Sister Marguerite Mae CSC writes:
SISTER Dorothea CSC was a well-loved teacher and headmistress, and the fifth Mother Superior of the Community of the Sisters of the Church. Born Edith Doris Roden in 1914, she was the second child of Arnold and Doris Roden. Her father died when she was only six. Being brought up by her mother and grandmother provided her with strong female role-models. Although a graduate of the Royal Commercial Travellers School and of Whitelands Teacher Training College, Putney, it was not until 2017, at the age of 103, that she would receive her Bachelor of Education (Honoris Causa) from Roehampton University.
Joining the Community in 1936, she became a novice the next year. At the outbreak of war in 1939, she was evacuated with the older girls from the Kilburn Orphanage to the Ormerod Home in St Anne’s-on-Sea, Lancashire. Her teaching of the convalescent children and her care for the older girls made a deep impression on them. Many of the women from that period of her life stayed in touch with her all their lives. On 25 March 1941, she was professed, with Sister Marietta, at the Convent in Kilburn. No cake, just a cup of tea, with a bun, then back to St Anne’s. Sister Dorothea told that story with a twinkle in her eye on the 50th profession anniversary — they had a cake each on that occasion.
Between 1946 and 1962, Sister Dorothea taught in our schools at York and Liverpool, was headmistress in Hobart, and then headmistress back in Liverpool. She was firm but fair, and encouraged the girls to be the best they could be. Many of the students became lifelong friends and made a point of visiting her when they were in the UK.
She was at St Michael’s Convent, Ham Common, before her election as Mother Superior in January 1962.
Her time as Mother Superior coincided with Vatican II, which caused a seismic shift in religious thinking. The CSC was not immune, and Sister Dorothea guided her Sisters as we reformed our Rule and Constitution, modernised our habit and cross, changed from Our Work (the Community magazine founded in 1878) to the present CSC Newsletter, handed over most of the schools and other works the Community had founded, created financially autonomous Provinces in Australia, Canada, and England, and began work in the Solomon Islands, in our centenary year of 1970. So much change, although needed, was unpopular with some Sisters who left, and Sister Dorothea found it difficult, even in later years, to talk about this period of her life.
After 15 years, Sister Dorothea believed it was time for a new Mother. In 1978, after her “retirement”, she had five months as a solitary at Fairacres, Oxford, before helping out in Australia and Canada. Returning to the UK in 1980, she became a “praying presence” in Canterbury Cathedral for two days a week.
In 1981, she was elected Sister Provincial in Canada. Returning to the UK, in December 1984, she went to the Royal Foundation of St Katharine with the CR Fathers. During her time there, she became involved with the women at Greenham Common, joining them regularly for prayer. In December 1991, she moved to inner-city Bristol, returning, in 1994, to Ham Common, where she remained until the Community moved to Gerrards Cross in 2016. Even in her nineties, she went weekly to one of the local C of E primary schools to listen to the children read.
On 25 March 2021, she became the first Anglican religious to reach the 80th anniversary of her profession. She was a woman with a great sense of humour and a deep spirituality. She was an avid reader of The Tablet and The Times, always keen to explore a wide range of topics. She loved nature and enjoyed the view of the garden when she was no longer able to get out in it. It is perhaps no surprise to those who knew her that her pioneering spirit continues to the last.
Sister Dorothea’s funeral was on 25 January, the anniversary of her first installation as Mother Superior. She was the first Sister to have had a woodland burial.
Sister Dorothea CSC died on 26 December 2022, aged 108.
