Mary Paulina Finn Explained

Mary Paulina Finn
Religion:	Roman Catholic
Honorific Suffix:	V. H. M.
Birth Date:	1 January 1842
Birth Place:	Boston, Massachusetts
Nationality:	American
Pen Name:	M. S. Pine
Death Place:	Washington, DC
Signature:	Mary_Paulina_Finn_signature.png

Mary Paulina Finn (January 1, 1842-February 28, 1935), known to the literary world by her pen name, M. S. Pine, was a Roman Catholic nun at the Georgetown Visitation Monastery in Washington, DC.^[1] Known as Sister Paulina, she was a playwright, poet, and author, and she headed the school's English Department for 50 of her 68 years at Visitation.^[2]

Career

Besides her own accomplishments, Sr. Finn fostered the careers of Agnes Repplier, Eleanor Mercein Kelly, and of Harriet Monroe, founder of Poetry.^[3] Kelly and Monroe were graduates of Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, and Repplier was a devout Catholic who attended school in Philadelphia but knew Finn.^[4] She maintained friendships with other prominent people including Visitation alumnae Bertha Palmer, Ida Marie Honoré, and Mary Logan Tucker, and priests William Henry O'Connell, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Boston, and poet-priest John Banister Tabb.^{[5] [6]} She also knew the French Jesuit and anthropologist Marcel Jousse S. J., Paulist priest Walter Elliott, and Jesuit priest Thomas I. Gasson, all of whom were part of a large concelebration at her Golden Jubilee in 1919, along with Mary Logan Tucker.^{[7] [8]} Her book about John Banister Tabb was positively reviewed by Frank Lebby Stanton, the first poet laureate of Georgia.^[9]

One of her nephews was the Rev. William J. Finn, C.S.P., director of the Paulist Choristers, performing annually at the Metropolitan Opera and regularly on television. He presided at her funeral mass in the Visitation chapel.^[10] She was survived by one sister living in Boston, and was buried on the grounds of Georgetown Visitation Monastery.

Selected works

• 1913: The Alma Mater of the Georgetown Centennial and Other Dramas (New York: Munder-Thomsen Press).^[11]
• 1915: John Banister Tabb: the Priest-Poet (New York: Munder-Thomsen Press).
• 1916: The Venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth . Pine . M. S. . 1916 . (Philadelphia: Salesian Press, Don Bosco Institute).
• 1917: A Glory of Maryland (Poem in honor of Archbishop Leonard Neale, founder of the Visitation in Georgetown)^[12]
• 1921: Counsels of Jesus to Sister Benigna Consolata Ferrero, Religious of the Visitation, of Como, Italy, 1885-1916. Translation by M. S. Pine from the Community Circular of Como. (Chicago, Illinois: John P. Daleiden Co.)^{[13] [14]}
• 1925: Sacred Poems^[15]

Theater historian Cecilia Young claimed that Finn wrote all of her works in pencil.^[16]

Notes and References

1. News: Sister Mary Paulina Finn: Member of Visitation Order, 93, Taught at Georgetown Convent. . The New York Times . 1 March 1935.
2. Educational Notes (her obituary) . The Catholic Educational Review . 1935 . 33 . 4 .
3. News: Sister Paulina's Rites are Held at Georgetown . The Washington Post . March 2, 1935.
4. Recent Events (her obituary) . The Catholic World . April 1935 . 141 . 841 . 107 .
5. Web site: History of Georgetown Visitation: The Late 19th Century . Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School . Georgetown Visitation Monastery . This 1906 photograph shows Sister Mary Paulina Finn on graduation day..
6. News: Sister Mary Finn Dies at Age of 93, Was Head of English Department at Georgetown Visitation Convent . The Evening Star, Washington, DC . March 3, 1935.
7. Sister Mary Paulina Finn Observes Golden Jubilee: Former Pupils and Friends of Venerable Religious and Renowned Authoress Assist at Ceremony . The Catholic Standard and Times . 28 June 1919 . 24 . 33.
8. News: Golden Jubilee Service Draws Large Audience: Celebration at Visitation Convent in Honor of Sister Mary Paulina's Profession . The Evening Star (published as The Sunday Star) . June 22, 1919.
9. News: Dooly . Louise . Classics by Priest-Poet Edited for Student Use . The Atlanta Constitution . 20 February 1916.
10. News: Rev. William J. Finn Dies at 79, Founder of Paulist Choristers . The New York Times . March 21, 1961.
11. Pace . Edward Aloysius . Shields . Thomas Edward . Reviews and Notices . The Catholic Educational Review . 1914 . 8 . 190–191.
12. Book: Pine . M. S. . A Glory of Maryland: Poem . 1917 . The Salesian Press, Don Bosco Institute . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . (Philadelphia: Salesian Press, Don Bosco Institute).
13. Heuser . Herman Joseph . Literary Chat . The Ecclesiastical Review . 1926 . 74 . 220 . The Dolphin Press . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
14. Book: Catalogue of Copyright Entries, Part I, Books, Group I. New Series, Volume 18, Nos. 1-126 . June 1921 . Library of Congress Copyright Office . Washington, DC . 338 . A brief sketch of the life and virtues of our dear sister, Benigna Consolata Ferrero, deceased in our Monastery of the Visitation, B. V. M., of Como. Lombardy, September 1, 1916 ... Translated from the Community circular of Como by M. S. Pine, pseud..
15. Literature: Books and Authors: Poetry and Verse . America: A-Catholic-Review-of-the-Week . . 451.
16. Book: Young . Cecilia Mary . Ring Up the Curtain . 1941 . Hart Publications, Inc. . Minneapolis, Minnesota . 199.