ReligiousMilestones

Igreet you affectionately on the occasion of World Day for Consecrated Life, as you are gathered for the Eucharistic celebration in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. And at this moment I would like to embrace all consecrated brothers and sisters in every part of the world.

The theme of this year’s Day is “Brothers and sisters for the mission.” When you listen to this message of mine, I will be on a mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and I know that I will be accompanied by your prayer. In turn, I assure you of mine for the mission of each one of you and your communities. Together we are all members of the Church, and the Church has been on a mission since the first day, sent by the Risen Lord, and will be until the last, with the strength of His Spirit. And in the People of God, sent to bring the Gospel to all humanity, you consecrated persons have a specific role, that derives from the particular gift you have received: a gift that gives your witness a special character and value, for the very fact that you are fully dedicated to God and to His Kingdom, in poverty, virginity and obedience. If in the Church each person is a mission, each and every one of you is one with a grace of your own as a consecrated person.

Beyond this fundamental gift, your mission is enriched by the charisms of your institutes and societies, the charisms of your founders. In their remarkable variety, they all gave themselves for the edification of the Church and for her mission. All charisms are for the mission, and they are precisely so with the incalculable richness of their variety; so that the Church may bear witness to and proclaim the Gospel to everyone and in every situation.

Today we celebrate the feast of the encounter: may the Virgin Mary obtain for us the grace that our life as consecrated persons always be a feast of the encounter with Christ; and in this way, like her, we may bring the light of his love to everyone: his light, not ours! Bring him, not ourselves!

Dear friends, I am close to you and I thank you for what you are and for what you do. I pray for you, and I encourage you to continue in your prophetic mission. I bless you from my heart, and I entrust you to Mary Salus Populi Romani. Please, do not forget to pray for me.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 2 February 2023, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

The reputation of Camden Catholic grew during her tenure in large part because of the music curriculum and performance excellence. In 2009, she was inducted into Camden Catholic High School’s Hall of Fame.

Mercy Sister Mary Pauline Kuntne 75 YEARS

Avocation that began for Mercy Sister Mary Pauline Kuntne with humble service to the Church would eventually include having a major impact on students in Catholic education and people seeking treatment for substance abuse.

Sister Pauline born in South Amboy, and raised in Parlin. After attending schools staffed by the Sisters of Mercy, she entered the community following graduation from high school.

Gifted with musical ability, she pursed degrees from Georgian Court College, now University, Lakewood; and Catholic University, Washington, D.C. in music, instrumental music, music education and philosophy. She began teaching at St. Paul School, Princeton and moved to Camden Catholic High School two years later to further develop its music department. Under her guidance, the music department grew steadily in instrumental, vocal and theatrical excellence over a period of 20 years. Concerts and the annual school musical were events not to be missed, each one surpassing the other. The spirited Irish marching band performed at most sports events and competed many times with other bands for a trophy. The reputation of Camden Catholic grew during her tenure in large part because of the music curriculum and performance excellence. In 2009, she was inducted into Camden Catholic High School’s Hall of Fame.

Sister Pauline’s talents were not limited to music, however. In 1972, she embarked on a career in nursing. With the completion of the requirements of the Nursing Practice Act, she qualified as a registered nurse with the degree of Associate in Science. She served in Atlantic City Medical center; AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Pomona; Westfield Convalescent Center; and Straight and Narrow, Paterson.

Sister Pauline experienced a great need to serve individuals, especially the youth and families who were suffering from alcohol and other drug addictions. In 1985, she was named Director of Prevention Services with the Passaic County Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Prevention, Inc. In that role, she directed multiple programs dedicated to education, accessed many persons to treatment and developed a curriculum for training counselors in prevention and treatment work.

Sister Pauline continued her education and completed requirements over time and was certified as a National Addiction Counselor II, and certified as a Prevention Specialist. She is also a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor.

In her very gradual retirement, she helped another professional to develop Creative Solutions: Strategies for Change, where she served on a volunteer basis.

Sister Pauline lives in McAuley Hall Health Care Center, still giving of her talent, expertise and good counsel when needed

Sisters of Mercy

“I was always very serious about living out my religious vocation, and that has kept me focused on following Jesus as a Sister of Mercy for 75 years.”

Mercy Sister Rose Mary Malague 75 YEARS

Mercy Sister Rose Mary Malague said she encountered no challenges in becoming a religious. More than 30 years after entering the Sisters of Mercy religious order, however, she faced a health trial. “In 1981, I had a ruptured brain aneurysm while I was in the midst of my teaching career,” recalled Sister Rose, who became a Mercy Sister in 1948.

She said she “miraculously recovered” from the ruptured aneurysm, which the Mayo Clinic website describes as a bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel in the brain that can become life-threatening. But Sister Rose also said the health scare affected her memory. She said she had difficulty remembering names and being an educator unable to recite her students’ names, she said it made her feel insecure. “I made the decision to give up teaching,” she said.

Sister Rose took a year sabbatical to be trained in a different religious ministry, and that led to her becoming spiritual director at a diocesan prayer house in Mount Holly. She later entered parish ministry.

Now, as she marks her 75th anniversary of serving with the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Rose is retired and lives with other religious at Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung.

Sister Rose, who grew up in Belleville, attended Catholic schools from -- St. Peter’s, Belleville) through Villanova University (Pa.), where she earned a master’s degree in mathematics.

She credits her family for inspiring her to enter the religious life. “I come from a very faith-filled family,” she stated.

She was surrounded by Sisters of Mercy, including her aunt, Sister Mary Victorine, another of her mother’s siblings and a cousin. Sister Rose said the religious who were also her relatives used to come to vacation at their home in Belleville, exposing her from a young age to the calling to serve.

They introduced her specifically to the Sisters of Mercy, a worldwide order associated with education, founded in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831 by Venerable Catherine McAuley.

“I was always very serious about living out my religious vocation,” Sister Rose said, “and that has kept me focused on following Jesus as a Sister of Mercy for 75 years.”

Sister Rose taught primary grades in St. James School, Woodbridge. She also spent many years teaching mathematics in various high schools in the dioceses of Camden, Trenton and Metuchen, and was vice principal at the now-closed St. Mary’s High School, South Amboy.

After her school ministry, Sister Rose ministered in several places throughout New Jersey. She was spiritual director of St. Francis House of Prayer, Mount Holly; pastoral associate at St. Bartholomew Parish, Scotch Plains; and served in ministry at Holy Family Parish, Union Beach.

She earned a bachelor’s degree at Georgian Court College, now University, Lakewood.

While only saying for this story that she encourages any young woman considering a vocation to join the Sisters of Mercy “because I know the Mercy community best of all,” Sister Rose, in a 2018 interview, also recommended talking it out with a spiritual adviser, and consider taking a weekend retreat to pray and learn more about religious life.

Sister Rose’s life is proof that anyone’s vocational role can positively evolve when a medical issue forces change.

Anthony Salamone

In addition to her role as an educator, Sister Petrina has been an advocate for needy families in the local and international communities organizing food drives as well as getting donations of school supplies for students. “We do everything we can to help. We are so grateful for all the blessings we have.” she said.

Mercy Sister Mary Petrina Peters 75 YEARS

Blessed and grateful is the story of my life,” Mercy Sister Mary Petrina

Peters said when reflecting upon her 75 years as a Sister of Mercy.

Sister Petrina has lived out her life in dedication to her vocation by educating youth, helping the poor, and trying to see Christ in others.

She was born and raised in Atlantic City, where she lived half a block from St. Nicholas Church, School, and Convent, which was staffed by the Sisters of Mercy.

The fifth child of her loving mother, Lillian, and father, E. James, she was baptized Sarah, but called Sally. Her family, including seven brothers and sisters, encouraged Sister Petrina’s growth in her spiritual life. She has three generations of nieces and nephews.

Sister Petrina said she had the privilege of being taught by the Sisters of Mercy all of her life: eight year at St. Nicholas Grammar School, four years of Holy Spirit High School, Absecon, and later, Georgian Court College, now University. She completed her formal education at Seton Hall University, South Orange.

Sister Petrina was greatly influenced by the Mercy Sisters’ joy, dedication and love of the Lord. So, in 1948, she decided to enter their community after graduating high school. She chose the name Petrina, which she has kept to this day.

Sister Petrina entered with a “band of seven” women who became Sisters of Mercy upon graduating from high school. After her novitiate at Mount Saint Mary, Watchung, she spent 10 years teaching grades two, three, five and seven in the dioceses of Camden and Trenton. The schools at which Sister Petrina served included St. John’s School, Collingswood, St. Joseph School, East Trenton, St. Matthew the Apostle School, Edison, and Our Lady of Victories School, Sayreville.

She also taught at Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, then returned to Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung where she taught the tenth grade followed by several years spent in various occupations at the school. At some schools she taught English.

Sister Patrina truly enjoyed working with teenagers by supporting and encouraging them. They consulted her about concerns and questions, and she was glad to help them make decisions and form opinions.

In addition to her role as an educator, Sister Petrina has been an advocate for needy families in the local and international communities organizing food drives as well as getting donations of school supplies for students. “We do everything we can to help. We are so grateful for all the blessings we have,” she said.

With other religious, Sister Petrina has also participated in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. It is another way that shows how she cares about the defenseless and marginalized: the babies in the womb. Quiet as she was, she was never at a loss for words when an issue on which she had a strong opinion was raised.

Over the years, she has met the children of her former students. “I’ve had the joy of meeting students whose mothers I taught. Teaching has been such a wonderful experience.”

She draws strength and inspiration for her vocation from “the Blessed Mother, St. Theresa the Little Flower, who shows us the way, and patron, St. Peter, who helps with mishaps!” His words became her spiritual motto upon taking her vows 75 years ago, “Lord, thou knows that I love thee!”

“Now I reside at McAuley Health Care Center where my ministry includes being a prayerful and supportive presence, along with loving and caring residents and staff,” she said. There, she added, everyone enjoys her playfulness, humor and gift of friendship.

For those considering a vocation to religious life, she advises, “Pray, spend time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and speak to a religious with your concerns and questions.”

Marianne Zamko Komek

One day, a priest visited her class and invited anyone thinking about a vocation in consecrated life to stay and talk with him. Sister McAuley was one of the students who stayed. Afterwards, she began to think about becoming a religious, but it wasn’t until high school that she seriously discerned her vocation.

75 Years

In reflecting on her decades as a religious, Mercy Sister Mary McAuley

Ronan said, “God’s blessings, kindness and goodness over the years comes to mind.” She added that when she looks back, she “can’t believe where the years have gone.”

Born and raised in Trenton, Sister McAuley was the middle child of James and Katherine Ronan. She had two older brothers, John and James, and younger twins, Katherine and Hugh. She said she began thinking about a vocation to the religious life when she was in the fifth grade at St. Anthony Elementary School, where she was taught by the Franciscan Sisters. One day, a priest visited her class and invited anyone thinking about a vocation in consecrated life to stay and talk with him. Sister McAuley was one of the students who stayed. Afterwards, she began to think about becoming a religious, but it wasn’t until high school that she seriously discerned her vocation.

In high school, Sister McAuley was taught by the Mercy Sisters. Wanting to be a teacher, she said she kept fighting the call to become a religious and even applied to Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey, Ewing) and was accepted. Through all of her interactions with the Sisters of Mercy, however, her call became strong.

“I just knew the call was there for me to enter the Sisters of Mercy,” she said. So, after high school, Sister McAuley entered the community and professed her final vows in 1954. She chose to take the name of Venerable Catherine McAuley, who founded the Mercy Sisters in the 19th century.

Once professed, Sister McAuley studied at Georgian Court College (now University), Lakewood, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and minored in philosophy.

She continued her education at Villanova University, Pa., where she earned a master’s degree in mathematics, the subject she noted that was always her favorite.

`Her teaching assignments began in the Diocese of Trenton with first-graders at Our Lady of Victories School, Sayreville, then first- and fifth-graders at St.

Paul School, Princeton.

Beginning in 1958, Sister McAuley began her ministry as a math teacher, which continued for almost four decades. For 11 years, she served as a math teacher at Camden Catholic High School, then she taught math for two years at the now-closed St. Pius X High School, Piscataway.

She was assigned next as math teacher and faculty chairperson at now-closed St. Mary’s High School, Perth Amboy.

In 1975, Sister McAuley became the math teacher and math department chairperson at Red Bank Catholic. Five years later, she was named the school’s principal and served there until 1995.

When asked to reflect on a highlight of her teaching career, Sister McAuley said there was a student who challenged her marking a math problem he had solved as incorrect. When he explained to her the next day how he arrived at the answer, she told him his answer was correct. “I never looked at the problem from your perspective,” she told him. Afterwards Sister McAuley said she always told her students if they thought their answer to a math problem was correct, but marked wrong to check it out.

After leaving Red Bank Catholic, Sister McAuley returned to the Mercy Sisters Motherhouse, where she served as assistant directress in charge of special projects.

She noted that she helped oversee construction and renovation projects, including the rebuilding of a 90-year-old foundation to support the technology and equipment of a new science center.

“In almost every place I was sent to there was construction going on,” she added.

Today, Sister McAuley lives in Gabriel Hall for the retired Mercy Sisters, on the campus of Mount St. Mary Academy, Watchung.

She spends her time praying for everyone.

Joanne Ward

Sister Philomena thinks that working as an office manager for her uncle helped her as a guidance counselor. “I had to work with all different types of people just as I did at Camden High.”

70 Years

From being a career woman to teaching and serving as a guidance counselor, Sister Mary Philomena Gini has been happy in her vocation as a member of the Sisters of Mercy.

She first felt the stirrings of such a vocation in her when she was an eighth-grader at St. Mary’s School, Camden, which was run by the Sisters of Mercy. She was drawn to their joyful way of life, so she asked her teacher, Sister Isabel, for advice about entering. She told the young girl to “keep it in the back of your mind and we’ll talk about it when you’re older.”

Sister Isabel encouraged her to attend Camden Catholic High, also staffed by Mercy Sisters, and to enjoy her formative adolescent years. That is what she did, and she enjoyed a rich social life, as well, by attending the proms and dances.

After high school, Sister Philomena worked for her uncle’s business for five years by managing the office and practicing her secretarial skills. However, Jesus beckoned her to leave secular life and devote herself totally to him for the work of his kingdom. That is when she became a Sister of Mercy, with Sister Wilfred as her sponsor. Her immediate family was very supportive of her vocation; however, one aunt was unhappy about it. She loved Sister Philomena and was afraid that she would not see her anymore. This relative later changed her mind and the two of them were close while Sister Mary Philomena was in the convent.

Born at home to Anthony and Philomena Gini in East Camden, Sister Philomena is the oldest child in her family. Her younger siblings, Robert Gini and Joyce Rosaire Monsees, are still living. Joyce, the baby of the family, calls her every day. Her parents were Italian immigrants who spoke English at home, so Sister Philomena never learned Italian. They lived in Pennsauken, where the family worshiped at Mass at St. Stephen’s Church.

At Georgian Court College, now University, Sister Philomena earned a bachelor’s degree, then a master’s degree in counseling at Rider College, Lawrenceville.

She served as a teacher of the first, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades at several Catholic grade schools in New Jersey before becoming a guidance counselor at Camden Catholic, where she spent most of her ministry.

Her most challenging experience was teaching 60 first-graders. She was thrust into this role unexpectedly because their teacher was in a car accident. It was a difficult year, but one of her fellow sisters advised her what to do. She felt much more in her element with the teenagers at Camden Catholic. She said that the experience “was very dear to her heart.”

As well as helping her students with choosing their curriculum and applying to colleges, Sister Philomena would talk to them when they had personal problems. Some of her students are still in contact with her.

She also met with their parents at Parent Teacher Association meetings.

Camden Catholic’s love and admiration for her were on full display when they inducted Sister Philomena into their Hall of Fame in 2012 for her many years of service at her alma mater. She said that it made her “very happy” to be chosen for this honor.

Sister Philomena thinks that working as an office manager for her uncle helped her as a guidance counselor. “I had to work with all different types of people just as I did at Camden High,” she said.

As for what advice she would give to someone discerning a vocation to religious life, she said, “Pray and stay close to God while attending Mass. If they are young, enjoy high school first.”

During her retirement, she keeps active by crocheting, doing puzzles, reading, and playing Sudoku.

“I am most content here and thank God every day for the sisters that I live with because they are wonderful people,” she said.

Marianne Zamko Komek

“I am very happy [as a religious]. It’s a beautiful life. You live with wonderful people…They [sisters] are all committed. Their life is committed to God. They treat each other the way Christians should treat each other, seeing God in each person.”

Mercy Sister Mary Amadeo Morganti 70 YEARS

The original plan for Sister Mary Amadeo Morganti was to attend Temple University, Philadelphia, with the goal of becoming a pharmacist. That all changed, however, as a student at Cathedral High School, Trenton, where she was inspired by the Sisters of Mercy. She joined the order Sept. 24, 1953, one year after graduating from high school.

While Sister Amadeo thought about religious life from the time she was in elementary school, she said it became “more real” for her as a student at Cathedral High School.

“The Sisters that taught us at Cathedral were wonderful,” she said. “They were marvelous. They were such good teachers and so friendly… The Sisters were very inspirational.”

“It [becoming a sister] was really a shock to my family because I was planning on going to college,” added Sister Amadeo, who is now retired and lives with 35 other sisters, most of whom are also retired, on the campus of Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, where she has lived since 1969.

Born and raised in Trenton, Sister Amadeo attended St. Joachim School, Trenton, which was run by the Religious Teachers Filippini. St. Joachim Parish is now Our Lady of the Angels Parish, created when the Joachim and Immaculate Conception Churches were merged.

“I am very happy [as a religious]. It’s a beautiful life. You live with wonderful people…They [sisters] are all committed. Their life is committed to God. They treat each other the way Christians should treat each other, seeing God in each person,” she said.

She said she loves teaching, but had to give it up when she was named director of buildings and grounds at Mount Saint Mary, a position she held for 13 years. She also served as the Mount’s assistant treasurer for 12 years. Her first assignments as a sister were teaching fourth grade at St. Mary School, Perth Amboy, and instructing sixth, seventh and eighth grades at Our Lady of Victories School, Sayreville.

Sister Amadeo earned a bachelor’s degree in math with a minor in French at Georgian Court College, now University, Lakewood, and a master’s degree in education specializing in physics at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. She taught math and physics at the now-closed St. Mary’s High School, South Amboy, nd at the Mount.

Sister Amadeo still hears from some of her students, saying one of her classes from the Mount recently held its 50th reunion.

“I can’t even believe it. I taught these students 50 years ago,” she said. “And to see all they’ve accomplished. It’s amazing.”

She has also heard from students she taught at Our Lady of Victories, a school that has also closed. “It’s very rewarding” to see how she influenced the lives of former students, she said.

Now retired, Sister Amadeo keeps busy answering requests as part of the McAuley Hall Prayer Guild, located on the grounds of the Mount.

“It’s [McAuley Hall Prayer Guild] a prayer mission for our sick and infirmed sisters,” she said. The sisters are cared for at the McAuley Hall Health Center, a nursing facility sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy.

“So many [prayer] requests come in, it’s amazing,” Sister Amadeo said, noting the majority of requests are for sympathy cards. “It’s a bigger project than you could imagine.”

She also drives sisters to doctor appointments.

As for what advice she would give to someone considering consecrated life, Sister Amadeo said she would tell them: “Certainly give it a try. You’d be surprised how wonderful it is. [There are] many opportunities, not only for your professional growth, but for your spiritual growth. Your whole life will be blessed.”

Paul J. Peyton

“After high school, while working and planning to be a nurse, I went on a retreat with other young women. On this retreat, I felt God’s call to be a religious. It dropped on me like a load of bricks, and I could not ignore it.”

Mercy Sister Helen Neder 70 YEARS

“Although I had much contact with the Sisters of Mercy in school and in our parish … I did not expect to enter the community.” Sister Helen said. “After high school, while working and planning to be a nurse, I went on a retreat with other young women. On this retreat, I felt God’s call to be a religious. It dropped on me like a load of bricks, and I could not ignore it.”

Sister Helen, who is celebrating 70 years as a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, built brick by brick, figuratively speaking, a strong career in education at various schools in the dioceses of Camden, Trenton and Metuchen.

Beginning her teaching career at the former St. Mary Cathedral Grammar School, Trenton, Sister Helen spent about three decades in classrooms at several other schools, including Red Bank Catholic and Notre Dame high schools in the Diocese of Trenton.

She was also an assistant principal at Holy Spirit High School, Absecon, Atlantic County, and principal at Kenmare High School in Jersey City. For six years, Sister Helen served as vocations director for her order, which was founded in the 19th century in Dublin by Venerable Catherine McAuley.

One of four daughters of Henry and Anna Grace Neder, Sister Helen grew up in Woodbridge. She was taught by religious beginning in elementary school.

“Perhaps more influential than my school experience,” Sister Helen said, “was my experience of the Sisters when my three sisters and I would help with counting the collection in the convent.”

There, she said, she witnessed the Sisters “laughing and enjoying community life.”

She said a major change she has witnessed in religious life is a greater emphasis on learning to discern where God is leading those in consecrated life. She said in her view, there is less regimentation and structure today than when she became a Mercy Sister in 1953.

Sister Helen graduated from the now-closed St. Mary’s High School, Perth Amboy. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Georgian Court College, now University, Lakewood; and a master’s degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. Both degrees were in chemistry.

Besides being an educator, her various roles included years in vocation ministry and community leadership. She worked as an assistant teacher at The Nurturing Place, a pre-school day care affiliated with St. Joseph’s Shelter for Homeless Women, Jersey City.

In short, Sister Helen turned the “load of bricks” into an enviable career of service to others.

What’s her recommendation for someone considering a religious vocation?

“I would advise young women to give themselves time to consider where God is leading them,” Sister Helen said. “They should talk with a sister they know or a vocation minister and take part in experiencing what our life is like.

“If this is where God is calling you, you will find joy in answering that call,” said Sister Helen, now retired and living at Mount Saint Mary, Watchung. Somerset. “I decided to try it for six weeks, and here I am 70 years later,”

To the average person trying to build a spiritually satisfying retirement, Sister Helen’s seven-decade return on a six-week life investment proved to be enriching.

Anthony Salamone

“I came to the realization that physically I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing. I didn’t want to retire because I loved what I was doing and loved the people I was working with and caring for but “God lets you know when you are finished.”

70 Years

Reflecting on her 70 years in religious life, Mercy Sister Michael Mary Roberts expressed gratitude. “I am so grateful to God for the gift He gave to me, this vocation. I feel very Blessed.”

Born in Philadelphia, when Sister Michael Mary was six her family moved to Collingswood in New Jersey. There she attended St. John Elementary School and then graduated from Camden Catholic High School. The Sisters of Mercy taught at both schools.

Sister Michael Mary said she was attracted to the Mercy Sisters who seemed to be so happy and were so engaging with the students at school. She added, however, that her initial calling came through her parents, Mary and Joseph. “My parents raised me in the Catholic faith and out of living my faith came my vocation,” Sister Michael Mary said.

In discerning her calling, she said, “I prayed about my decision. I remember kneeling in St. John’s Church, Collingswood and talking to the Blessed Mother asking her what I should do with my future. “I was only 17-years-old and thought maybe I would think about being a Mercy Sister because I was attracted to their life,”she said.

After high school, Sister Michael Mary enrolled in Georgian Court College (now University), Lakewood, which was founded and sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy. She earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities. She entered the Mercy Sisters community on Sept. 24, 1953. And professed her final vows Aug. 17, 1959.

As a postulate, Sister Michael Mary was very engaged with the retired Mercy Sisters and enjoyed taking care of the elderly sisters in the infirmary at her community’s motherhouse, Mount St. Mary, Watchung.

The experience was very appealing to Sister Michael Mary, but at the time, after her postulant and novitiate year, since the Mercy Sisters were committed to teaching, she was sent out to teach. She taught second, third and fourth grades at the School of St. Elizabeth, Bernardsville, and St. Mary School, Alpha.

“I liked the children, but teaching wasn’t fulfilling for me,” stated Sister Michael Mary. She wanted to go into nursing. With a great devotion to the Blessed Mother, Sister Michael Mary said, “ I remember saying the 54 day rosary novena to our Lady, 24 days in petition and

24 days in thanksgiving. I said that rosary novena asking the Blessed Mother that if it was God’s will I would be able to go into nursing. And on the feast of the Holy Rosary, I was told by my superiors that I was chosen to go into nurse’s training. I tell people that story a lot because of the power of that rosary novena.

It was in 1966, that Sister Michael Mary was able to finally pursue what would become her lifelong ministry. She and one other Mercy sister were permitted to study at St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing. After completing her studies, Sister Michael Mary began working at the Mercy Sisters, McAuley Hall Health Care Center where she served for 10 years.

She then went to Syracuse, N.Y. where she earned certification as a geriatric nurse practitioner from the State University of New York and subsequently worked as a nurse on the cardiac floor in St. Joseph Hospital, Syracuse.

In the mid-1980s, Sister Michael Mary returned to Watchung and was appointed administrator of McAuley Hall Health Care Center. She served there until it became a state-licensed nursing home. At this time, Sister Michael Mary became a full-time visiting nurse with Holy Redeemer Home Care. “It was a very enriching experience for me. I just loved it. Nursing in home care enables one to give holistic care to the patients,” she said.

Five years ago, Sister Michael Mary retired from serving as a Visiting Nurse. At that time she was 81 years old. “I came to the realization that physically I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing. I didn’t want to retire because I loved what I was doing and loved the people I was working with and caring for but “God lets you know when you are finished.”

Still active in retirement, Sister Michael Mary volunteered at Overlook Hospital, Summit, in the Pastoral Care Department. She visited patients and brought them communion. She did this for several years. “Then I became physically ill and was not able to continue, she admitted.

Joanne Ward

“I loved accompanying other women discerning their vocation [as novice director]. This was very life-giving for me, and I hope for the women I connected with,”

Mercy Sister Mildred Rossiter

Sister Mildred, born in Somers Point, was the oldest of six children. She described her family as “very devout” and active in parish life. As a child, she attended St. Peter’s Elementary School, Pleasantville.

She credits he religious vocation to the Sisters of Mercy who taught her at Holy Spirit High School, Atlantic City. “I always wanted to teach and I saw that they had a lifestyle that I could emulate and be a part of.” Liking the way the sisters responded to the needs of the students and the way they interacted with each other she said, “It was inspiring to me.”

In 1953, after high school, at the age of 18, she entered the Sisters of Mercy and professed her final vows in 1959 at Mount Saint Mary, Watchung.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Georgian Court College, now University, Lakewood, and a master’s degree in elementary education as a reading specialist at Seton Hall University, South Orange.

Her teaching assignments included Sts. Philip and James, Phillipsburg; St. Mary, South Amboy; St. Joseph, Keyport; St. Joseph, North Plainfield; and St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Metuchen.

She served as principal of St. Matthias School, Somerset; St. John School, Collingswood; St. Peter the Apostle School, New Brunswick; and as a teacher and principal at St. Mary School, Perth Amboy.

For the past six years, Sister Mildred has volunteered as a bookkeeper for the “All Africa Conference Sister to Sister,” which supports educating religious in sub-Saharan Africa who are caregivers to the HIV/AIDS community and those challenged by extreme poverty.

She also enjoys spending time on her hobbies — crocheting prayer shawls to be

70 YEARS donated, researching her family history and reading mystery novels and historical fiction books.

One of the many highlights of her ministry was working as novice director.

“I loved accompanying other women discerning their vocation. This was very life-giving for me, and I hope for the women I connected with,” she said.

As a former vocations director, she offers some advice to women who are considering a vocation: “Seek out a women religious and spend some time speaking and discerning with that person. Pray for guidance to be led in the right direction and discuss that with another woman religious.

“I am hoping that someone reading about the sisters in this edition of ‘The Catholic Spirit’ would be encouraged to think about following the path that we have lived.”

Sister Mildred is a member of Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish, Middlesex. She is a resident at The Mother House for the Sisters of Mercy, Watchung Looking forward, she hopes to continue serving others.

“I am so grateful for all that I have been a part of and for all those I met and was able to help along the way,” she said.

Karen Corpora

“There was a statue of the Blessed Mother there, bathed in sunshine. At that moment, I heard in my heart her say, ‘You will remain here.’

70 YEARS

It went through me like an electric wire, like a spark” is how Sister Mary Ann Nowicka described the moment she decided to follow a call from the Lord to enter consecrated life. Now, seven decades past that fateful decision, Sister Mary Ann, a member of the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, still smiles as she recounts her faith journey.

Born in central Poland as Anna Nowicka, the young Catholic had little exposure to religious nuns or priests because of Communism’s grip on her country. “There was no Polish Catholic school, no sacraments, no nothing,” she said. “We went to regular public school run by the Communist government.”

By the seventh grade, she learned of an acquaintance enrolled in religious school and begged her parents for permission to study there as well. “I said I just wanted to go to the nun school, not be a nun,” Sister Mary Ann said with a laugh.

Showing a visitor to her room at the St. Joseph Senior Home, Woodbridge, she continued, “There was a statue of the Blessed Mother there, bathed in sunshine. At that moment, I heard in my heart her say, ‘You will remain here.’

“At that moment, I prayed for the vocation and perseverance.”

Sister Mary Ann entered the community in 1953, became a novice the following year, and took her final vows in 1956. She began her ministry as a teacher of pre-kindergarten students, but in 1961, she said, “The government made nuns in the whole country stop teaching and gave the schools to the Communists.

Her community assigned her as a missionary to Zambia, where she taught sewing and embroidery to students in grades five, six and seven despite not knowing the language.

Following a stop at the order’s New Jersey motherhouse, she then embarked on her next assignment in Holyoke, Mass. There, she spent 10 years working in parishes and teaching instructions to students receiving their first sacraments.

After completing an associate’s degree at a university, Sister Mary Ann opened a kindergarten in Holyoke and directed in-school plays twice a year with her young charges.

She then was assigned to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Milltown, where for seven years she taught second graders at its now-closed parochial school.

Her own studies resulted in the completion of her bachelor’s degree in education. Sister Mary Ann also taught at schools in the Diocese of Camden, then returned to Our Lady of Lourdes for six years until she retired from active ministry… or so she thought.

“I still wanted to do something,” she said. “I didn’t want to sit still and wait for death.”

Sister Mary Ann began a ministry of service to those patients in her order’s St. Mary hospital and nursing home in Cherry Hill.

“I was not a nurse,” she cautioned, “but I distributed Communion, led discussion groups and visited with patients and families whose loved ones were near death.”

Sister Mary Ann cherished the contacts she made in this ministry and joined them in praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, made known by fellow Polish religious, St. Faustina Kowalska. “Even when I was a patient in the hospital, I was passing out the chaplet because it is so important,” she concluded from her room at St. Joseph Senior Home.

Christina Leslie

“I loved teaching math, because when that ‘aha’ moment comes into a child’s mind, it’s a very satisfying moment for a teacher.”