Sister M. Vincent Flynn, IHM

Sister M. Vincent Flynn, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Monday, April 20, 1863, at St. Joseph’s Convent in Susquehanna, PA.

She was born on July 2, 1826 in County Clare, Ireland, and given the name Ellen. She was the daughter of the late John and Catharine Dolan Flynn. She entered the IHM Congregation at St. Joseph’s Convent in Susquehanna County, PA, in June of 1859, received the religious habit on November 24, 1859, and made profession of her vows on February 2, 1861.

She is survived in part by two sisters, Sister M. Bernard, IHM of Philadelphia, PA, and Sister Mary Baptista, IHM of West Chester, PA.

Interment is at the Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church Cemetery in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania.

Below is some more information from the Scranton IHM Congregation Archives office:

Sister M. Vincent Flynn who was born Ellen Flynn on July 2, 1826 in County Clare, Ireland. We do not know how she met the IHM sisters, but she entered the community in St. Joseph’s in Susquehanna County, PA, in June 1859, was received at St. Joseph’s on November 24, 1859, becoming known as Sister Vincent, and was professed on February 2, 1861. It appears that she stayed at St. Joseph’s in Susquehanna County for her very short religious life, because her date of death is April 20, 1863, which means she was in her early 30s. We do not know the cause of her death, but we do know she is buried in the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Cemetery in Susquehanna County, PA.

From 1859, to 1864, two novitiates, in Susquehanna and in Reading, were used simultaneously and interchangeably. In 1864, the novices from Susquehanna were transferred to Reading which became the official novitiate and motherhouse of the IHMs, at the designation by Bishop Wood of Philadelphia.

Sister M. Bernard Flynn was the Elizabeth Flynn from Philadelphia who was received into the IHMs at St. Joseph’s in Susquehanna County on July 24, 1859, four months before Sister Vincent (Ellen) Flynn, as described by Sister M. Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, in her book, The Sisters of the I.H.M. It turns out that Sister Bernard Flynn was a younger sister to Sister Vincent Flynn, and also was born in County Clare, Ireland.

Sister Bernard returned to the Philadelphia area to minister and died on May 25, 1883; she is buried in Old Cathedral Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA. We also learned that Sister Vincent Flynn had another sister, Sister M. Baptista Flynn.

In 1863 when Sr. Vincent died, all IHM sisters in the east belonged to the Philadelphia diocese since the Scranton diocese was not formed until 1868. It was in the summer of 1871 that sisters in the Scranton diocesan region were gathered by Bishop O’Hara to ask if they wished to stay or to move to the Reading community. Those who chose to stay in Scranton became the founding sisters of the Scranton IHM branch. Even though Sister M. Vincent Flynn is among the names of our deceased sisters, she was in reality an Immaculata IHM.