Sister Lucia (Hesen), CSC
( - August 16, 2009)
Please, join in prayer of thanksgiving for this Sister of the Holy Cross who died on August 16, 2009 in Saint Mary's Convent.
Sister Lucia was full of energy, much like the ad for the "Energizer Bunny," she would push herself to the limit. There was an intensity about everything she did from her efforts to recover after being "fallen" (to use her word) from a sever stroke at age 55, to the self-taught skills of giving individual retreats in her recovery phase, to the speed and determination with which she drove her motorized cart around Saint Mary's. Though Sister Lucia carried the cross of poor health for many years she fought valiantly to overcome the burdens of her handicap and resented the fact that they impinged on her efforts to remain independent and active.
Sister's "growing up" years were frequently touched by sorrow, separation and confusion. Her mother, a Catholic, died when she was just 8 years old and her father, a Methodist and no longer at home, died when she was 12. Raised by her very religious grandparents, she attended a Quaker school until high school when they, too, passed away.
She and her sister, Jean, then joined her aunt's household. The devout Catholic atmosphere and devotional practices of her Aunt Helen's home led her and her sister to begin convert classes. And so her religious affiliation came full circle when she and her sister made their profession of faith in the Catholic Church.
Sister Lucia was one of Father Miltenberger's postulants. Anyone who was in the Congregation in the early 1940s will recognize his name. He was a pastor in Washington, D.C., and was instrumental in guiding many young women to Holy Cross -- they proudly declared themselves his "postulants." In 1940 Sister Lucia, accompanied by her aunt, went to
Dunbarton College to be dressed in postulant garb and join the group of young women boarding the train to Saint Mary's to enter the novitiate.
After entering the Congregation she spent 25 years teaching and then another six as a member of the office support staff in various colleges and high schools mostly in the eastern states. However, her stroke abruptly cut short her ministry in education. She went to Saint Catherine-by-the-Sea in Ventura, California, and there she worked heroically on the intense personal rehabilitation program that finally enabled her to begin a new and rewarding ministry, that of giving
private retreats. In this way she was able to help many souls along the way to union with the Lord while enhancing her own spirituality. During this time sister continued to keep in touch with her family whom she cherished. Sister finally retired to Saint Mary's in the year 2000 where she continued her ministry of prayer. Her devoted family members were with her and kept vigil during her last illness. Sister now rests from her struggles in the arms of her Lord.
Funeral arrangements for Sister Lucia are as follows: Reception of the body on Tuesday, August 18, 2009, at 9:30 a.m. with the Mass of Resurrection and eulogy at 1:30 p.m. the same day. May Sister Lucia rest in peace.