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Sister Mary Agnella O’Callaghan
Born to life: 8
June 1909
Born to eternal
life: 8 November 2006
Homily at the Requiem Mass
on 13 November 2006
delivered by Sr Catherine White, Congregational
Leader
 Four
years ago almost to the day, I had just been elected Provincial Minister.
On my first day as leader I visited Sr M Agnella. It seemed a natural
thing to do. Like so many of us I had enjoyed many conversations with
her. She was one who seemed to have her finger on the pulse of life – someone
who would know the right advice. Agnella was a woman you could trust
to hold a confidence. I never knew Agnella to gossip or be immersed in
community politics. She was so focused on spiritual things that you felt
you could trust her insight. I found her affirming. She could challenge
me but good advice was also forthcoming. Agnella wore the mantle of the
senior sister of the province easily.
Just a month later her Sister – Sr M Bernadette – died after a life
of ill health. Agnella was very sad and struggled, not with Bernadette’s
death, but more with the mystery of her life. Agnella was protective of Bernadette
but struggled to accept Bernadette’s ill health and frailty. Agnella had
such zeal, such energy, such vigor and she threw herself wholeheartedly into
whatever ministry was before her. But her faith held her secure. With Bernadette
now in God’s hands and she knew God still had work for her to do.
As the months went by I became accustomed to being summoned. Agnella
was regal. Even as leader I knew my place, and so I would go with haste.
She could be demanding and she could be stubborn. But happily she usually
just wanted a chat – usually about spiritual things – her
ministry, her life in community, or her call to the vowed life. Her faith
was strong and practical. She knew in every fibre of herself that God
had called her to religious life and God was with her every step of the
way. She was God’s servant.
Agnella grew up in county Cork, Ireland. There were four sisters (a
brother had died at birth). She spoke of happy times and a close family.
At 17 she responded to the call to the missionary life and to the convent.
She left Ireland for the Novitiate in Rome. Three years later she was
posted to a school at the east end of Boston. Six months later she was
told that she had been chosen to leave for a new mission in Australia.
She and Sr M Dympna set out at the end on 1929, arriving in Kedron in
early 1930 to begin St Anthony’s School. In 1949 she set out once
more for a new mission in PNG and later returned to Australia.
One of the fascinating things about Agnella was the myth that grew about
her. The weight of foundation seemed to shift to her shoulders alone.
One could imagine from the stories told that in those early years Agnella
alone set out for Australia, or that Agnella alone set out for the shores
of PNG. (There were in fact four sisters, including Sr M Rose who is
here with us today.) Somehow with the death of the other foundation sister
the myth of our foundation conflated onto Agnella. She became the founder
of the MFIC Sisters in Australia and PNG – not of her own design
I might add, but due probably to the depth and strength of the person
she was.
When she was the Leader of the Sisters in PNG she was tough. She gave
everything herself and expected that those around her would and could
do the same. I’m told she later came to recognise how harsh she
had been and felt great remorse because of it.
Agnella was first and foremost a missionary – spreading the word
of God’s love in Jesus was the essence of her life. Agnella loved
to work in sacramental preparation and State School catechetics. While
diminutive, she could hold the attention and manners of teenage boys.
She was an excellent catechist at the Coast and drew a band of equally
dedicated catechists about her. Her years at Burleigh were very fulfilling
for her.
Agnella retired to Kedron in the 1980s but well into her late 80s and
early 90s she was still involved in active ministry at Mt Alvernia College
and at the Gold Coast where she would give retreats and spiritual input
to the “elderly”. She continued to teach in State Schools
for many years.
Our Retirement community Delamore also became a focus of her energy.
She visited the residents. She was interested in everyone and gave sage
spiritual advice. She loved to prepare holy hours for her elderly friends
at Delamore. Agnella retained her remarkable energy, albeit somewhat
diminished, into her 90th year. However she began to fail significantly.
She was not able to walk as easily and she began to show signs of a failing
memory.
I was summoned to her room and she told me that she felt it was time
for nursing home care. We managed to find a placement for her but just
a week later she slipped and broke her hip. She did not recover her movement
or her mental sharpness. Not long after she moved into Penola Nursing
Home when the previous leader visited her she swept her eyes around the
room and commented that she had built “all of this”. I
find the burden of responsibility heavy, she said. I have to
keep my eye on everything and everyone.
It was difficult to watch her slip into the blur of dementia. For some
months she spoke as if she were home in Ireland. At times she was in
Papua New Guinea. Then her words made little sense. For well over a year
she has not been able to communicate at all but she remained regal to
the end.
Sr M Agnella was ready to go to God. She spoke of her readiness over
the three and a half years she was living at Penola. Her life had been
given to God’s work and she was ready to give her life into God’s
embrace. It took longer than she had hoped for the moment to come. When
it came it was peaceful. She simply breathed no more.
It is particularly appropriate that Our General Minister Sr Elaine Morzone
is present for Agnella’s funeral since her presence here today
reminds us that we are an international congregation, and it binds us
to our sisters around the world. Agnella’s life itself reflects
our international character and the missionary life at the heart of our
charism.
I would like to acknowledge the wonderful care she received and appreciated
at Penola over those past three and a half years. I thank the Sisters
of St Joseph and the staff of Penola. I also thank the many sisters and
friends who visited her so faithfully and so regularly. I have no doubt
that she always knew we were there.
We give thanks to God for her life and the witness of fidelity, friendship
and faith that marked her life.
About six years ago Agnella visited me in Toowoomba. I will never forget
the look of rapture on her face as she sat surrounded by three large
leaping German Shepherds. I’ve died and gone to heaven, she
told me. It doesn’t get better than this!
Well Agnella – you have, and I am sure it is better than that!
In the presence of God, with your loved ones, and surrounded by a multitude
of dogs, may you rest in peace.
-----oooOooo-----
Agnella
grew up in Cork in Ireland. She was one of the six daughters of Eugene
and Mary. The firstborn, a boy, died at birth. Agnella’s younger
sister Elizabeth, known as Sr M Bernadette, followed her into the Institute
and later to Australia.
Agnella entered the Missionary Franciscan Sisters in 1926. Although she
was just seventeen years old she travelled to Rome to begin her novitiate.
In 1929 after her first Profession she was posted to Boston where she
began a teaching career that spanned many decades. Her stay in the United
States was very short, however, as within six months she received news
that she was to accompany Sr M Dympna to a new mission in Australia.
In the history of the Australian and Papua New Guinea Province which
she wrote in the 1970s Agnella asks the question “Why
was I chosen to begin this new mission?”.
Many who knew her would reply that her exceptional ability as a teacher,
her missionary zeal for proclaiming God’s love, and her natural
leadership qualities would have made her an ideal candidate for such
a posting. Why was Agnella chosen at just twenty years of age for this
demanding mission? Why not!
Accompanied by the General Vicaress, Sr M Scholastica, Sr M Dympna Ahearn
and Sr M Agnella arrived in Kedron in January 1930. The Sisters began
the school just days after arriving in Kedron. Agnella quickly became
very popular with both the parents and the children of the school. She
taught at St Anthony’s School at Kedron for 15 years before she
was transferred to Bardon where she taught at St Joseph’s Primary
School for three years.
In 1949 Agnella was among a group of four sisters who travelled to Aitape
Diocese in the West Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea at the invitation
of the Friars Minor to begin a new foundation. Once again Agnella was
involved in teaching in Sissano, Fatima, Aitape and Seleo Island. For
much of her time in Papua New Guinea she was also Superior. Agnella remained
in Papua New Guinea for eighteen years, returning to teach in Kedron
in 1968 and Bardon the following year.
In 1971 she was transferred to Burleigh Heads where she stayed until
1986 except for a brief interlude in Silkwood. At this time she was involved
in the State School Apostolate and the Sacramental Preparation of Children.
She trained catechists to assist with this important ministry. Agnella
was an excellent teacher who could mange to enthral even the older teenage
boys. She made many friends in the region and was also in demand for
the spiritual input she gave at retreat times to the elderly residents
of Nursing Homes.
In 1987 Agnella returned to Kedron where once again she embraced the
work of catechist in the nearby State School. She also assisted at Mt
Alvernia where she supervised study classes in the library. She made
frequent visits to St Anthony’s where she quickly made friends
with the staff members. Their esteem for her has been enshrined in the
newly refurbished administration wing of the school named the Agnella
Centre in her memory.
While living at Kedron Agnella also continued to travel to the coast
a couple of times a year to minister to “the elderly”. She
happily visited the residents of the St Vincent de Paul Nursing Home
and tended to their spiritual needs. Agnella was greatly loved and appreciated
by the staff and residents.
Agnella also visited the residents of Delamore Retirement Community
at Kedron. She was interested in each person, and many remember her deep
spirituality and kindness. Agnella arranged prayer afternoons and holy
hour prayers in the convent chapel to which many of the residents came.
Agnella loved the beauty of creation, and in particular she loved dogs.
There are many stories about her years in Papua New Guinea where she
had a little dog which she spoilt shamelessly. In her retirement years
also when Sr Patricia Treacy took her German Shepherd Kracker to work
at Delamore, Agnella would spend time each afternoon sitting on the verandah
with Kracker. She described being with dogs as a foretaste of heaven.
In 2003 Agnella moved to Villa Maria Nursing Home where she would receive
the additional care she had begun to need. Within days of moving there
she slipped, fell and broke her hip. Unfortunately her surgery was delayed
a number of days and as a result she never regained either her mobility
or her sharp mind. After her stay in hospital Agnella was transferred
to Penola Nursing Home in Wavell Heights where she died on 8 November
2006.
For the past year Agnella has not been able to communicate with visitors
but she was often able to give one of her cheeky smiles. Agnella remained
regal to the end. May she rest in peace.
Sister Catherine White mfic
November 2006
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