Born Dolores Hicks in Chicago, she was the daughter of nominal Catholics and not initially raised in the faith. She formally joined the Church at the age of ten, and went on to a promising start in Hollywood, starring in ten films in five years. In 1963, she decided to enter the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut. She became prioress in 2001, but remained a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.