Sister M. Mercedes O’Malley, IHM

Sister M. Mercedes O’Malley, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Tuesday, August 5, 1919, at Mercy Hospital in Scranton, PA.

She was born on November 16, 1859 in Scranton, PA, and given the name Honora (Nora). She was the daughter of the late Thomas and Anna Cannon O’Malley. She entered the IHM Congregation on August 27, 1885, received the religious habit on June 1, 1886, and made profession of her vows on July 12, 1888.

Sister Mercedes served as a teacher at the following schools: Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Scranton, PA; St. Cecilia Academy in Scranton, PA; and St. John the Evangelist School in Scranton, PA. She also served as examiner of schools in the Diocese of Scranton, PA.

At the time of her death, Sister Mercedes was the superior at St. Joseph’s Convent in Danville, PA. 

She was preceded in death by two brothers, Peter and John, and two sisters, Bridget Gallagher and Sister M. Stella, IHM.

She is survived by four sisters, Sister M. Raphael, IHM, of Pittston, PA, Kate G. O’Malley, Ellen (Nellie) O’Malley, and Jane (Jennie) Gilgallon all of Scranton, PA, nieces and nephews.

The funeral will be Thursday, August 7, at 9:30 a.m. in the Mount Saint Mary’s Chapel, in Scranton, PA. Interment will follow at the Marywood College Cemetery, on the grounds of Marywood College in Scranton.

Note: Sister M. Mercedes and Sister M. Raphael were twin sisters, who both entered the IHM Congregation.

Archival Remembrance:

Sister Mercedes death brought to a close thirty-three years spent in the convent in constant self-sacrifice. She has left deep mourning for her loss in every community in which she spent herself in the spread of the gospel in the hearts of the little ones.

“Right Revered Bishop Hoban, in the funeral sermon, paid a beautiful and touching tribute to the life of the departed religious. The bishop read “How beautiful are Thy tabernacles the eighty-third psalm, beginning O Lord God of Hosts,” and suggested its appropriateness to the spirit of Sister Mercedes as well as to the spirit of the religious life and showed how the yearning of David for God and His graces is exemplified therein. The bishop then drew attention to the kindness and zeal and other virtues of Sister Mercedes in her life and especially her resignation in her last days and concluded with a hope that we might all one day enjoy the happiness that is hers.”

excerpt from The Scranton Republican, Scranton, Pennsylvania, Friday, August 8, 1919

“Sister M. Mercedes O’Malley was Superior at Saint Joseph’s, Danville, at the time of her death, August 5, 1915 (sic should be 1919). She had just finished the work of the school year, when she was stricken with a fatal illness. Sister M. Mercedes was an earnest, upright religious, honest with herself and with all who came under her care. Her death was a great loss to the community, for reasonably she might have hoped for many more years of usefulness. She was Sister Mary Raphael’s twin sister, and one of three daughters who had consecrated themselves to the service of God.”

Excerpted from The Sisters of the I.H.M.: The Story of The Founding of The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Their Work In The Scranton Diocese by Sister M. Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, NY, 1921, pgs. 452, 53