Sister Mary Fidelis was one of a kind. She left us with many “indications” of just how very great a person God had created in her. When one of our Sisters dies we put up a board to display photos of the Sister from the time she entered the convent and all through her life as a Sister. We also have favorite books, awards, etc. which belonged to that Sister.
Well, in the case of Sister Mary Fidelis there was an ample amount of data. She had binders full of poetry she wrote for every occasion and person who ever celebrated any accomplishment. There was a binder with the story of her family…it must contain 500 written pages and pages with copied photos. There were several booklets with stories about our Sisters. There were booklets for teachers on how to teach their students to diagram sentences. There were booklets on manners. There was one particularly interesting photo album…not large but packed with photos and in the front she pasted a picture of Jesus with a request to bring all these people close to Himself until at last they would be in heaven. Oh, the unique wealth of this woman!
Last evening at the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours some four or five Sisters stood up and sang a song they had written about Sister. They sang it to the tune of Red River Valley. The phrases all spoke of Sister’s generosity and of all her talents and gifts. All in the congregation laughed heartedly and/or cried at the same time. There was a professional guy from some video store who recorded the entire service and promised to be here today for the Funeral Mass. I’ve heard that he was to “stream” the video on the internet…play it live! Oh, my! Sister has friends all over the world!
We think Sister Mary Fidelis ordered her funeral to happen on a day when the students had no school…Veterans’ Day! We simply would not have been able to accommodate all the traffic, the flow of human traffic, the noise, etc. All of us in the work field also had the day off so we were able to attend the services.
We have placed extra chairs in the chapel and are expecting a huge crowd…several bishops and many dignitaries. Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce from the city of Beaverton will be here, too, I'm sure. Many people knew and loved her. She told us once how she had a “little trick” to remember people’s names. She never knew a stranger!
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2 comments:
Thanks for sharing this, Sister. By the way, we decided not to have the "professional guy" stream it live, but rather record both services and put it on the internet for others to see in a few days.
I attended St Mary of the Valley from 2nd to 12th grade and graduated in 1984. It has been years since I saw Sister Fidelis, but the impression that she made on me will last me all of my life. A friend was kind enough to email letting me know that she had passed. Sister radiated joy and kindness and was truly interested in each and every person. I am fortunate to have known her as a child and I admired her greatly. May she rest in peace.
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