Faith and Friendship

FAITH AND FRIENDSHIP Margaret Lillian Davenport, SCN, rarely sits down. In fact it's pretty hard to keep up with her as she goes about her day.

Sister Margaret currently serves in Community Service at Nazareth Home in Louisville, Kentucky where she assists Sisters and interacts with other residents. Throughout her life, Sister Margaret’s gentle spirit and genuine love for others have been a hallmark of her ministries.

She entered the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in 1958, after attending Presentation Academy where she was inspired by Sisters teaching there. Sister Margaret served as a teacher for 40 years, including classrooms in Memphis, Tennessee, Henderson and Morganfield, Kentucky, and several sites in Mississippi. On summer breaks from teaching, she attended classes at St. John College in Cleveland, Ohio, and earned a Master's degree.

Teaching at Old St. Thomas School in Nelson County, Kentucky, where she spent 15 years, has been among her favorite ministries. She enjoyed preparing school liturgies, leading the music ministry, and watching children grow. She has many fond memories connected to the classroom.

Margaret Lillian Davenport, SCN, shares a laugh with a resident at Nazareth Home, Louisville, Kentucky. Daily she delivers mail and visits with Sisters and other residents.

Margaret Lillian Davenport, SCN, drops by to talk with Betty MacDougall, SCN. The two have been friends for many decades since meeting at Presentation Academy when they were students there.

In the early 1980s, Sister Margaret served in pastoral ministry in an impoverished area of Fayette, Mississippi. While there, she offered the elderly and underserved rides to doctors appointments and the hospital. She became close to an elderly gentleman, Mr. Jackson, who lived alone in a trailer and insisted on being independent. In spite of a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer, it was his wish to stay at home. She took him to appointments and checked on him. His home was humble, and Mr. Jackson would ask for help getting to his recliner and would place his fan and radio nearby. She sensed a deep faith and peace within him. “I learned many lessons from Mr. Jackson about how to live and how to die. He lived life fully to the end and found joy in the simple things.”

Sister Margaret joined the Community Service Department at Nazareth Home in 2003. These days she enjoys caring for Sisters in a variety of ways. Her draw to caring for others, and especially working with the elderly, began when she visited her own great-grandmother at Little Sisters of the Poor. She enjoyed helping residents in wheelchairs, offering to get them around or make them comfortable by adjusting pillows. “I admired the Sisters there, and would come home, and play ‘Sister’ even before I started school,” recalls Sister Margaret.

Now, she handles many details to make life easier for Sisters living at Nazareth Home and enjoys visiting residents where she says she likes to “shoot the breeze and chitchat.”

Sister Margaret Lillian has become close to many residents, including one woman who rarely talks, “I’ve been visiting her and got her to laugh and open up … it makes my day and I think it makes hers, too.” Sister Margaret Lillian has learned the woman was a nurse and traveled the world.

She also tries to wrangle junk mail for residents. “Sister Julia Clare Fontaine made everyone VP of something. My title was VP of Junk Mail Cancellation.” Sister Margaret Lillian says when there’s a death, she gets the name off the mailing list and sends the mail to Miriam Ann Walter, SCN, for her stamp ministry.

Sister Margaret also assists with daily Mass. “I substitute every day at Mass if needed. Eucharistic Ministry or taking up the gifts, I love doing that.”

Sister Margaret Lillian reconnected with a resident whom she taught at Blessed Sacrament in the fifth grade. “He was one of the smartest students I’ve ever had. He was Sherlock Holmes in a play, he was gifted in the arts.” She said back then she told him about St. Genesius, the patron saint of actors. And he took his name at Confirmation. “It was like a homecoming seeing him, his mom and the family.”

She is perhaps most grateful to be able to care for Sisters in their last days. “Sometimes I pray the Rosary, hold their hand, smooth their hair, play nice music, pray silently.” She considers this ministry sacred as she accompanies Sisters, many of whom she has lived with or ministered alongside, in their last journey on Earth.

Outside of Community Service, Sister Margaret Lillian is very close to her brother who is disabled from time served in the Army. She makes sure he gets to appointments at the Veteran’s Hospital. While at appointments, she likes to get to know other vets. She has become a familiar face at the Veteran’s Hospital, “It’s outreach for me.”

Sister Margaret Lillian says she doesn’t know where her life will lead her next, adding if she wasn’t in her current ministry she would likely go to the Motherhouse in Nazareth to help with the stamp ministry, and Sisters there with daily life. Right now though, she loves being in Louisville and feels grateful to be able to care for her brother and others she holds dear.

Before heading down the hallways of Nazareth Home to deliver mail, she says quietly and with a smile, that as with all things, she will go “where God calls her.” Always.

Margaret Lillian Davenport, SCN, spends much of her day in prayer. She is pictured sitting next to one of her favorite windows in the Chapel at Nazareth Home, Louisville, Kentucky.