Nun opened 'Mediterranean heart' to sick

A tattered Kleenex appeared from the pocket of Sister Carmelite Germinario's cardigan.

"I'm sorry," the Daughter of Charity sniffled, excusing her tears during an interview. "I have a Mediterranean heart."

At 87, Sister Carmelite easily gets emotional when talking about St. Mary's Hospital in Troy, where she spent the past 25 years of her ministry. She became so beloved there that, when she retired recently, Seton Health established an endowment fund in her honor to care for the poor.

Immigrant

Sister Carmelite was born Carmella Mary Germinario in Italy. Her family arrived in Troy not long after her birth in 1919. They joined St. Mary's parish and sent their children to the parish school, where the Daughters of Charity taught.

"We loved the sisters, because they involved us" in their ministries, remembered Sister Carmelite, who recalled visiting the sick and needy, assembling Thanksgiving baskets for the hungry, and even eating cookies and hot chocolate with the nuns.

Thinking back, she realized that the sisters she found so joyous and loving must have only been 19 or 20 themselves at that time.

Back home

The nuns' exuberance had such an impact on young Carmella that she defied her father's wishes and joined the order while very young, altering her name to "Carmelite."

Although members of the Daughters of Charity were rarely assigned to their hometowns back then, she taught for only a few years before becoming principal of the elementary school she had attended.

"One of the nicest features was that I knew all the children and parents," Sister Carmelite boasted. "The older boys would sometimes get out of line, and all I would have to say was, 'Would you like me to call your father?' They'd say, 'No, Sister!'"

Hospital ministry

Much later, when Sister Carmelite was doing a stint as religious education coordinator at a parish in the Syracuse Diocese, she was transferred to St. Mary's pastoral care department.

"I've never been in pastoral care!" Sister Carmelite protested to her superior, who replied: "I'll give you a mentor."

From that mentor, Sister Thecla Cassidy (now deceased), Sister Carmelite learned how to spend time with the ill and their families. She learned to size up the health and emotional situation of a patient upon entering a hospital room, to listen more than speak, and to communicate how much she cared even about people she had just met.

"I'm a people person," she explained. "If you love people, rich or poor, it doesn't take long to relate, because there's a respect and a great love for all people."

Prayer time

Sister Carmelite became known for handing out Miraculous Medals to patients, along with a promise to pray for them -- a duty she said the members of her order perform daily. "That's something we take very seriously," she stated.

Prayer came in handy when Sister Carmelite needed strength herself. She remembers entering the room of one woman who was dying and finding three generations of the family gathered there. It awed and humbled the nun.

"You could feel the Lord's presence in the room," she said, weeping. "It was a difficult moment, yet a beautiful moment."

That day, like many others, Sister Carmelite left the hospital room rejoicing: "Oh, God, you're so loving! I am so blessed to be among people of faith!"

Keeping on

Long after many sisters retire, Sister Carmelite kept on. Her department changed its name from "pastoral care" to "spiritual care;" young doctors and nurses became seasoned professionals. But it wasn't until she noticed her usual brisk gait slowing down that she thought of retirement.

Surprisingly, she found, "the transition wasn't all that difficult for me." At her new home, St. Louise House in Menands (part of the Daughters of Charity's DePaul Provincial House), Sister Carmelite said, "We have so many activities going, I have to make a choice -- I can't do it all!"

The "retiree" is part of a Bible study group, prays the Rosary with other sisters and even went on a steamboat excursion on Lake George recently.

Gratitude

She's still keeping her hand in at St. Mary's, too: Every Thursday, she spends the day helping out in the hospital's archives, then visiting the sick.

"St. Mary's is the essence of what our foundress asked of the Daughters of Charity," Sister Carmelite noted, speaking of serving with "joy, care, simplicity, sincerity, respect.

"I love St. Mary's and everything it stands for, and I'm grateful I was able to serve there for that many years."

Insights from nun

When dealing with patients, Sister Carmelite learned, "Don't pry. Say you want to hear how they're really feeling, and [ask] if there's anything we can do to help them alleviate their anxieties."

Upon leaving a hospital room, she always offered a prayer: "God, you're so good to me, but give them the strength they need at this time in their lives."

As a 25-year employee at St. Mary's, she became used to seeing new faces among the staff. "I always made it my business to greet them," she said, and "tried to show my respect for their profession."

Although many patients poured out their hearts to her about their illnesses, Sister Carmelite still firmly believes that "they're not really complaining. They're just discussing what's going on in their lives at the time." (KB)

(6/21/07)