PROVIDENCE – When Mercy Sister Eleanor Little was a young student, she was always impressed by teachers whose love and dedication inspired her to answer God’s call to religious life.
To view more photos, please click here“It was the example that I saw from the sisters,” the golden jubilarian recalled, adding that she was instructed by the Sisters of Mercy at the former St. Michael School and St. Xavier Academy.
“I found them to be very friendly,” Sister Little continued. She added that the sisters developed a close-knit community at the schools, and noted that members of her graduating class at St. Michael still meet regularly to continue friendships that have endured for decades.
Now an archivist for the Sisters of Mercy based in New Hampshire, Sister Little served in the Diocese of Providence as a teacher at Mercymount School, Cumberland, and at St. Joseph School, Pawtucket, and as an archivist at St. Mary Academy-Bay View in East Providence.
On Sunday, Sister Little joined religious priests, brothers and sisters celebrating milestone anniversaries for the annual Religious Jubilee Celebration held at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul.
In his homily, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin expressed his gratitude on behalf of the diocese to the religious for their commitment to serving God’s people.
“Thank you and thank God for your dedicated service to the church,” he began.
“Sharing the life of Jesus is the foundation of everything we do in our Christian and Catholic lives,” Bishop Tobin emphasized, noting that while the jubilarians enjoyed a variety of different ministries, they all shared a common goal to bring the faithful closer to God.
Following the homily, jubilarians were led in the renewal of vows by St. Chretienne Sister Jacqueline Dickey, director of the Office for Religious.
Sacred Heart Brother Roger Fountain, also celebrating his 50th anniversary in religious life, recalled that his early teachers, the Daughters of the Holy Spirit and the Sisters of St. Anne, inspired him to answer God’s call to serve in the classroom by their example of being excellent and dedicated teachers.
“I gave my heart and soul to teaching because I loved it so much,” he remarked. Brother Fountain, who taught at the former Sacred Heart Academy in Central Falls for several years, and later served in New Hampshire and in England, said it always gave him great satisfaction to witness the progress his students had made during the school year.
Cross and Passion Sister Anne Harrington, celebrating 60 years of religious life, served as a library assistant at The Prout School and in hospital ministry at South County Hospital. She also taught at St. Luke School in Barrington earlier in her career, and currently tutors an English-as-a-Second Language student.
“I felt called,” she said. “As a young girl, I wanted to be a sister.
For Christian Brother Michael Reis, ministering in child welfare has brought many rewards. Brother Reis serves as executive director of Tides Family Services, an agency with several offices throughout the Ocean State.
“Everyone in my family was a New York City cop or a firefighter, the golden jubilarian recalled, laughing. “I didn’t end up as a cop, but I have been doing the same kind of work.”
Brother Reis, who once thought of being a missionary, was introduced to the De LaSalle Christian Brothers and to their charism while attending St. Augustine School, Brooklyn, N.Y. where he recalled the tuition was then $15 per semester.
Noting that the Christian Brothers operate several child welfare agencies on the East Coast, Brother Reis said that the Tides program allows children entrusted by DCYF to their care to remain at home and in school without disruption. Program staff visit the children three times a day.
“Whenever they need us, we’re there,” he said.
Bishop Tobin presided at the Mass; Father Paul Laporte concelebrated. Deacons Stephen Cote and John Croy served as deacon assistants. Father Michael J. Najim served as master of ceremonies.
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Sister M. Faustina Cronan, RSM, entered the Sisters of Mercy community 80 years ago, on September 8, 1931, from her home parish, Sacred Heart in East Providence. She made perpetual vows on August 16, 1937. The daughter of the late James and Anne Cronan, she attended Catholic Teachers College, Providence College, and received her AB from Salve Regina College. A life-long elementary school educator in diocesan schools, Sister was assigned at various times to St Ann, Providence, St Joseph and St Mary in Pawtucket, St Michael in Providence, St Mary in Bristol, and St Patrick in Valley Falls. She completed her ministry in education as librarian and teacher at St Leo the Great School in Pawtucket. These days, Sister enjoys living at Mount St Rita Health Centre in Cumberland, where she is active and involved in the day to day activities of the happily retired.
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Sister Margaret Murphy, RSM, a native of Providence, entered the Sisters of Mercy on February 2, 1936. She received her BA from Salve Regina University and her MA from Boston College. From 1938 to 1947, she taught elementary school and from 1947 to 1970 sister taught at the former St. Xavier Academy. From 1970 to 1974, she taught Math at Salve Regina and from 1974 to 1996 at Saint Mary Academy, Bayview. After retiring in 1996, she volunteered for a few years and she is now retired at Franklin Court Assisted Living in Bristol.
Sister Madeleine SanSouci, RSM, 75 years a Sister of Mercy, was born in Providence. She is a 1936 alumna of St Xavier’s Academy. On September 8, 1936, Sister entered the Sisters of Mercy in Cumberland, the first parishioner of the newly formed St Augustine Church in Providence to enter a religious community. Sister was educated at Catholic Teachers College, Providence College, and the Catholic University of America. She taught at the Cleary and Tyler Schools in Providence before going to Washington, DC, to learn nursing. Sister received an MS in Nursing Education from Catholic University of America. In 1948, Sister went to Salve Regina College to be a nurse educator and continued there for many years. She also worked in public health nursing and became Executive Director of the New Hampshire Nurses Association. Sister Madeleine returned to Rhode Island and Salve Regina and worked there until 1984. Sister is now in residence at Mount St Rita Health Centre in Cumberland, the place where she began her religious life 75 years ago.
Sister Cecilia Scalzo, SSD, a native of Manhattan, New York, entered the Sisters of St. Dorothy on May 24, 1936. In August of 1946, Sister made her final profession. Her ministry of education began in Reading, Pennsylvania and subsequently led her to schools in Detroit, Michigan; Staten Island, New York; New Bedford, Massachusetts; Newport and Bristol, Rhode Island, and finally to parish ministry in Providence, Rhode Island. Sister is currently retired and is living at Our Lady of Fatima Convent in Warren, Rhode Island. Sister Cecilia occupies her time making crafts and spending her time in prayer.
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Brother Roger Fountain, SC, a native of Warren, Massachusetts, entered the Brothers of the Sacred Heart on June 28,1959 at the Scholasticate of the Order in Pomfret, CT. He professed his first vows in 1961 and his final vows in 1967. From 1961 to 1982 he taught in the Order’s schools in Central Falls, St. Albans, Herts., England, Woonsocket and in Nashua, N.H. Since 1983 to 1997 he ministered in Parish Schools in Burlington, VT, Winooski, VT, and Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington, VT. From 1999 through 2007 , he served at St. Francis Chapel and City Ministry Center in Providence. Presently, he resides and works in Pascoag, RI as Tailor, Driver and Volunteer.
Brother Paul J. Hebert, SC, entered the Brothers of the Sacred Heart on August 31, 1958. He professed first vows on August 24, 1961, and his final vows in Roma, Lesotho, on December 24, 1966. He received a BA from St. Michael’s College in Vermont and a MA from Anna Maria College in Paxton, MA. He also studied in Rome, Italy, and holds a postgraduate certificate in Spiritual studies. From 1966 to 1980 he was a missionary in Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Zambia where he was mostly involved in priestly and religious formation. Upon being reassigned to the United States in 1980, he served as a guidance counselor at Bishop Guertin High School, Nashua, NH. In 1987 he was appointed vocation director and in 1995 was named missions director. He continues to serve in this latter position, raising funds for the congregation’s missions in English-speaking Africa.
Sister Elfriede M. Jackson, FMM, was born in River Cess Country, Liberia, She entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary September 15, 1960 in North Providence as there was no novitiate in Liberia. She pronounced her final vows in Monrovia in 1966. She was sent in mission to Jirapa Hospital in Ghana to study nursing and then returned to Sanaquillie, Liberia to run a clinic. Sent in mission to Coldash, England, she served as a community nurse. She was a member of a team of Franciscan Missionaries of Mary who started the Coldash Retreat Center. Then, she was sent in mission to Liberia to organize and open a retreat center. During the Liberian civil war she was sent to the United States where she served as a member of the novitiate formation team. Presently, she resides in Trinity Community in North Providence where she assists in the FMM Assisted Living Residence and the Fruit Hill Day Program for Elderly.
In his 50 years in ministry, Michael Joyce, OFM, has spent more time abroad than in the United States. This summer, Michael celebrates the golden jubilee of his first profession in 1961 at age 21in Lafayette, N.J., close to Newark, where he grew up. During his 17 years in Japan, from 1967 to 1984, he served four parishes as assistant pastor and pastor. Strong bonds, he said, were made at these parishes. Michael said he enjoyed his time there and loves the Japanese culture. He also found working with the young men in formation, a ministry that has followed him throughout his vocation, to be very rewarding. All his years in Japan he was involved in formation ministry. He spent his last six years in Japan on the novitiate staff. In Africa from 1985 to 1999, Michael worked in Malawi, Zambia, Uganda and Kenya, mostly working with men in formation, and helping start a retreat movement among local Franciscan congregations. Now back in the United States, Michael serves at St. Francis Chapel and the Church of St. Mary’s on Broadway in Providence, saying Mass and hearing confessions and helping out with funerals and marriages. He also ministers every Sunday at the ACI maximum-security prison.
Sister Eleanor Little, RSM, grew up in Providence and attended St. Michael School and St. Xavier Academy. She entered the Sisters of Mercy on September 8, 1961 and was professed on August 16, 1964. She first worked as a nurse in the community infirmaries and then as a teacher in the Diocese of Providence – St. Joseph, Pawtucket and Mercymount in Cumberland. She also taught in the Fall River Diocese at Sts. Peter and Paul, Fall River and at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, MA. In 1989 she became the archivist at Salve Regina University followed by time spent as archivist at Mercy International Centre, Dublin, Ireland, and St. Mary Academy – Bay View. Since November 2006 she has been the Mercy Northeast Archivist at the Mercy Northeast Archives in Windham, NH.
Brother Robert Marcotte, SC, a native of Fitchburg, MA, entered the Brothers of the Sacred Heart on June 28, 1959, in Pomfret, CT. He professed his first vows in 1961 and his final vows in 1967. From 1961 to 2011 he worked in the following schools in Sharon, MA; Saint Dominic High School in Lewiston, ME; in Andover, MA; Christ the King in Vermont; Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, RI, and at the Provincial Retirement Home in Pascoag, RI, as a volunteer janitor.
Sister Ellen Martin, RSM, a native of St. Leo’s Parish in Pawtucket, entered the Religious Sisters of Mercy on September 8, 1961. She received a BS in nursing from Salve Regina University. Sister Ellen was health care coordinator for the Sisters of Mercy for 25 years. She was a nurse in the Looking Upwards program for 10 years where she ministered to a group of 23 developmentally disabled women.. Sister is Eucharistic Minister for the sick at St. Catherine’s Parish in Little Compton, Rhode Island
Sr. Elaine Moskal, SSJ, a native of Webster, MA, entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, MA, on September 15, 1961. She received her BA from The Elms College in Chicopee, MA, an MA from St. Joseph College, West Hartford, CT, and a BS in video production from New England Tech, Warwick, RI. Sister Elaine professed her final vows in 1969 and taught in the Worcester Diocese for two years prior to coming to Rhode Island in 1969 to this time. She ministered at St. Catherine Academy in Newport, Sacred Heart High School and Bishop Keough Regional High in Pawtucket, St. Xavier Academy both in Providence and Coventry as well as St. Leo Parish. She is presently videographer for her community and homemaker for the elderly in the Pawtucket area.
Sister Claire Napoleon, FMM, entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary September 15, 1960 in N. Providence and pronounced her final vows March 19, 1969. Her earlier ministries include that of a nurse aide and an X-ray technician at Kennedy Memorial Hospital, in Brighton, MA, and a child care worker in McMahon Shelter in Harlem, NY. After completing MSW studies, she served as an adoption social worker in Harlem Dowling Social Services in New York, and a Director of Social Services in Divine Providence Shelter in Manhattan, NY. Sent in mission to North Providence, RI, she served as the coordinator and supervisor with the program for Southeast Asian Unaccompanied Minors. She has served in local and provincial leadership. She is residing at St. Antoine’s Residence. Her present ministry is that of prayer for the needs of the church and of the world.
Brother Michael Reis, LICSW, FSC, entered the Brothers of the Christian Schools in 1960. From 1962 to 1965 he attended Catholic University of America. From 1965 to 1967 Br. Michael taught Mathematics at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn. From 1967 to 1973, Br. Michael was a cottage supervisor at Lincoln Hall, a residential facility for adjudicated youth in Lincolndale, NY. During this time, Br. Michael received a Masters in Counseling at Manhattan College. From 1974 to 1975 Br. Michael was a member of the Chaplaincy Team, responsible for organizing individual and group counseling services for staff, inmates and their families at the RI Adult Correctional Institution and the RI Training School for Youth. In 1975 Br. Michael co-founded Ocean Tides in Narragansett, RI. Br. Michael was President of Ocean Tides from 1975 to 1982. In 1983, Br. Michael founded Tides Family Services, a community and home-based family preservation agency focused on providing high-risk families counseling and other supportive services needed to keep their children at home. Br. Michael received a Masters in Social Work at Rhode Island College in 1983 and an honorary Doctoral degree in Education Leadership from St. Mary’s University in 2005.
Sister M. Diane Russo, RSM, a native of North Providence, entered the Sisters of Mercy on September 8, 1961. She received her BA from Salve Regina University, her M.Ed. from Rhode Island College and her MLIS from the University of Rhode Island. Sister Diane taught in several schools in the Diocese including St. Peter School in Warwick from 1967 – 1980 and St. Matthew School in Cranston from 1985 – 1997. In 1997, Sister joined the faculty at Mercymount Country Day School in Cumberland, where she continues to minister as the library media specialist. Sister is active in religious scouting serving on the Diocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting. She also serves as Pastoral Associate for Catholic Scouting.
Sister Prisca Maria Goh, LSP, a native of Singapore, entered the Little Sisters of the Poor on December 9, 1983 in Singapore and began her formation training there. She completed her novitiate in Hong Kong and made her temporary Profession in 1986. She was assigned to Taiwan and then to France. Sister was privileged to serve in a few different Homes before going to the Mother House to prepare for her final Profession in 1991. From 1992 to 1999, she was in the direct care of the residents in Malaysia, Singapore and France. In 2003, sister was assigned to the formation program of the Little Sisters of the Poor Novitiate in New York. After this, Sister Prisca served in Homes in Philadelphia, Hong Kong, and her present assignment in Pawtucket.
Sister Julie Marie Thompson, LSP, a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, entered the Little Sisters of the Poor in their Home in St. Paul on January 22, 1984. She made first Profession on September 6, 1986. Sister spent the next four years caring for the Residents in their Home in Evansville, Indiana and St. Louis, Missouri in the Chicago Province, giving direct care to the elderly. In 1990 she went to La Tour St. Joseph, their Mother House in France to spend one year in preparation for Perpetual Profession which she made on September 1, 1991. She spent one year in Louisville, Kentucky, six months in Somerville, Massachusetts, and two years in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, giving direct care to the elderly. From 1995 until 2008 she was giving care to the elderly in St. Paul, Minnesota; Denver, Colorado; Gallup, New Mexico; St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri. In April of 2008 she returned to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where she continues to serve the elderly.
2011 JUBILARIANS
80th Anniversary
Sr. M. Faustina Cronan, RSM
75th Anniversary
Sr. Margaret Murphy, RSM
Sr. Madeline SanSouci, RSM
Sr. Cecelia Scalzo, SSD
70th Anniversary
Sr. Gilberte Belhumer, FMM
Sr. M. Noel Blute, RSM
Sr. Simone Decelles, FMM
Rev. Joseph Luke Lennon, OP
Sr. Mary Moriarty, RSM
Br. Antony O’Connor, FSC
Sr. Marie O’Neill, RSM
Sr. M. Marcella Shanley, RSM
Sr. M. Margaret Smith, RSM
Sr. Margarida Tavares, FMM
65th Anniversary
Sr. Theresa Arsenault, FMM
Sr. Mary Caffrey, RSM
Sr. M. Alminda Diniz, RSM
Sr. Lucy Donohue, RSM
Sr. Caterina Isonni, FMM
Sr. Mary Jacinta, RSM
Sr. Mary E. Lister, RSM
Sr. M. Evangela McAleer, RSM
Sr. Marie Jeannine O’Brien, RSM
Sr. Mary Francis Ryan, RSM
60th Anniversary
Sr. Pauline Baris, FMM
Sr. Joan Bailey, RSM
Rev. Denis Bartley, SSC
Sr. Louise Gabrielle Bourget, SUSC
Sr. Ann Butler, SSJ
Rev. Edward Louis Cleary, OP
Sr. Carmen Demeule, RSM
Sr. Lois Dunn, RSM
Sr. Patricia Farley, RSM
Sr. M. Viola Gross, RSM
Sr. Mary Laurita Hand, PBVM
Sr. Anne Harrington, CP
Sr. Carol Louise Hopkins, RSM
Rev. Damian Kearney, OSB
Sr. Margaret Mary Laffey, CP
Sr. M. Geraldyn McGreevy, RSM
Sr. Marguerite Montalto, RSM
Sr. Angela O’Callaghan, SJC
Sr. Patricia Otillio, RSM
Sr. Barbara Riley, RSM
Sr. Eleanor Rock, RSM
Sr. M. Gloria Santaniello, RSM
Sr. Ann Tarnauskas, FMM
Sr. Ann Welch, RSM
Sr. Joel Zarotiadou, FMM
50th Anniversary
Sr. Virginia Burke, RSM
Rev. Paul M. Connor, OP
Br. Roger Fountain, SC
Br. Paul J. Hebert, SC
Sr. Elfriede Jackson, FMM
Rev. Michael S. Joyce, OFM
Sr. Eleanor Little, RSM
Br. Robert Marcotte, SC
Sr. Ellen Martin, RSM
Sr. Elaine Moskal, SSJ
Sr. Claire Napoleon, FMM
Br. Michael Reis, FSC
Sr. M. Diane Russo, RSM
25th Anniversary
Sr. Prisca Maria Goh, LSP
Sr. Julie Marie Thompson, LSP
