to this commitment through high school and into college. 

Her focus got a little fuzzy during her freshman year in college and by her own account, she “majored” in partying and dancing, earning an “A” in both. Gradually the joy of these pursuits began to dull, and she became aware of her feelings of futility about her future. She realized she had to refocus her life goals. 

As parish organist, she was in frequent contact with the Sisters of Mercy, who staffed the parish school, and she became close friends with some of them. Observing the happiness and peace of these religious women made their lifestyle desirable to her. When Pat shared this with her father, however, he strenuously objected, not to the idea of religious life, but to the fact that this congregation of sisters was never permitted to visit home. Then her father remembered a Canadian relative who as a religious, was allowed to come home for occasional visits. That led Pat to the Sisters of the Holy Cross, since the distant relative was Sister Marie Cecile Fitzgerald at Saint Mary’s College in Indiana. 

Pat’s focus was now on learning more about this Congregation and the possibility of religious life.  She enrolled in Saint Mary’s College as a student in the work-study program. Providentially, her work assignment was at the receptionist’s desk of the college, where she had the opportunity to get to know many of the sisters. This new association with the Sisters of the Holy Cross solidified Pat’s goal and convinced her that choosing this Congregation was the right decision. 

Looking back on that experience, Sister Margaret André declares, “I was so impressed with the wonderful family relationship the sisters had. I particularly remember that each time Sister Madeleva had to travel, a large number of the college sisters would gather at the reception area to bid her farewell and would be there again to greet her on her return. This loving interaction convinced me that they lived out my idea of what community should be.”

But going from party girl to neophyte religious meant that this young woman had much to learn and experience. She entered the novitiate of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and eagerly took on the task of her initial formation. Religious formation is a life-long process but once Sister Margaret André successfully completed her years of formation in the novitiate, she felt ready for any challenges she might meet.

After her final profession in 1961, Sister Margaret André spends time with her mother, Aunt Christine and father.

Music became a part of her ministry when she began her first assignment as an elementary school teacher because she was also appointed to be the school music teacher. However, things changed radically when Pope John XXIII began his new approach to openness and innovation within the Catholic Church. Many sisters who were living in traditional religious congregations saw their lives beginning to change.  For some, the transition from the familiar to the uncertain, from days of hard and fast rules to greater flexibility were difficult to accept, but for Sister Margaret André, these were days of meeting challenges with enthusiasm. 

Perhaps the most striking and visible changes occurred first in church liturgy. These changes resulted in a new task now being presented to Sister Margaret André. She was assigned to join Sister Marie Cecile, her Canadian relative, to teach sacred music to the young sisters in the formation program at Saint Mary’s. It became her responsibility to instruct the sisters and to facilitate the implementation of these changes into the liturgical celebrations at Saint Mary’s.

After four years, Sister Margaret André widened her focus and took on another kind of task by serving on the Music Committee for the Diocese of Fort Wayne/South Bend, Indiana. Working as a member of this committee, she became acutely aware of the need to provide an organ-instruction program for church musicians and to update them in the liturgical movement. With the approval and support of the bishop, Sister Margaret André’s mission took another turn when she began a diocesan-wide program of liturgical training for the priests and lay people of the diocese. Eventually this program expanded to include choir directors, cantors and guitarists throughout the diocese.

As an organ teacher for the Diocese of Fort Wayne/South Bend in 1974, Sister Margaret André is accompanied by Craig Heitger on the trumpet.

As the program grew in scope and numbers, Sister Margaret André realized that she needed advanced training to be a more effective instrument of change in the church. She enrolled in the Leadership Institute of Spokane offered at Whitworth College in Washington. She completed this master’s program and began working as a parish liturgist in Spokane, but her work was abruptly interrupted in June 1984 when her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She went to her mother’s bedside where she stayed until her mother’s death two months later. 

The next four years were spent using the skills learned in the Leadership Institute in personnel-related jobs, but her desire to return to her beloved music prompted her to search for a position where she could combine her new skills with her talent and love of music.
            
The University of Texas in Austin was in search of a liturgist. Upon first examination of the job, it seemed that the requirements were overwhelming – even for this multitalented religious. However, once the goals of the position were discussed it became clear that it would be a perfect fit with the title, director of liturgy and leadership training. 

Sister Margaret André leads a youth ministry retreat in Austin, Texas, 1990.  Participants in the retreat are Johnny Sanchez and Susan Schrader.

Reflecting on this experience, Sister Margaret André states, “I truly enjoyed the blend of these two roles and the variety of tasks they required. The demands of organist, music director, youth minister and counselor for the young college students were an invigorating challenge for 10 productive years.”

It was because of Sister Margaret André’s continued openness to God’s call that she responded to the Congregation’s request that she return to Saint Mary’s in 1998 to become the director of the Congregation’s North American candidate formation program. Sister was well suited for this position because of her training and her years of interacting with young university students. Happily, music continued to be a part of her life as she added involvement in the church choir, organ and piano accompaniment for some liturgies, and enrichment for herself through organ and voice lessons. 

The integration of talent, education, experience and dedication aptly describe Sister Margaret André and her vocation in the Sisters of the Holy Cross. As a dedicated community woman, she loves being present to her sisters and sharing prayer with them. She remains obedient to whatever God is calling her to do and her many talents make responding to that call flow naturally from the mantra her father gave her, “You can do whatever you set your mind to.”