A well-known composer, singer, author, and professor, Sister Miriam Therese Winter's life as a Medical Mission Sister has embraced several paths. She entered our Community in 1955, just after her graduation from high school in Passaic, New Jersey, with the dream of being a missionary doctor in Africa. But, she recalls, "I was sent to study music so that someone would be certified to guide the Sisters in the United States through the changes that lay ahead ... it wasn't my idea, but in God's infinite wisdom, it seems to have turned out all right."

After graduating from Catholic University of America, Sister Miriam Therese made her first recording, Joy is Like the Rain, in 1966. It was a gold album in the U.S. and Australia, bringing with it worldwide recognition. She went on to record 15 additional albums, and toured in Africa, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and North America.

Sister Miriam Therese earned a Master's Degree in Religious Education from McMaster Divinity College in Ontario, and a Ph.D. in Liturgical Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary. In 1980, she became the first female on the faculty of the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, where she now serves as Professor of Liturgy, Worship, Spirituality, and Feminist Studies in the Center for Faith in Practice. She is also Director of the Women's Leadership Institute in Hartford. "Her empathy with people has made her one of the most popular teachers at the seminary," states the Hartford Courant.

Author of 9 books and dozens of articles, Sister Miriam Therese lectures and travels extensively. She will be the keynote speaker at Boston College on April 16, 2004, at the conference, "Envisioning the Church Women Want." The recipient of 2 honorary doctorate degrees, she also has received numerous other awards.

Sister Miriam Therese's philosophy is expressed in one of her songs: "Faith moves mountains, transcending creeds. The Word within words is embodied in deeds. Fear for the future finds hope in the past, for love was the first word, it's surely the last."