Priests, sisters honored for decades of ministry

The Archdiocese of Baltimore honored nearly 40 women and men religious serving in the archdiocese who are celebrating milestone jubilees in 2024. Together, they have contributed a combined 2,275 years of ministry to the Catholic Church. The jubilarians were recognized during the Consecrated Life Day Mass and luncheon March 16 at St. Agnes in Catonsville.

Archbishop William E. Lori celebrated the special Mass and was joined by Auxiliary Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R.

The two longest-professed jubilarians are School Sister of Notre Dame Catherine Manning (left) and Daughter of Charity Sister Eileen Davis, each celebrating 80 years of consecrated service. (Courtesy photos)

The two longest-professed jubilarians are Daughter of Charity Sister Eileen Davis and School Sister of Notre Dame Catherine Manning, each celebrating 80 years of consecrated service.

Sister Eileen credits the Daughters of Charity who taught at the old St. Joseph School in Baltimore for instilling her desire to enter religious life.

“They were so good to us,” she recalled, “especially my classmates who were the first Italian immigrants, dirt poor, and the sisters were so kind to them. I knew in grade school that I wanted to be one, and it never left me.”

After her profession in 1944, Sister Eileen’s first mission was teaching at a school in Albany, New York, but just a few years later, she was sent to The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., for nursing school, and then worked as an operating room nurse.

Illness plagued her for several years, until she was finally diagnosed with celiac disease. Once she was finally given a diagnosis, she kept her disease well controlled by a strict diet and was able to function well again.

In the mid-1960s, Sister Eileen’s mission changed abruptly. She went from the rigidity of an operating room, to working at Villa Louise, a Catholic Charities facility in Timonium for unwed mothers.

“When I first got to that place, I thought I’d lose my mind,” she recalled. “It was a terrible, terrible conversion, from a very technical place, and then all of a sudden I got picked up and put in with these mothers.”

A similar mission followed years later when she spent an eight-year term in Emmitsburg with young women contemplating religious life with the order.

In reflection, she said, those two similar experiences were the best of all because they gave her an opportunity to “nourish the young.”

Archbishop William E. Lori speaks with sisters at World Day for Consecrated Life Mass and jubilarian celebration March 16, 2024, at St. Agnes Church in Catonsville. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“I began to realize the joy of that situation,” said the 97-year-old sister.

Sister Catherine Manning, also celebrating 80 years, said it was her family upbringing that stirred her vocation. She chose the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the order that taught her at St. Joseph Monastery in Baltimore.

“Religion was very important in my family,” she said, pointing out that she also had a brother who became a Franciscan missionary priest and later a bishop in Bolivia.

“We were very close,” she said. “Whatever he did, I did. I still remember the talks we used to have.”

She noted that that was probably the reason she chose Sister Clarasita as her religious name when she first entered.

“I wanted something Franciscan,” she laughed, “and that’s certainly Franciscan.”

Sister Catherine, who turned 100 in December, has explored almost every avenue of teaching, starting with elementary school in Brooklyn, New York.

“I spent 10 years at St. Xavier’s in Brooklyn,” she said, and while she loved what she was doing, she didn’t feel very adequate.

“I wasn’t very good when I first went out to teach,” she admits. “Back then, there were 60 kids in a class. That was hard back then when I was starting out.”

Celebrating 60 years of religious life, School Sister of Notre Dame Mary Lennon receives a boutonniere from Missionary Sister of Divine Providence Mary Anthony Nwoga prior to the World Day for Consecrated Life Mass and jubilarian celebration March 16, 2024, at St. Agnes Church in Catonsville. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

She returned to Baltimore in the mid-1950s and taught at St. Matthew School in Northwood, and then moved on to teach the aspirants and postulants for the order. After a brief period of teaching secondary school in Frederick, she was on mission at Villa Assumpta, at Manresa Retreat Center and at Villa Maria in Glen Arm.

Her longest mission, however, was a 40-year stay at St. Dominic in Hamilton, where she served as a pastoral minister and pastoral volunteer.

“It was a great privilege,” she said. “People look forward to the visit of Jesus and it’s a comfort to be able to provide him. You know, priests are overworked, and they can’t get to everybody in the parish who would like to receive holy Communion, so it was a blessing that I was able to do it, both for me and for them.”

Archbishop William E. Lori’s delegate to religious invited religious communities to submit the names of their jubilarians. Communities that responded are listed below:

80 Years

Sister Eileen Davis, D.C.

Sister Catherine Manning, S.S.N.D.

75 Years

Sister Joan Angermaier, D.C.

Sister Rosalie Brocato, D.C.

Sister Kathleen Feeley, S.S.N.D.

Sister Mary Annunciata Fernandez, O.S.P.

Sister Magdala Marie Gilbert, O.S.P.

Sister Elizabeth Lingg, D.C.

Sister Sigrid Simlik, O.P.

Sister Mary Marguerite Weiler, S.S.N.D.