In Loving Memory...
Sister M. Catherine Francis, CSC
(Evelyn Catherine Ford)
Birth: October 31, 1916
Profession: August 15, 1946
Death: October 6, 2006
Sister Catherine Francis was a woman of keen wit with a wonderful sense of
humor, but much more than that, she was a woman of faith, prayerfulness,
courage and joy. Above all, after her love of God, she loved people. She
knew when and how to listen to them, when and how to speak with them. She
genuinely cared for people and was interested in them and they knew it.
And, oh how they responded! Everywhere she went people recognized that
special trait and sought her out – in all parts of the country – rich
and poor alike. Examples of this can be found in the following stories.
In Sausalito, California, outside the Altamira Restaurant, there were
crowds waiting for their cars or to board buses when down the stairs
rushed a handsome young man dressed in a tuxedo. He plowed his way through
the throng and came straight to Sister Catherine Francis. Thrusting
something into her hand he said, “Please pray for me, Sister.” With
her characteristic courtesy, Sister Catherine replied, “Thank you. I
will pray for you. What is your first name?” Over his shoulder the man
yelled, “Louis,” and he tore off as if someone were chasing him. When
Sister Catherine looked at her hand she said, “Wasn’t that nice. He gave
me $10.” Someone next to her said, “What are you talking about,
Sister? He gave you $100.” Sister Catherine was always convinced that
Louis’ life was in danger. In fact, she thought the Mafia might have
targeted him. So for three years we prayed nightly for Louis, his safety
and all his needs.
In Washington, D.C., a homeless man who wanted money approached Sister
Catherine. She recognized immediately that he was an educated person who
had seen better times. While she did not give him money, she did give him
15 minutes of her undivided attention, listening to his tale of woe, and
then spoke to him some words of encouragement and hope. As he turned away
with tears in his eyes he said, “Thank you, Sister. This is the first
time in 12 years that anyone has talked to me as if I were a human
being.”
All of the above-mentioned virtues gave Sister Catherine Francis a
spirit of joy, which permeated her entire life. She was quick to thank
everyone for the slightest thing they did for her and often added her
favorite expression, “The joy of it!”
In her last ministry before coming to Saint Mary’s she visited the
critically ill and dying at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring,
Maryland. Families were amazed at her healing presence at the bedside of
their loved ones. Her words of hope, of God’s forgiveness, his love for
them as individuals, and the joy that awaited them in heaven often quieted
their fears and their deaths were more peaceful.
Sister Catherine Francis always closed her visits to patients by
reciting Psalm 100 – the psalm of joy, which she believed King David
composed as a prayer for the dying and which I will now say as my prayer
of love and gratitude for her life:
Psalm 100
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before Him singing for joy.
Know that He, the Lord, is God;
He made us, we belong to Him.
We are His people, the sheep of his flock.
Go within His gates giving thanks;
Enter his courts with songs of praise;
Give thanks to Him and bless His name.
Indeed, how good is the Lord,
Eternal His merciful love.
He is faithful from age to age.
Amen.
Written by Sister Clarence Marie, CSC
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of the Holy Cross
Ministry With the Poor Fund, Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556.
|
|
