Member of Early Novitiate

I have written about the original sisters of the Scranton IHMs, but what about the first postulants? The names of the first six postulants to be recorded were Elizabeth Jackson of Toronto, Canada (eventually she became Mother Mary Magdalen Jackson), Mary Ann Philbin of Hawley, PA; Margaret Hickey of New York City; Jane McGivern of Pleasant Mount, PA; Rose Dougherty of Pottsville, PA; and Jane (Jennie) Kearney of Pittston, PA. This information was gleaned from the original handwritten records of “Entrance in Register 1.” The place of birth for some of these sisters differ between Register 1 and the account in Sister Immaculata Gillespie’s book.

I would like to highlight Sister Mary William Kearney who entered the novitiate on November 8, 1871, was received on February 2, 1872, and professed on August 14, 1874. Just a note that the Scranton branch of IHMs was established in August 1871. I assume she entered in Susquehanna and was professed in Scranton at St. Cecilia’s.

Sadly, Sister Mary William was professed for only a few months before she died on November 5, 1874 at St. Ceclia’s Convent in Scranton. Newspaper accounts of her funeral describe the Church as being filled with many mourners who had arrived at St. Vincent’s Church (currently St. Peter’s Cathedral) in Scranton. Mourners arrived from Pittston on the early trains and in carriages—in fact, the Church was so crowded that people had to stand in the aisles. Her funeral took place at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, November 9. In his homily, Bishop O’Hara spoke of the joy Sister Mary William radiated to those around her in life, and that there was no deceit, no guile in her heart. She may have had a very short life on earth, a very short time to live out her vocation, but she is an example to us of someone who accomplished her vocation and set for us a model of a life well lived, regardless of length of time.