Sister M. Agnes Bernard Cummings, IHM

Sister M. Agnes Bernard Cummings, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Saturday, June 25, 1960, at Sacred Heart Convent in LaPlata, MD.

She was born on July 12, 1899, in Jessup, PA, and given the name Dora Patricia. She was the daughter of the late Bernard J. and Bridget A. Gallagher Cummings. She entered the IHM Congregation on September 8, 1926, received the religious habit on December 29, 1926, and made profession of her vows on January 2, 1929.

Sister Agnes Bernard served as a teacher at the following schools: St. John the Evangelist Elementary School in Scranton, PA, from 1929 to 1931; St. Ephrem Elementary School in Brooklyn, NY, from 1931 to 1939; St. Monica Elementary School in Raleigh, NC, from 1939 to 1945; St. Matthew Elementary School in East Stroudsburg, PA, from 1945 to 1946; Mother of Mercy Elementary School in Washington, NC, from 1946 to 1947; St. Joseph Elementary School in New Bern, NC, from 1947 to 1953; and Archbishop Neale Elementary School in LaPlata, MD, from 1953 to 1960.

She was preceded in death by a brother, Bernard Joseph (infant), and a sister, Mary J.

She is survived by a brother, John A. of Washington, DC, and several cousins.

The funeral will be Tuesday, June 28 at 9:30 a.m. at the Marian Convent in Scranton, PA. Interment will follow at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA. Friends may call on Monday afternoon or evening at the Marian Convent.

Archival Remembrance:

A few years of Sister Agnes Bernard’s teaching apostolate were spent in schools for white children, yet it is true to say that her religious life was devoted to the African American apostolate. At mother of Mercy, St. Joseph’s, and St. Monica’s, she spent herself for African American children, giving herself generously for their spiritual and temporal welfare. Later at La Plata she taught hundreds of African American children in Saturday and Sunday classes. Hers was a real dedication to her apostolate. She loved all children, and they in turn readily responded to the affection and care she showered on them. Each convent to which she was assigned was blessed by her gentle, holy spirit, for she was a model religious whose beautiful and saintly memory is a real benediction.