Oblates see Providence at work in building of Mother Mary Lange Catholic School

Sister Rita Michelle Proctor is in the habit of taking a few turns out of the way on her afternoon commute from the motherhouse of the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Arbutus to the convent at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, where she resides.

Slowing down near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard with Lexington Street, the general superior of the Oblates checks on the progress of Mother Mary Lange Catholic School.

Its name honors an immigrant to Baltimore from the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, who in 1829 founded not only the religious order that Sister Rita Michelle leads, the first Catholic religious community of women of African-American descent, but the first Catholic school in the U.S. for black children, what became St. Frances Academy.

The Vatican is reviewing her cause for canonization.

“Every time I go by it,” Sister Rita Michelle said of the construction site, “I proclaim, ‘God is good.’ It’s a miracle, another way God has provided to us. Even though not all of our (OSP) members are here in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, it’s here that Mother Lange landed 191 years ago, with a special calling to educate children of color.

“It gives us great joy and pride to know that this particular institution will stand as a beacon of hope in a part of the city where so many are discouraged by the plight of life. It’s a symbol of God’s providential care. God still cares for the people of Baltimore.”

While the coronavirus pandemic has delayed the hiring of a principal, which was to be announced in May, it has not negatively impacted the construction timetable, which, according to Matthew Regan, senior project manager for the archdiocesan Division of Facilities and Real Estate Management, is a few weeks ahead of schedule, in part because of an unseasonably mild winter.

“Our contractors have worked hard to maintain a rigorous pandemic protocol, which so far has protected our workers,” Regan told the Review. “Whiting-Turner has done a great job in evaluating and planning preemptive solutions to problems, such as dealing with manufacturers and vendors from adjacent states that have shut down entire businesses.”

“Topping out,” the industry term for setting the last piece of steel atop a building, occurred May 12. The $23.9 million project includes approximately 66,000 square feet on three levels, with a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) suite, digital media center, art and music rooms, regulation-sized gymnasium, full-service kitchen and chapel.

It is located 2.4 miles west of Ss. James and John Catholic School and 4.7 interstate miles east of Holy Angels Catholic School, which will provide the bulk of its approximately 400 students when it opens, scheduled in time for the 2021-22 school year.

For Sister Rita Michelle, the first new Catholic school construction in the city in approximately six decades is a turnaround from a decade ago, when a dozen Catholic schools there closed. Among them was Mother Lange School, which operated at the former St. Anthony of Padua School in Gardenville and formed after the closings of parish schools there and at St. Dominic in Hamilton and Shrine of the Little Flower in Belair-Edison.

Its principal? Sister Rita Michelle.

“When we closed in 2010, it was a heart-breaker for us,” she said. “Never in my wildest dreams, did I think that we would have a brand-new building in her (Mother Lange’s) name. I do think it’s fitting.

“We pray for the success, not just of the continued building construction, but for those who will fill the building. We pray for the faculty, staff and children they will care for, and that the legacy of Mother Lange will be taught, so that it continues.”

Email Paul McMullen at pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org

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