I miss the ‘good sisters’

I was born and raised in Schenectady and attended Catholic schools there. Some of my fondest childhood memories involve the nuns and priests who taught me. They were great examples of faith and goodwill — examples I don’t forget.  Just this past month, Schenectady suffered the loss of an outstanding religious sister, Sister Maria Rosa Querini, who ministered in St. Anthony’s parish in Schenectady for nearly 60 years! She was a quiet powerhouse of a woman, a real force behind the community there. She’s remembered for countless acts of kindness and service to the people of Schenectady and she was an indispensable fixture in the lives of countless Schenectadians. She is most fondly remembered for her dogged leadership and fundraising at the parish’s annual Festa in honor of St. Anthony every June. What a cook and baker! What an outstanding religious! What a woman and what a loss! May she rest in peace!

Her recent passing reminded me that our times have changed and religious sisters in parishes and schools are few. Of course, there are some sisters still busy at work but their numbers have diminished. With this loss, a great blessing is also lost to, and in, the Church. We know that these women were important to us; they changed and enriched our lives forever. Extraordinary women by today’s standards. What a blessing we had and often took it for granted! Who would not lament their absence today?

A Sister of Mercy once changed the life of a family member of mine forever. In the 1930s, when my relative could not afford a proper dress for First Holy Communion because her family was so poor, this sister sewed a dress for her out of material from her own linen slip which she wore under her habit. This was all done in secret, since nuns at the time lived in strict, semi-cloistered settings where humility and good deeds required silence. 

Her loving act was never forgotten by my relative and it changed her life. This act reminded my relative, when life got tough for her (and it often did), not to doubt or rebel but to remember the core of our faith — imitating Christ in his love and mercy, sharing blessings and giving to the forgotten poor. Later, when this relative married a man of success and wealth, they both made it a top priority in their lives to “give back.” Until their deaths, they funded countless projects of the Church and elsewhere to help needy children and families so that no one was without.

So, let us thank God for our “good sisters” and for all they have given to us. Yes, there were a few exceptions here and there but, overall, weren’t we abundantly enriched? May God raise up many more generous women to love, serve and teach his people so that our generation and the one to come may be so blessed.

Father Morrette is pastor at The Catholic Community of Our Lady of Victory in Troy, Our Lady of the Snow Mission in Grafton and Christ Sun of Justice Parish in Troy.