Jubilee
Congratulations to our 2026 jubilarians, whose lives and ministries enrich our Congregation and are reason to rejoice! This year, we honor nine jubilarians. These remarkable women have inspired and touched lives far and wide.
Sister reflects on 75th Jubilee
Sister M. Martha Ann (Norwood), CSC, pays tribute to diamond jubilarians.
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Sister’s Name
100 Rosary Hall
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-5050
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Diamond Jubilee
75 years
Silver Jubilee
25 years
Sister M. Timothea (Kingston), CSC
Diamond Jubilarian
Notre Dame, Indiana
With her pragmatic and caring ways, Sister M. Timothea (Kingston), CSC, was well-suited for her 60 years of ministry in the education field. Early in her ministry, she taught at schools in Bangladesh, California and Idaho. Between 1970 and 1981, Sister Timothea served as principal at Christ the King School, Los Angeles; Beverly Hills Catholic School, Beverly Hills; and St. Barnabas School, Long Beach, California. Around then, she also served for six years as a region coordinator for the Congregation, followed by three years as a region councilor.
In the Diocese of San Diego, California, Sister Timothea was principal of Stella Maris Academy for four years. And between 1988 and 1999, she served in the diocesan schools office as director of personnel for 10 years. She then embraced new roles at Villanova Preparatory High School in Ojai, where she served as chaplain and faculty spiritual director for three years and as an academic counselor from 2005–2015. Sister Timothea currently serves in Congregational Archives and Records at the motherhouse, a role she’s held since 2015.
Sister Timothea was also involved in parish activities, such as religious education and distributing Communion to elder care communities. During one such visit, she encountered a woman who watched and listened intently as Sister prayed and offered the host to the woman’s roommate. One day the woman asked, “What have you got for me?” She eventually shared that she wanted to hear “those words you say with her.” Sister Timothea recalls, “I spontaneously said some words that became a prayer for her.”
Some time later, the woman shared, “I might be meeting that Jesus soon. What do I say?” Sister Timothea says, “I smiled and told her just to look and listen very carefully. I stayed a short while after that, said some prayers and left her with her two sons. Stella died peacefully that night. A moment of time … the lesson of a lifetime.”
Sister Virginia Marie MacNeil, CSC
Diamond Jubilarian
Notre Dame, Indiana
From childhood, Sister Virginia Marie MacNeil, CSC, dreamed of becoming a Holy Cross sister, thanks to her sister teachers at St. Peter’s School and St. Cecilia’s Academy in Washington, D.C. She entered the Congregation just after graduating high school and professed her first vows in 1951 and her perpetual vows in 1954.
Sister Virginia Marie went on to become an elementary school teacher, a role she held for 13 years. She conducted her first teaching ministry at Holy Trinity School in Norfolk, Virginia, where she served for five years. Her teaching ministry also carried her to Richardson and Austin, Texas, and New York City.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in social work from Dunbarton College of the Holy Cross, Washington, D.C., in 1964, Sister transitioned into a new ministry. From 1963 to 1968, she served with the district’s St. Joseph’s Home and School for Boys. There, she cared for children when their families could not. “I loved my work at St. Joseph’s. I enjoyed it even more than teaching,” Sister Virginia Marie recalls. “We took care of the children, and they knew we loved them. I still hear from some of them.”
Completing her Master of Social Work from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., in 1970, she went on to serve with Associated Catholic Charities of Washington, D.C. There, she worked for 12 years as a caseworker for elder adults and two years in the organization’s elder day center. Sister Virginia Marie also ministered to seniors at Mount Carmel Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio. This was followed by a decade of service to the Congregation, during which she held the role of convent superior. Today, Sister Virginia Marie continues to serve the Congregation, the Church and the world through her faithful prayer and presence.
Sister Vivian Mary Mastromatteo, CSC
Diamond Jubilarian
Notre Dame, Indiana
Throughout her life, Sister Vivian Mary Mastromatteo, CSC, has had a heart for helping those in need. So, as a Sister of the Holy Cross, she entered one of the most giving of professions—education.
For 68 years, Sister Vivian Mary served in the field, initially as an elementary teacher in Maryland, New York and Virginia. At Holy Trinity School in Norfolk, she served for five years, completing her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Dunbarton College of the Holy Cross, Washington, D.C., during that time.
Sister also served for 13 years in New York City, where she taught at St. Paul the Apostle School before becoming curriculum implementer for the city’s Board of Education from 1968 to 1978. In this role, Sister Vivian Mary assisted with the nationally implemented Follow Through Program, intended to determine the best teaching approaches for kindergarten through third-grade students in at-risk situations.
During her tenure in New York, Sister Vivian Mary also traveled to Puerto Rico to learn more about the customs and lives of the many students who were emigrating to the city at that time. There, she met with students’ extended families, bringing back information that would help the archdiocese better serve its pupils. “These relatives had said ‘goodbye’ to their loved ones,” she explains. “So, our meetings were consoling to them; they knew there was someone who appreciated their families.”
In the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., Sister Vivian Mary served for 36 years, 15 of those as an elementary teacher, vice principal and principal at St. Bernard’s School in Riverdale, Maryland. And from 2003 to 2018, she volunteered as a student tutor at Holy Cross School, Garrett Park, Maryland. Today, Sister Vivian Mary extends care to others through her ministry of prayer and presence and volunteering with the Congregation’s stamp ministry.
Sister M. Emily (Demuth), CSC
Diamond Jubilarian
Notre Dame, Indiana
Sister M. Emily (Demuth), CSC, was a registered nurse when she entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1948. With her, she brought her knowledge, skills and compassion to another 24 years in the nursing field and 46 years of pastoral care ministry.
In South Bend, Indiana, Sister Emily cared for the sisters at the Congregation’s motherhouse and taught nursing at South Bend’s Holy Cross Central School of Nursing at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Between 1966 and 1977, she served at St. Agnes Hospital, Fresno, California, as an intensive care nurse, becoming a clinical specialist in crisis and critical care nursing. Her last two years with the organization she held the role of director of pastoral services.
In 1977, Sister Emily pursued a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Seattle University and received her clinical pastoral education at Virginia Mason Hospital, Seattle. She then became a certified chaplain in the National Association of Catholic Chaplains, a certification she holds to this day.
Sister Emily served as a chaplain for seven years at St. Alphonsus Hospital, Boise, Idaho, four years at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, California, and for 20 years at St. Agnes Medical Center, Fresno. As a chaplain, she specialized in critical care, trauma, emergency room and palliative care. She also mentored clinical pastoral education (CPE) students and helped organize the first Central Valley CPE program of California.
“The highlight of my life of ministry was when I became a chaplain. I could minister to all in this role,” Sister Emily shares. This included families whose deceased loved ones became organ donors. Sister Emily planned prayer services to honor those lost and their or their family’s wishes. “The families found some comfort knowing that their loved one’s gift was a ‘living’ donation, because it goes on.”
Sister Emily currently engages in a ministry of prayer and pastoral visitation in Saint Mary’s Convent and serves on the Clinical Pastoral Education Board of Central California.
Sister M. Martha Ann (Norwood), CSC
Diamond Jubilarian
Notre Dame, Indiana
Sister M. Martha Ann (Norwood), CSC, met the Sisters of the Holy Cross while a student at St. Mary of the Wasatch, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and entered the Congregation in January 1949. Reflecting on her 75 years of consecrated life, she shares, “Everywhere I went, there was grace.”
Sister Martha Ann taught junior high for 26 years. In California, she shared her gifts for 19 years at schools including St. Paul School, Los Angeles; St. Joseph School, Mountain View; and St. Alphonsus School, Fresno, where she also served one year as principal. During this time, Sister Martha Ann also earned a bachelor’s in elementary education at College of Saint Mary-of-the-Wasatch, Salt Lake City, Utah, and her master’s in European history from College of the Holy Names, Oakland, California.
At St. Paul School, Seattle, Washington, she taught for three years and served another seven as principal. “It was a great ministry, and I enjoyed good friends there, and they enjoyed me,” Sister Martha Ann recalls. “From the time I left in 1978, I’ve stayed connected with one family until just last year.” Then, at St. Joseph’s School, Boise, Idaho, she was principal from 1982 to 1985.
Sister Martha Ann then transitioned into pastoral care, serving for nine years as director of pastoral care at Villa Maria, a residential care facility in Tucson, Arizona. This was followed by another nine years in pastoral care services at St. Joseph Villa in Salt Lake City. Then, from 2004 to 2013, she volunteered at various parishes in the region, coordinating the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, visiting hospice patients, and teaching Scripture classes, which met every week for eight years. “It was beautiful,” she says. Today, Sister Martha Ann serves in a ministry of prayer and presence and volunteers with the Congregation’s stamp ministry.
Sister Conceição Nogueira dos Santos, CSC
Silver Jubilarian
Lima, Peru
For more than two decades, Sister Conceição Nogueira dos Santos, CSC, has dedicated her ministry to social service, education and pastoral care in Brazil and Peru. As a trained psychologist and educator, she began her ministry accompanying deaf and blind individuals in the Brazilian states of Paraná and Minas Gerais, offering both pastoral support and therapeutic services.
Her commitment to inclusion also led her to serve as a catechist for people with disabilities and as a facilitator and teacher for educators working with deaf children in city schools. “I seek to enjoy everything I do, accompany people, listen, and share what I have learned,” Sister Conceição shares. She went on to explain, “The ministries and pastoral work I collaborate with are not mine, they belong to God.”
Since 2014, Sister Conceição has shared her gifts in formation ministry, serving as the Congregation’s formation coordinator for the Area of South America. She began a second three-year term in this role in 2018 and now serves as postulant director for Peru, accompanying women as they discern and grow in their call to religious life.
Sister Rosevania de Oliveira Pimentel, CSC
Silver Jubilarian
São Paulo, Brazil
For 25 years, Sister Rosevania de Oliveira Pimentel, CSC, has faithfully lived her consecrated life as a Sister of the Holy Cross, ministering with compassion in Brazil. She began her journey with the Congregation in Bahia, serving the Brazilian Religious Conference (CRB) as a receptionist and later a finance administrator. In 2006, she began accompanying women and children experiencing homelessness in Salvador, supporting them through daily challenges while helping foster their dignity and self-worth.
Since 2019, Sister Rosevania has provided pastoral care to mothers with hospitalized infants at Hospital Regional Sul in São Paulo and has visited patients and families at the University Hospital of the University of São Paulo. And in 2022, she began her current ministry collaborating with the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) in Mato Grosso, assisting Indigenous communities displaced from their lands. “Of everything I did, what I liked the most was being together with indigenous peoples—it was a great wealth for me,” Sister Rosevania reflects. “Indigenous people have another way of thinking about life, about time.”
Sister Rosevania has served in Congregation leadership as a councilor for the Area of South America, a role she held from 2014 to 2018 and resumed in 2024. She also currently serves as treasurer for the Area of South America.
Sister Renu Teresa Rozario, CSC
Silver Jubilarian
Dhaka, Bangladesh
To people in Bangladesh who are vulnerable and marginalized, Sister Renu Teresa Rozario, CSC, provides much-needed health services and a compassionate presence. She began her work in 2013, providing care and support to communities with limited access to medical services. Her commitment to community health and education later led her to Holy Cross Health Education Center in Kulaura, where she served for one year before being appointed director. With dedication, she carried out this role for one year.
Since 2022, Sister Renu has served as assistant director of Asha Griha (House of Hope) a day center in Dhaka that offers vital support services for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In this role, she accompanies individuals and families with compassion, helping to create a community where each person is valued and supported. As of 2024, Sister Renu has also been an active member of Talitha Kum Bangladesh, one arm of an international Catholic network of religious and laity committed to ending human trafficking and exploitation.
Sister Felicita Corraya, CSC
Silver Jubilarian
Chittagong, Bangladesh
With compassion and courage, Sister Felicita Corraya, CSC, has spent more than two decades walking alongside vulnerable populations in Bangladesh. After completing nursing and pathology training in 2005 at Christian Medical Hospital in Dhaka, she dedicated the next 14 years to health care ministries. During this time, she served as director at Miriam Health Center, Noakhali; director at Saint John Dispensary, Khagrachari; and health educator and rural health practitioner at Holy Cross Health Education Center, Kulaura.
Sister Felicita currently ministers full-time in pastoral care at Apon Griha (Own House) in Chattogram, a day center established by Holy Cross sisters that provides support services for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She also extends services in pastoral care to the local area, visiting families—especially those experiencing health issues—offering prayer and support. “My vocation for religious life is a learning process to live with God. It has supported me and inspired me to develop courage and improve myself,” Sister Felicita reflects. “With all this, I am grateful to God, who gave me the opportunity to work and make good relations with people.”