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Religious Obituaries
Sister Catherine Keogh RSM Died 5th January 2018
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Sister Mary Barry RSM Died 16th February 2018
Mary Barry was born 14 September 1938. She was the eldest of eleven children of John and Mary Barry. One child died aged seven and a brother, Martin, died at birth. Most recently her brother, John, died in Mullingar. Mary went to school to the Presentations Sisters in Mullingar and always held the Sisters in great esteem for the sound education she received. Mary entered the Sisters of Mercy in Tilbury, Essex in 1954. She was teaching in Tilbury from 1961 to 1964 before which she did her teaching training in Southampton College.
One of Mary’s Novitiate companions writes “We were companions along the way and shared the joys and sorrows of religious life. Mary was a lovely young attractive person with many talents and gifts.” She studied hard and went on to teach in Canvey Island at Saint Joseph’s Primary
School from 1971 to 1981. Mary then taught in Our Lady of Lourdes School in Wanstead where she also co-ordinated annual days of reflection for teachers.
From 1978 to 1979 she was granted secondment to Digby Stuart College, Roehampton for a diploma in education. From 1981 to 199 she was headteacher in the Holy Family School in Benfleet, Essex, where she also did parish visitation and co-ordinated the RCIA programme in the parish. From 1999 to 2001 Mary attended the Milltown Institute in Dublin where she studied Theology, Spirituality and Pastoral Studies.
She came back to Derby in 2001 where she responded to the call of the pastoral care of the sick and joined the Chaplaincy team at the Royal Derby Hospital. Mary made many friends on the way in her various ministries. Her companion writes, “She had a great interest in and love of people, she was very faithful to her commitment as a Sister of Mercy and this flowed through her ministry whether teaching, hospital chaplaincy or doing ordinary chores in the Convent. She was cheerful, hard-working, loyal and astute, generous and willing with a keen sense of humour.”
Her noviciate companion writes, “I recall a holiday shared with a kind senior sister. Our pocket money of half a crown was precious and had to be spent wisely. We walked everywhere. We loved to visit Woolworths where we got bargains and some choice.”
Sister Mary, thank you from all of us for your companionship and friendship over many years. As Mary died peacefully in the hospital where she herself had been at the bedside of so many, we pray that she now be received into the joy and peace of Heaven. “Go forth in peace Christian soul.”
Sister Maura Walker RSM Died 21st February 2018
Father Hilary Costello OCSO Died 4th May 2018
Sister Lucy Sheehan CSJP Born 1927 Died 16th November 2018
Sister Lucy died at her convent on Uppingham Road, Leicester surrounded by the community, conscious that her life in this world was ending and very clear that she was going to her loving Maker. She had spent nearly 40 years in charge of the kitchen at the Rearsby Convent – a convent that closed just two weeks after Lucy’s death. She was a wonderful cook but what marked her as special was the openness and delight with which she welcomed everyone. She really cared about each person she met, so all could feel the embrace of her interest and love.
Sister Lucy was born near Goleen, Skibbereen, Co. Cork and came to the convent when she was 24. In her early years as a Sister she was encouraged to consider nursing as her ministry
and she spent some time at St Hugh’s Nursing Home, Cleethorpes but Lucy knew that offering hospitality and providing meals for others was her calling and she followed this vocation faithfully.
From the beginning Sister Lucy found great peace in the opportunities for prayer and was throughout her life a devout and spiritual person. As death approached her welcoming spirit – welcoming of God and of all her visitors or helpers – remained to the fore. God called her home at noon on November 16th. Every Sister of St Joseph of Peace who could possibly do so attended her funeral, together with a large number of friends. “We are here in the presence of a saint”, the priest said – and who could disagree!
It was late summer 1947 that a young Maureen left her home in Carraganes, Ballydesmond, Co. Cork to travel to Buxton in the High Peak of Derbyshire in order to join the Presentation Sisters. She was accompanied by a family friend, Sister Monica Murphy. This was to be the beginning of a very long life of dedication and service in the Congregation founded by a kindred spirit and native Cork woman, Nano Nagle.
Maureen was received, given the religious name of Dolores and made Profession of Vows in 1950. During the following seven decades this valiant woman has graced with her marvellous love and service places like Buxton, Cressbrook, Market Harborough, Ashby, Elswick, Glossop, Shirebrook, Huddersfield and finally Matlock where she has been a loving presence for almost thirteen years.
One’s most abiding memory of Sister Dolores is of her ministry which took her out and about in all weathers, walking and often running, hurrying to fit in just another visit to some lonely and needy friend in the area, before getting home to make an evening meal for the community. The friendships formed were long-term and faithful; the phonecalls to Matlock, as news of her unexpected death began to spread, came from lifetime friends expressing total shock and love and respect for her memory. Among them were many friends from novitiate days, who, in the intervening years had moved on to other paths, but with whom she had maintained regular contact that was characteristic of Dolores, ever faithful and true.
Those of us who knew her well know how supremely important to her was family; only two days before she went into hospital and despite her obvious pain and discomfort, she was full of the story of her young grandniece from the U.S. attending a semester at Cork University.
The auntie had a firm grasp of the young woman’s schedule and expressed the hope that there could be a visit to Matlock sometime. Dolores was hugely proud of the American branch of her family, recalling the wonderful time previously when some members visited, and also remembering with great joy the celebration of her 90th birthday only this time last year.
Maybe her most defining characteristic was her fierce but quiet determination which was amazing
to observe but which, more than once, caused her downfall, such as her climbing habit to reach something she wanted and the worst happened !!
This dogged trait was most noticeable in the way she carried out ‘exercises’ and in her efforts at ‘working out’ with the carer, never giving up on her belief that she would walk again, chiefly with the view to being able to visit the family in Ireland once more. The ninety-year-old Dolores was driven in her determination to be mobile and independent.
The Care Centre staff have memories of her doing her “chair” trips around the home doing her social caring calls, an aspect of her life’s ministry faithful to the end. Her personality and nature could be summed up by remembering her unassuming attitude, friend to all, astute, could see through people and situations with discreet but needle-sharp observation. An altogether wonderful loving Presentation Sister who will be in our memories for ever. May Dolores, woman of humble service and true follower of ‘Nano’ enjoy the reward of Heaven.
Father Fabian Radcliffe OP Died 1st April 2019
Sister Christiane Champalbert, a Daughter of St Francis de Sales, came to England from France in 1978, charged with promoting the Society. This she did with some success.
When Bishop James McGuinness opened The McGuinness Centre in Bulwell, Sr Christiane and a Franciscan sister, Kathleen Harman, were asked to run it. There she and Sr. Kathleen worked with the Vietmanese Boat People, Afro-Caribbean community, Christian/Jewish community and others promoting peace and reconciliation. They also gave spiritual direction and retreats. It was here that Christiane with the encouragement of Bishop James, started to counsel clients. She was a trained psychotherapist and counselled all who wanted it no matter what background, race or religion they came from. She then went on to train Counsellors herself and trained many students.
In the 1990s, Sisters Christiane and Kathleen bought a house in Hyson Green and together started the Community of the Reconciliation of St Francis,(CRSF), naming their house ‘St. Francis House.’ Christiane continued training and counselling right up until three weeks before her death on April 18th 2019 aged 82. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
Sister Dolores Whyte PBVM Born 12th April 1927 Died 27th April 2019
Sister Dolores was born Bridget Teresa Whyte on 12th April 1927 in Kilfadda, Co. Tipperary. Of the five children born to Edward and Bridget, (nee Hough) their daughter, Pauline, became Sr. Berchmans, a Mercy sister, and two of their boys entered the Priesthood. Parents of this depth of Faith and generosity willingly gave their blessing to Bridget Teresa when she too decided to give her life to the work of the Gospel. She entered the Presentation Congregation in Autumn of 1946.
She was eighteen years old on entering the novitiate at Castleconnell. Her newly ordained brother, Eddie, happened to be sent as a curate to the parish, and as the Bishop who was visiting remarked on his youth, suggested that he go over to the novitiate ‘to play with the postulants’!! This was gleefully received by Bridget and her companions, Nora, Susie and Julia to the understandable chagrin of the young Fr. Eddie.
Bridget became Sister Dolores when she was received and made her vows in April 1949. Having completed Novitiate she was sent to London to train as a nurse at St. John’s and Elizabeth’s teaching hospital from which she graduated in 1952. Here she made many friends. One very devoted friend, Sister Margaret Mary, a Mercy Sister visited her daily in Beaumont Care Home – also Sisters Attracta, Pat and Ursula. They brought many hours of joy and laughter to Dolores. Later in Drogheda she qualified in midwifery and worked for a time as public health nurse. In August 1954 Dolores was assigned to what was then Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe) and for the next twenty-two years dedicated her life to the service of the poor of that country. Her work there is best understood in her own words.;
‘Most of my years were spent in Avila Mission, a very isolated area in Inyanga North towards the Mozambique border. It was hot and dry with low rainfall, almost desert conditions and more than a day’s journey from the nearest town I remember as I was first going there, after travelling for half a day in the back of a land rover, the driver stopped, looked around and said to me ‘Dolores, take a good look at this area,’ –about half way to the Mission- ‘ you won’t see this part again for the next twelve months’ ; then we continued deep into the jungle . I thought it was a joke but realised later it was true. We only left the Mission once a year around Christmas time or for an annual retreat.’
The stark simplicity and poverty of the “Convent” with its galvanised roof, dirt floor smeared with cow-dung and walls of burnt bricks plastered with mud, came as a shock to the Sisters but they gallantly set to begin the work they came to do. There was teaching, gardening, cooking , laundry, home nursing, sewing classes and delivering babies in the most primitive conditions …this was Presentation in poorest Africa and this was the mission of the Foundress who declared ‘If I could be of service in any part of the world I would gladly do all in my power’. Dolores and her companions followed with generosity and love and lived out what Nano in the mid-eighteenth century was geographically unable to do.
In 1976 Dolores returned to Castlecomer, before being transferred to the English Province in South Kirby where she continued nursing at the local hospital. Later, in keeping with the Nano charism of ‘whatever part of the world’ she was asked to move to, she went to Market Harborough, to be staff nurse at the local hospital in that Leicestershire town. 1987 saw her take up work in Lilybank before becoming Matron of the Nursing home here in MATLOCK. Her years of dedicated service here in this very place has been the seed which has grown into a loving and effective place for the care of the sick and elderly. In the 1990’s Dolores qualified in Reflexology. She provided many years of comfort to the Care Centre Residents’ tired feet. Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, was next port-of-call for the missionminded Dolores and here she turned to prayerministry, parish visiting and prison visiting as well as working on her gardening and tomato patch… ..’retirement ‘was not a word in her Presentation dictionary.
Back in Matlock after the closure of Ryde Convent, Sister Dolores lived here in community with many of her old mission colleagues and was a lovely prayerful presence among us. But her health was failing and it became apparent that special care and a safer environment was needed for her. The Beaumont care project in Derby, run by the Sisters of Mercy, became her home from home and to the vision and dedication of the Sisters of Mercy we owe a huge debt of gratitude. Their staff were able to do for Dolores what we here could not do and she felt very at home with ‘our cousins’. Evidence of the love in which she was held there was evident among the carers and Sisters who said an emotional farewell to her as she went on her way to the Lord.
It was a great joy to Dolores on her ninetysecond on April 12th to have her surviving brother Liam come to visit. She was radiant and very alert to the occasion. At first when she appeared not so keen someone reminded her of the big
birthday she responded ‘Sure I might as well enjoy it then’
To GOD who called her and sustained her in her life of Presentation Service we give thanks, and her example of life well-lived will stay with us for a long time to come. May hers be the reward promised to those faithful to the end. She was called to her eternal reward on the 70th anniversary of her Profession. God rest her.
Sister Raphael Lynch RSM Died 15th December 2019
Sister Mary Carroll LSA Died 4th January 2020
Sister Mary Peter Silke IC Died 8th January 2020
Sister Carmel Fitzpatrick RSM Died 23rd January 2020
Sister Eilen McGrath RSM Died 9th February 2020
Sister Rita Popple IC Died 22nd February 2020
Sister Evelyn Sheridan CSJP Born 1927 Died 22nd February 2020
Sister Evelyn was born in County Cavan, Ireland and entered the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace in 1948, taking the name Sister M. Benedict and later reverting to her baptismal name. Initially she served as a student teacher in the early days of Good Shepherd School, Arnold, Nottingham and then at St Francis Xavier School, Grimsby. Later she moved to Hanwell, London and spent many years as a school secretary there before returning to the diocese to the provincial house of the Sisters at Rearsby, Leicestershire where she acted as secretary for up to forty years and as convent sacristan for much of that time also. With Evelyn in charge, the thurible was lit in good time, the Lectionary open at the correct page, and nothing left to chance, not if she could help. In this she was greatly helped by Brother Nigel from the Rosminian community at Ratcliffe. Sadly, she became progressively more deaf, a great trial to her, and eventually had to withdraw from her secretarial duties.
Sister Evelyn made an excellent recovery from her first cancer surgery but in early 2020 the cancer was once more active. By this time Evelyn had returned to Hanwell where she received excellent care both in the convent and at Ealing Hospital. Evelyn knew her days were numbered and was very clear almost to the end - “I’m ready to go when God wants me”. She died on 22nd February, 2020. Her Funeral Mass was celebrated at the Rosmini Centre, Ratcliffe and burial was in the Sisters’ cemetery at Rearsby.
Dom Abbot John Moakler OCSO Died 8th April 2020
Sister Gonzalvo Sutcliffe OP Died 16th April 2020
Father Richard Adams OSCO Died 22nd May 2020
Sister Breege Leddy CSJP Born 1933 Died 1st June 2020
Sister Breege’s ministry as a Sister of St Joseph of Peace began and ended in the Nottingham Diocese. She was there at the beginning of
Good Shepherd School, Arnold before it was yet recognized by the Department of Education and, many years later, saw the amalgamation of the three parishes in North East Lincolnshire to become Parish of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity. From the early 1990s she’d been part of the parish team at St Pius, Grimsby and was involved with the RCIA, First Holy Communion and Confirmation programmes, visited the housebound and sick, comforted the bereaved, was active in ecumenical circles, helped develop the parish Justice and Peace group and greatly enjoyed her participation in that vibrant parish. All this work she did gently and quietly.
Sister Breege was born in Co Cavan and entered the convent when she was barely 16 years old, making final vows at the age of 22 years. She trained as a teacher at Digby Stuart College and was an outstanding teacher of very young children, delighting in teaching them to read and showing off their work in creative classroom displays. When she retired from teaching in 1990 she enjoyed a sabbatical year at Weston School of Theology, Boston, MA and then took up her ministry at St Pius which she continued until dementia began to manifest itself. Breege then moved to the Sisters’ house in Leicester and, later, to Mercy Care Centre at Highfields, Derby. She died on June 1, 2020 and was laid quietly to rest in the Sisters’ cemetery at Rearsby.
Sister Rita Wynn RSM Died 28th June 2020 Sister Philippa Kohlbecker RSM Died 5th July 2020
Sister Eileen Barry RSM Died 20th November 2020
Sister Ursula O’Keeffe IC Died 13th December 2020
Sister Bonaventure Fleming FSM Born 18th June 1937 Died 21st January 2021
Mary Bernadette was born in Co Meath, Ireland on 18th June 1937. Her parents spent their honeymoon in Lourdes and promised Our Lady that their first daughter would be called Mary Bernadette. And so it was - though she was actually called Marie by family and friends..All her life Marie had a great love for Lourdes and she went there on pilgrimage 5 times to help with the sick.
After Primary school in Kells, and Secondary School at the Loreto College, Co Cavan, Marie went to Patrick Duns Hospital in Dublin to train for General Nursing. This was followed by Midwifery Training in Glasgow – a choice that changed her life forever. There she came in contact with the Franciscan Minoress Sisters and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.
Marie joined the Sisters in September, 1961 and received the name Mary Bonaventure though she was affectionately known by many as Sister Bonnie. Sister nursed in Leicester, Glasgow, Mansfield and Clay Cross. Later she was put in charge of the Mother and Baby Home in Coleshill in Birmingham. In all these places she endeared herself to all and formed lasting friendships.
Arriving in the Noviciate community in Clay Cross in 1985, Sister Bonaventure continued her nursing. On retirement from nursing she became a Parish Sister in Alfreton and Clay Cross. With her ready smile, her kindly word and her generous self-giving, Sister Bonnie touched the lives of many people. Like our Foundress, Mother Francis Murphy, Sister Bonaventure loved home visiting and parish ministry. She started the RCIA programme which flourished under her loving care.
Within our Congregation, Sister Bonaventure held many positions of responsibility, all of which she generously embraced with wholehearted dedication. She is greatly missed. Sister died peacefully on 21st January 2021 in our Convent in Glasgow. May she rest in peace.
Brother Paul Greaves OSCO Born 26th October 1937 Died 24th January 2021
Paul Michael Gill Greaves was born on 26th October 1937 to John and Mary (nee Dunn) in Oldham, Lancashire. He was baptised on 28th November 1937, and confirmed on 30th January 1949. The tragic loss of his father in an aviation accident had a devastating effect on Paul during his boyhood. After leaving school he found employment in a Manchester hotel as trainee manager/chef. In the late fifties, Paul was called up for national service with the Army Catering Corps. He was posted to Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean at the time of the dropping of the H-bomb on the island. Luckily he escaped any radiation impact from the bomb.
One of his earliest feelings of a religious vocation came whilst reading a book on monastic life, where he saw photographs of Trappist monks at work in their monastic habits. Paul could see himself in that environment, working with the monks. He entered Mount Saint Bernard Abbey as a Lay Brother on 21st November 1959, receiving the novice’s habit on 26th May 1960. He made his Temporary Profession on 31st May 1962 and his Solemn Profession on the same date in 1965.
Brother Paul was a monk of many talents, faithfully serving the community in a variety of ways. Being a very strong man, he took on the building and maintenance work in the abbey and on the estate, and would call in on the tenants on the estate for a chat, or to see if they needed any jobs doing. He also did carpentry work and cooking, and was the community grave digger for many years. Once when asked how many graves he had dug, he replied, “Oh, at least forty”. Brother was also the community almoner, a job which he did with great devotion, organising donations to various charities and good causes. From 2006 he served as assistant novice master for six years, giving classes on the Rule of St. Benedict. He was then appointed Sub-Prior, until the first signs of dementia became apparent. Paul was known to many as a kind, gentle, caring and saintly monk, who would always say “Yes” without hesitation when asked for any kind of assistance. He would often go out of his way to offer his help, even when not asked. He had a great devotion to Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, writing a book about her, and also led the daily Rosary prayer group in the abbey guest house.
Brother Paul’s dementia deteriorated quite rapidly, then in January 2019 when we could no longer provide the special care he needed, he was admitted to a local care home. Even there, Brother Paul would often ask if there was anything he could help out with, such was his nature. He was very well cared for at the home and was popular with the staff. On the 21st of January 2021 we were informed that he had stopped taking food and drink. He received the sacraments for the dying the next day, and went to his eternal reward during the evening of the 24th of January, the eve of the Conversion of Saint Paul. Brother Paul was aged 83, and had been in monastic vows for 58 years when the Lord called him. May he rest in peace. Amen.
Sister Assumpta Mulroe PBVM Born 15th August 1936 Died 10th February 2021
Mary Ellen Mulroe was the second of nine sisters and brothers gifted to her parents, James and Rita. Born in 1936 on the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, it was fitting that she should receive ‘Assumpta‘ as the name by which to be known in her Religious Congregation.
Mary met a stalwart Presentation Sister in Shrule in the summer of 1951 and Rose’s smile, radiating happiness and fulfillment, was the only example she needed to make the momentous decision to ‘leave all and follow. ‘ Arriving in Buxton in September she spent three and half years as a novice in the most beautiful part of Derbyshire among the hills and valleys of Monsal Dale. For the rest of her life, memories of that time in Cresssbrook were often spoken about with love. Novitiate days way back then were a serious preparation for Presentation life and ministry, always with plenty of youthful fun and games and lasting companionship, a wholesome mix. The fine Presentation Sister Mary became had its roots in those early formative days.
Sister Assumpta has been described by one of her community as a ‘Star‘ and among other gifts, a ‘star baker.’ Her days as a Home Crafts teacher in St. Bede’s, Scunthorpe strongly support this claim. Her pupils there over many years practically worshipped ‘Sister A’ and speak about her to this day as the best teacher they ever knew .. not merely for the quality of her teaching but for her simple beautiful personality, as well as her family’s wholesome good looks! During her many years of dedicated ministry in places like Burton-on-Trent, Market Harborough, Buxton, Chaddesden and Matlock people were drawn to this person who was a Presentation Woman truly in the mould of her Foundress ‘Nano’.
Assumpta had a great love of music and one of her friends says she was known to steal the gramophone up to her bedroom at night where she would play ‘Barcarole’ over and over. Maybe her favourite of all songs was ‘The Rose’ which she sang for the Community on occasion; even as she was facing her last days on earth, with only a little encouragement, she joined in. To be able to be with her during those last days, with her sister Carmel and brother Tom present, was a privilege beyond words, such a peaceful unhurried and calm passing, true reflection of her lived years.
Despite her many natural gifts, Assumpta was never one for being at the front of the picture or the centre of attention, this partly accounts for her wish to have a quiet funeral ‘ without eulogy ‘ or too many words. Who could ever have guessed that this event should happen at a time when, even if we wanted to disobey her wish, we can’t really. Of the few expressed wishes she put in writing one stands out as being grounded in never-forgotten family love and devotion, that the rosary beads, given to her by her mother as she left home in 1951, should be placed on her coffin.
These words about Sister Assumpta Mulroe is her ‘eulogy’ and more could be written if we were to include everyone’s memories of her.
A grounded, wholesome and holy Presentation Sister indeed, of whom her family and her Congregation are rightly proud. May she enjoy the glory of God.
And may the angels now join with her in singing her favourite songs.
Sister Francesca Hohmann PCC Born 17th August 1935 Died 13th March 2021
The Angel Gabriel tells the Mary that nothing is impossible to God - or, in the Greek, that it is very easy. Mother Francesca of the Annunciation died at midday on March 13 as Mother Damian and the two sisters who were permitted to be with her were reciting the Angelus. Mother Francesca had been taken to hospital on February 23 with unconnected medical issues. Some days later, the doctor admitted that she had caught Covid on the ward.
Born near Limburg, western Germany, Mother began her life under a totalitarian regime governed by fear.
“Earlier, on the night of the 9 November 1938 the Jewish orphanage on the opposite side of our street was sacked and the boys dragged out and beaten. My father was outraged and wrote a formal letter of complaint to the (National Socialist) Party. The following day, while he was out of the house my mother received a visit from a friend. He said to her, “Your husband’s name is at the top of the ‘List’ the only thing that will save him from imprisonment will be to volunteer for the Forces”. My father immediately resigned his job - he was a court recorder - and joined the air force…He could not of course leave the party; one was thrown out and immediately imprisoned in a camp or executed.”
Her father came home a starving ex-prisoner of war, embittered by the tragedies of history, to discover his children had grown up. He was more than dismayed to find he had a daughter with religious susceptibilities. She went, ahead of her age, to the secular and reluctantly co-educational Grimmelshausen Gymnasium, in Gelnhausen, where she was deputy-head pupil (the head had to be a boy!) Joining the post-war Catholic Youth, she loved the singing - she was a very able musician - and the experience of Church.
“The next four years were the most constructive of my life - a new world was unfolding itself before my eyes and with hindsight I realise now that this was my novitiate. One of the highlights of Catholic Youth gatherings were the camping holidays around Pentecost. The day began with holy Mass, celebrated around the breakfast table, then we were divided up to do the needful chores. After dinner we gathered for singing and playing and after supper we met around the bonfire all manner of problems were discussed at this meeting, Then we sang Compline and those who wanted to go to confession did so. It was an all-in introduction to community life; an unforgettable lesson in the dynamics of human relationships.”
Since her parents refused permission for her to enter the Palottine Sisters, she spent her time till her 21st birthday doing German literature at Frankfurt University and working in a Jewish rehabilitation centre. The Palottines sent her to Britain to take a degree in Latin and Greek - while struggling to perfect her English.
“In college I had met a young girl, Margaret Scott, a recent convert to Catholicism, who to my surprise was trying to discern a vocation. She confided to me that she wondered should she join the Carmelites or a teaching order. She had the making of an excellent teacher. I tried to explain to her the difference between a contemplative vocation and an active one - and strange to say, by explaining it to her I explained it to myself.”
Margaret became a Handmaid of the Sacred Heart. Sister Hildegard joined the Poor Clares. Long afterwards, Mother Francesca admitted that if she had known how hard it would be for a young German to enter a very British community who were still telling stories about the blitz a quarter of a century later, she might not have done it. Nevertheless, the Community received her gladly, advanced her Solemn profession and she left the Novitiate, only to return Immediately as Novice Mistress.
I had become a Poor Clare in Britain, because I desired to meet God. I was a bit at a loss to know what meeting God was all about, but it seemed to me that it was the only way of living worth having - for me… I did believe that we must build bridges to come to a better understanding. When, in 1968 we received Sr Ruth as a postulant I was anxious when I heard that she was half-Jewish. I thought it was better to introduce myself to her and to leave it to her to make friends with me. I stretched out my hand and said to her, “Our forebears have been enemies; we can continue this or we can build bridges as meeting points.” She took my hand and said, “We will build bridges!”
Sr Anthony was another Jewish Convert who had long preceded Mother Francesca in religious life.
“At a time when nobody had a biro, Sister Anthony had several, if you asked her for one, she gave willingly and lovingly. She always had things, but she never refused anything that could be helpful to another… Poverty is trusting; it is all too easy for me to say ‘I trust’ if everything is provided for me. There is to poverty a very practical side which teaches you not to take things for granted; it is not that you should not have them but that you should not take them for granted. That in turn means that we are dependent on others.”
The sisters vividly remember Mother Francesca reading the passion of St John at the foot of Sister Anthony’s bed as she was dying on March 13 1973. On March 13 2021, it was not difficult to believe that Sister Anthony was amongst those who came to greet her in heaven.
In 1982 Mother Francesca was invited to refound the Poor Clare Colettines in Hawarden, North Wales. A community abounding in artists, musician and dancers set out to reclaim a five acre wilderness of brambles and decaying infrastructure. Creating one of the most mediafriendly monasteries in Britain, she was induced to make twenty-two televised appearances, innumerable radio broadcasts, print articles and ten CDs. Like the music she and her sisters produced, this was an intrinsic part of a life lived to the full.
“ Everything we do can become an expression of giving life. There is no need to limit creativity to outstanding works of art and literature; the ordinary daily life provides us with plenty of opportunities of being creative. Irrational outbursts are the best proof that man will create - even if it is only havoc!”
For over thirty years Mother gave days of recollection to the thousands of retreatants who came to Hawarden. Though she had a brilliant intellect, Mother Francesca was able to communicate with perfect simplicity. Ordinary people quote back to the sisters decades later, things she said to Liverpool parishes, Franciscan tertiaries, women’s groups and ecumenical gatherings.
One of the language translators of her order’s international communications journal she also worked amongst others for the German scholar, Hermann Schneider OFM,
Mother Francesca was Abbess for nineteen years in total, and a formator from 1962 onward. In 2018, frailer in health and now retired from office, she welcomed each new opportunity as God offered it and accepted the proposition to tear down what had taken thirty-six year to build in order to move to an inner-city monastery in Nottingham situated in a parish community as international as her own.
“The leprosy of our time is the non-ability to be loved and to love. Leprosy is not incurable, but one has to accept the fact that those who suffer from it take much, give little and mostly do not say thank you. This fact affects all relationships in community. The ‘Life’ - our life - is the Gospel. Love is the heart of the Gospel. Therefore we can say we are made because God’s love is overflowing and so we respond to that love for which we are made by loving God in turn - but that is our response. The indwelling of the blessed Trinity begins with baptism, but that presence has to be developed and welcomed, our soul is like a house in which we live. If the milkman or the postman comes - business is settled in the doorway, if it is a neighbour; you will probably invite her into the kitchen for a cup of tea, if it is a good friend or a relative you might even allow her the freedom of the house - it is up to us how far we allow people in. Our God is a courteous God, he knocks - but we must say come in.”
On March 12, the Hospital rang for Mother Damian to come. We had not been allowed to see Mother Francesca since she had been admitted. We knew it was the end. Mother Damian, with Sr Seraphina, Mother Francesca’s personal Infirmarian and Sr Anezka were praying and singing by her bed, holding her hands - she was no longer able to speak. Her condition remained unchanged until about 11.30. The sisters began the Angelus at midday, renewing their vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and enclosure. Beloved stopped breathing during the prayer.
The italicised quotations are from a partial autobiography Mother Francesca was persuaded to dictate in 2015. Available on the community website: www.marianhouseoftheholyspiritpcc. org/mother-francesca
Sister Mary O’Riordan PBVM Died 30th May 2021
“It has been a long, long journey through hail, rain, sunshine, snow and ice and I’m still here to tell the tale.” Mary’s own poetic words written a few years back when she had come to a moment
in her long life to stop and reflect. This short account of that life can hardly touch the quality and depth of ninety-six years of living of a faithful and unique Presentation Sister.
Born in Islandbrack, North Cork, on June 5th 1925, Mary was the youngest of William and Margaret’s four children; her siblings were Kitty, Joan and Patrick. Tragedy struck this young family when father died suddenly leaving his young wife to run a farm and rear the family; a task, according to Mary, carried out with courage, faith and devotion. Mary’s own words say it all ..
Each night before our bedtime, homework we had to do, Helped by our expert mother who taught us all we knew. She was a source of knowledge, and proudly I can recall the many ways she used her gifts to help us each and all.
The poem continues to speak of mother’s love and kindness, faith and endurance, ‘empowering us to face life’s twists and turns and to heed God’s call.’
Spring 1942 saw Mary leaving home to start out on Religious Life in Presentation Convent, Buxton where she spent her Novitiate, making final profession there in September 1947. From the following year until 1985 she worked in education with enthusiasm, dedication and not a little expertise, in places like Scunthorpe, Shirebrook and Cranleigh. Colleagues would testify that not a single child left Mary’s care without being fully up to standard and ready for the next step; strict but supportive of the less able pupil she worked ‘learning’ miracles and, rightly, gloried in success.
Life after teaching was not the end of her ministry; still blessed with good health and energy the next eighteen years after ‘retirement’ was spent in pastoral work in Market Harborough where she visited the housebound, sick and elderly and brought them the Sacraments. In 1986/87 Sister Mary enjoyed a well-deserved sabbatical in Rome’s Regina Mundi theological Centre and, whilst there had the privilege of an audience with St. Pope John Paul ll, the highlight of her stay. The photo of that event speaks of joy and pride. Much light is thrown on Mary’s spirituality and devotion through her written reflections. One such is worth recording here. During a guided retreat in 2004 she was encouraged to write her own ‘Magnificat’ ….
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. He is my Shepherd. He is my constant companion, is with me even when I’m not aware of His PRESENCE. He comes to me through other people ie by what they do or say, by their good example, by their patience in suffering. I can come to Him in confidence and He forgives me, understands everything and gives me Peace. When others are demanding and misunderstanding I know He cares and understands He loves me but I feel mean not to love Him more; I want to, but allow other happenings to interfere… I shorten my time in prayer with Him. Dear Lord, I will try to be more faithful to you and to give you your rightful place in my life.
It was your inspiration that prompted me to follow as I entered Religious life. At the early age of sixteen you travelled with me all the way – during the war which made life more dangerous and difficult; your guidance and support when at that early age I was often lonely and sad. You inspired me to keep going through thick and thin and I cannot thank you enough for all you have done and are still doing for me. You are my Best Friend. From now on I will endeavour to be more faithful to you no matter what happens. With all my love, from Mary.
When it became apparent that the time for “real retirement” had come, Sister Mary came to live in Matlock but during her final years was looked after with love and great care in the Mercy Care Centre, Beaumont, Derby. Staff there speak of her with sincere love and miss her gentle kindness, her gratitude for everything done for her and her trademark cheerful smile. She was accompanied during the last days of her earthly journey by her Sisters from Matlock and the ever-attentive care of the staff of Beaumont House. Smiling, and to
a large extent alert to the very last, she slipped peacefully away on that final leg of the journey to meet her Best Friend waiting to greet her in that Place where real life begins.
May she enjoy a wonderful Hea
Sister Mary Herlihy PBVM Died 3rd July 2021
Margaret Mary was born to Denis and Joanna Herlihy in Clogher, Bruree, Co. Limerick. Her good parents were blessed with a large gifted family of whom Margaret Mary came somewhere in the middle of the siblings. The Ireland of her childhood was at the centre of a strong Christian culture of missionary activity, sending people to take the Gospel message to all corners of the globe. In September 1949 this young sixteenyear-old girl felt that call and decided to follow her vocation as a Presentation Sister in Buxton where she made First Profession of Vows in April 1952 and Final Commitment three years later in 1956.
Life as a qualified teacher saw Margaret Mary working in Buxton, Glossop, Ashby Scunthorpe, and Shirebrook until 1996 when she continued in retirement helping out with needy pupils in St. Anne’s School near Audenshaw. There she lived actively and happily for twenty-three years where she endeared herself to pupils and teachers and was well-known by Education people as well as the local community. Always cheerful and willing to engage with others, she was the subject of an article in the local paper which described her as the ‘cheeriest person on the bus!’ Her daily trek on the 219 was part of her vocation to spread the good news and it came naturally to her open unself-conscious personality.
As time for a break happened Margaret Mary spent some ‘sabbatical’ time in the Presentation mission in Zambia and was also lucky enough to spend a year at ‘Regina Mundi’ ( Rome ) on a Scripture Course. Such lovely privileges come to a Sister who has given her best, long, tireless years to mission and we thank God for the gift of Sabbatical.
By 2017, her health was beginning to deteriorate and it seemed a good time for a transfer to Matlock where she would get the care she needed; and, true to form, Margaret Mary settled in well, happily regaining some of her old energy. Her short years here were happy; she continued to sing her favourite songs and ditties, often without invitation and certainly always with only a little encouragement. Blessed with a good voice which we hear was inherited from a musically gifted family, she would playfully boast that ‘Limerick’ people were good-looking and able to sing’. She was a Limerick woman right to the end!
It must be said that her last week on earth was cheerful, relaxed, easy and prayerful, the Sisters taking it in turns to be with her as she prepared for the last part of that Journey which had begun on October 4th 1933. One of the things she spoke at some quiet moment was, ‘They’ll be waiting for me.’ When it was suggested she meant Jesus, Our Lady, her family etc. she nodded.
M’n’M, as she often referred to herself, will be missed by the staff of the Care Centre who loved the ‘character’ she was. So too, by her Presentation Sisters who have walked the walk with her in the English Province. But most especially, she will be mourned by her family in Ireland, Betty, Ellen, Denis and David who now have one more family member awaiting them in Glory. There will be her parents Joanna and Denis and the siblings gone before her … Nora, Kitty, Mary, Joan, Paddy, Johnny, Mickie, Tom, and Jim. A big glorious reunion indeed! May they all enjoy the wonder and amazement of Eternal Life.
Sister Francis Martin FSM Born 7th June 1932 Died 18th July 2021
Teresa Martin (Sister Francis) was born in Belgium to a Flemish mother and an English father on 7th June, 1932. When Teresa was
three years old the family moved to London to a Franciscan parish in Forest Gate. Sister Francis always considered herself a Londoner and her roots were Franciscan. After teacher training Teresa joined the Franciscan Sisters Minoress in 1955 and was given the name Sister Mary Francis. She had a great love of Saint Francis and enjoyed sharing this love with others including the Secular Franciscans, the Minores Groups in schools and our young Sisters in South Africa. Sister taught in schools in Melton, Maldon, Belper and Alfreton. When she retired from teaching Sister did secretarial work in the Nottingham Diocesan Centre (Highfields) 1987-91.
Sister Francis spent several years between 1994-2008 in South Africa where she taught our African Sisters in Ladysmith.and Blaauwbosch. After three years in Alfreton, Sister Francis joined the Community in Melton Mowbray in 2011. Sister did extensive work researching the early history of our Foundress Mother Francis and our Congregation. We owe her a huge debt.
It was fitting that Sister Francis’ body was brought into our Convent Motherhouse chapel on the 2nd August 2021 the Feast of the Portiuncula - a very special day for all Franciscans. Her Requiem Mass was concelebrated by Rev. Mgr. Canon Tom McGovern and Father Kevin Clark on 3rd August Family and FSM Companions joined the Sisters to celebrate the life of Sister Francis. In his homily Rev. Mgr. Canon Tom McGovern spoke beautifully and movingly about Sister Francis’ faithfulness as a Franciscan Sister Minoress. He said that he was struck by her smile, gratitude, friendliness and warm welcome. May she rest in peace.
Sister Breda Noonan PBVM Born 19th December 1942 Died 21st September 2021
Bridget Nuala Noonan was the third child born to her proud parents Thomas and Catherine on December 19th 1942, an early Christmas Gift to the young family and no doubt bringing some excitement for her two elder siblings Michael and Anne. Little Breda, as she became known, might make a lovely Baby Jesus for the Crib!! The family was completed, in due course, by the birth of her two younger sisters Kathleen and Margaret.
The family home was in Ballyelan East, Ballingarry, Co. Limerick, at the foot of Knockfierna Hill. Breda attended the Mercy Convent School and later at secondary level the Presentation Convent, Thurles, from which she graduated with Honours in 1961. One can only assume that her experience of Presentation Life whilst in school was a positive one because the young nineteenyear-old took the decisive step that year to enter the Congregation in Thurles, the beginning of a sixty-year journey as a Presentation Sister. At this time she was known as Sister de Porres, those being pre-Vatican days when a professed Sister was given a new name, indicating the new person she was to become; thankfully for Breda this one was soon replaced by her beautiful Baptismal name which she had first received when only two days old in St. Michael’s Church, Limerick.
By 1967, after joining the English Province, and having received her Teacher’s Certificate at ‘La Sainte Union College’, Southampton, Sister Breda began work in St. Patrick’s Primary School in Corsham, Wiltshire where she also served for a time as Assistant Headteacher. There she was recognised and appreciated both for her pastoral care of the children and her successful teaching methods. Having always had a special interest in psychology, she undertook a course in Human Relations at the Richmond Fellowship in London and this in turn led to more qualifications which ended with full-time work as a Psychotherapist. Her work saw her serving in places like Glasgow, Belfast, Knowle, Cheshire Home Mongu, Zambia, and she was lucky to run her own private Practice for some years in Livesey Street, Manchester. These years of Presentation ministry she often spoke about with satisfaction and no small amount of well-deserved pride. Here was a personality who knew what she wanted and allowed nothing to phase her.
Sadly ill-health struck when Breda was still a young active woman and a move to the Care Centre in Matlock was unavoidable. Despite the excellent care for which our Home is noted, her condition necessitated more specialist treatment and she spent the last years of her life with the Sisters in Ince Blundell, near Liverpool where she was loved and cared for like no other, making her personality felt in true Breda-style. Carmel, a member of staff, wrote “Breda was a great character, and we will miss her.” There, her every need, spiritual and physical was catered for; our gratitude for and our recognition of that wonderful place as being a unique, professional, holy, establishment deserves mention here. May it go from strength to strength!
Travel from Matlock wasn’t easy but Sister Breda loved visits when they did happen. Among others, her cousin Sister Margaret and Sister Mary were faithful visitors and were able to be with her just a few days before she was called Home to her eternal reward; her years of youthful activity in the work of the Gospel where her Foundress Nano had led, ended peacefully on 21st September.
As a last favour to her family she decided to answer THE FINAL CALL just in time before Anne her sister and Ann Marie, her niece, had to leave for the airport. God rest you Breda, and may you remain forever in the loving embrace of God.
Father Isidore Clarke OP Died 20th November 2021
