Sr. Martha Buser on her First Communion day, and as an Ursuline Sister.

Filmmaker Morgan Atkinson revisits the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville forty years after his first documentary about the community: A Change in Order. Atkinson uses the life of Sister Martha Buser as a lens through which to view changes of the past 60-plus years in the religious and cultural landscape of America. Rare, evocative film footage captures a bygone era in the life of the Catholic Church. When Martha entered the community in 1949, the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, Kentucky numbered almost 600 sisters. When Sr. Martha passed away in 2023, fewer than 40 sisters remained. Their median age is 85.

However, the new film “is not a requiem for the Ursulines,” Atkinson says, “rather a clear-eyed look at many faith-filled lives and one in particular.” It’s something of a tribute to Sr. Martha, whom Atkinson interviewed numerous times from 1985 through 2023. Over the years, they developed a close friendship, and Sister Martha became Atkinson’s spiritual director.
Father James Martin, S.J., who knew Sister Martha well, says of the film: “Martha Buser was one of the most creative, most life-giving and most prayerful people I’ve ever met. Like so many Ursulines, she taught not only how to pray, but how to live as a Christian and a Catholic. This beautiful documentary is a tribute not only to her but to an entire community of holy women.”

You may view the one-hour documentary Here: