Sr. Mary Gertrude (Catherine McSweeney)
The Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions would have been no stranger to the young Catherine McSweeney, growing up in Kilmallock, Ireland. That was a place from which the Congregation received many vocations, including Kathleen’s two aunts, Mother Mary St, Denis and Mary St Killian, and a cousin, Sr. Mary St. Dominic.
Kathleen, as she was called in the family, was the fifth child in the family of four girls and five boys. Their parents, Cornelius and Elizabeth, were devout Catholics, who gave their children a strong grounding in their faith.
Kathleen’s formal education began at Glenroe National School, followed by Secondary School at St.Paul’s, Kilfinane. It seems, that at this stage in her life, she was not interested in becoming a religious. Her sister, Margaret, (Mary Stanislaus) however, decided to enter our Congregation in 1943, and as her parents had concerns about her going to England, during the war years, they thought it would be good if Kathleen travelled with her. Kathleen agreed to this, but had no intention of entering the Congregation. The plan was that she would stay in the Juniorate for a short time, until her sister had settled, and then return home. But God had other plans. As the “short time” lengthened, Kathleen experienced the stirrings of a missionary vocation to which she generously said her fiat, and after two years, on Christmas Eve, 1945, she became a postulant. She commenced her novitiate in September 1946, taking the name Mary Gertrude.
Shortly after First profession in 1948, Mary Gertrude was missioned to Leyland Community where she was an assistant teacher in the school. Here, her talent for working with young children was soon recognized, and two years later, she went to Endsleigh Teacher Training College in Hull. She qualified as a primary school teacher in 1953 and returned to Leyland, where she taught in the school there for another four years.
Mary Gertrude loved her work as a teacher, and several of our schools, Wealdstone, Hastings, and Cathcart, in Scotland, benefitted from her enthusiasm and commitment. She also taught for several years in St. Simon’s Primary School Ashford, while she was a member of our community in Sturry. She showed great zeal in teaching children about their Faith, and especially in preparing them for the Sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation. She was one of the first Sisters to go to the newly formed Corpus Christi Catechetical College, and enjoyed her year there, from 1965 to 1966. She kept herself up to date in that area over the years, moving into Parish Catechesis later.
In 1981, after a short time as leader of the Wealdstone Community, Mary Gertrude was asked to go to the new foundation in Brighton where she was responsible for the community, and was a member of the Adult Education team in the Parish. She was greatly respected, not only for her work in adult religious education and pastoral ministry, but especially for her presence in the local community. One parishioner wrote of her, “God came first in her life; and she shared her love for Him by caring deeply for those around her. She was a quiet nun, serene, but she got things done and she knew how to keep a secret.”
After eight years in Brighton, Mary Gertrude moved to Barry in South Wales. She was very involved in the parish there, coordinating adult religious education programs, Parish catechesis and training Catechists for their role in parish ministry with children, young people and adults. She fell in love with Wales, and its people, and wrote, “Barry Mission for me was a time of great growth and a wonderful spiritual up lift. I was happy and contented in every Mission to which I was appointed, but Barry was special.” She was sad when the house in Barry closed, but like the true missionary she was, she settled quickly in New Southgate, where the community and parish benefitted from her quiet presence. Eventually, for health reasons, she moved to Deal where she settled quickly, and the fact that she asked to be buried there is an indication of how happy she was in that community. Unfortunately, the time came when Mary Gertrude needed full-time care, and she certainly received that in St. Anne’s Convent, Sturry, where she was next door to her own sister, Mary Stanislaus.
While her health had been deteriorating for a few years, her death on 29th June came unexpectedly. She had spent some hours in hospital that day, and had not been home very long, when God called her to her eternal home. Unfortunately, dear Mary Stanislaus was not present, but there were Sisters with her, and it must have been be a consolation to her sister, and the other Sisters in St. Anne’s, and her family, that Mary Gertrude came home to die, and was not alone.
Her funeral Mass took place in St. Anne’s Convent chapel on 30th July, celebrated by Fr. Mark White C.P. It was sad that her family in Ireland could not be present, owning to the restrictions around COVID 19, but the Sisters from Euphrasie Barbier Community Sturry, and some Sisters from Deal, represented us all. After Mass, the hearse, accompanied by Sisters from Sturry, made its way to Deal cemetery where the Deal Sisters were waiting for them. Mary Gertrude’s mortal remains now lie in ground that has been hallowed by so many RNDM’s over the years. May she, and they, rest in peace.
“Glory to him whose power, working in us,
can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine” (Eph.3:20