Help us remember our Sisters by sharing a story about a Sister who touched your life, or making a gift in their honor.
Sister Agnes, whose religious name was Sister Callista, spent her first 16 years of ministry teaching at Saints Peter and Paul School in Rochester, NY, and St. Luke in Westport, Ct. Beginning in 1971, as Sister Agnes, she pioneered the new role of Director of Religious Education at St. Mary Parish in Ridgefield. From 1974 until 1990, she served in this ministry at St. Mary, Norwalk; St. Gregory, Danbury; Notre Dame, Easton; and St. Bernadette, New Haven.
“I was inspired by the School Sisters and felt that this was my calling and I accepted it. God has always given me the grace to do His will and to persevere in His service.” Loved by many, Sister Theodore was always involved with giving. In retirement, She could often be found in the small kitchen at Villa Assumpta baking her specialty, Jewish Apple Cake, and her famous pizzelle cookies which went out to many events and friends. She loved to help with St. Leo’s dinners and the Italian Festival in Little Italy.
After working in education for over 20 years, Sister Joan became deaf, and she began many years of service to the deaf community. As she wrote, “A seemingly impossible dream began….when I lost my hearing... I dreamed of one day resuming the teaching career". After a serious study of sign language and lip reading, she began teaching high school English to the deaf. As her sister, Sister Susan Curtin, recalls, in spite of her handicaps Joan was always “a ray of sunshine.”
In death, we say our ultimate human yes to God. Trusting in God’s power to bring us to the fullness of life, we conclude our earthly life with an act of worship: in the action of death we proclaim God as God, and ourselves as God’s creatures. We are called by God and sent by the community; we go in joy!
- You Are Sent, Constitution of the School Sisters of Notre Dame
