Sister Spotlight – Margaret Galiardi, OP

Sister Margaret Galiardi is celebrating her 60th Jubilee as a Sister of St. Dominic of Amityville this year.   

Sister Margaret recalls a conversation with a river boat guide who told her, “The people who have the most fun on my trips are the people who can find the current and ride the current.”  

“I think of my life as a river,” said Sister Margaret.  “I’d like to think that my life was about paying attention to the underground spring, the Holy Spirit, that was feeding me and guiding me and that is what led me to do the variety of things that I have done.  I have always tried to make ministry decisions based on ‘Would this ministry help move the world to the next place it needs to be in?’”

It is certainly true that the spirit has led Sister Margaret to a variety of ministries.   Like a river, with twists and turns, and periods of calm and tumult — she followed the holy spirit wherever it led her.  

Over the years, she was involved in many ministries including education, justice and preaching, often accompanying the poor and advocating for the Earth — all rooted in contemplative prayer.  Here is a sample of her ministries:

  • She began her vocation as a teacher on Long Island at St. Hugh of Lincoln in Huntington Station, St. Agnes Cathedral School in Rockville Centre and Queen of the Rosary School in Roosevelt — but soon moved on!
  • She served as a pastoral associate at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport visiting the sick and ministering in religious education.  “The people of Centerport taught me that the Church is the people of God,” she said.   “The way they lived, their involvement, their hunger for spirituality was inspiring.” 
  • She ministered in the Intercommunity Center for Justice and Peace (ICJP) in Manhattan, a coalition of about 30 different Religious Congregations of men and women who seek to bring structural changes to society, powered by Catholic social teaching. 
  • She resided in Providence House for 10 years, a ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph.  It’s a house for women (and their children) who are homeless, abused or recently released from prison in Brooklyn.
  • She lived in and provided care for guests of the Interfaith Nutrition Network as the Homelessness Prevention Coordinator in Hempstead. 
  • She embarked on a vision quest, including living on the land for ten days of solitude and fasting. Her interactions with the natural world, and specifically a curious fox, impacted the way she saw the world. 
  • She was elected to the Leadership Council of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville as the Director of Ministry.
  • She was named the North American Promoter for Justice for the International Dominican Commission for Justice and Peace. She — as well as other sisters from Dominican Congregations throughout the country — traveled to Iraq to support the sisters and people there who were devastated by the Persian Gulf War.
  • She lived, prayed and worked with the Cistercian Sisters in the Redwoods Monastery in Northern California rooting herself in contemplative silence.

Throughout the years, there have been other ministries as well.  Sister Margaret has a special love for the preaching charism. She recalls serving in the New River Catholic Community in “mission country” in Virginia.  As a campus minister at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.   Each Sunday, she served as the homilist at the local parish.   “It went really well, and the people were wonderful,” she said.   Her popularity with the parishioners attracted the attention of the local bishop, who informed her not to preach at Mass anymore.  When the people were told, there was an outcry of support for her.  “I have bags full of mail about you,” she recalled the words of the bishop to her.   She would later preach nationally about the Universe story and the Christian story, influenced by Brian Swimme and Passionist Priest Thomas Berry.

As a Dominican, Sister Margaret believes it is important to “hand down to others the fruits of contemplation,” she said, quoting St. Thomas Aquinas.  “There is a hunger for God,” she said.   “There is a God-sized hole at the center of every human heart.  And that is all of our stories! And our role is a call to contemplate and to give others the fruit of our contemplation.  We have been invited to a relationship with God.  And we share that relationship with others.”

Years ago, she started offering “group spiritual direction” at St. Ignatius Church in Long Beach, NY.  Two groups met there for more than a decade, sharing and discerning God’s path for their lives.  Now, two of these group members are choosing to become associates of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville.   And The Preaching Continues…