April 7, 2008

By permission from the South Texas Catholic

Four Incarnate Word Sisters each celebrate 60 years professed

By Liz Riggle
STC Correspondent

In 1948, Bishop Mariano S. Garriga, third Bishop of Corpus Christi, shared an important message with four young novices of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament as they prepared to make their first profession of vows. He told them to look at the crucifix and especially at the letters, INRI, interpreting these letters to mean: “I’ll Never Regret It.”

Sixty years later, Sister Mary Stella Barrientes, Sister Mary Lucy Garcia, Sister Margaret Patrice Bradley and Sister Mary Christina Bradley have never regretted answering God’s call to service.

Although each young woman entered the convent with the desire to serve the Lord and his people, none of the women knew what God had planned for them.

Sister Mary Stella Barrientes, did not enter the convent as a teenager because “I was having a good time.”

Born in 1914 in Port Isabel, and one of 14 children, she explained, “I had a little flame. I felt the call of the Lord in my early years, but I thought it would go away.”

After graduating from high school, Sister Mary Stella kept the books for a fish business and then worked as a secretary at Brownsville City Hall for five years. “But the Lord kept calling me, and I had to answer him. I wanted to help girls and boys to know God and to save their souls.”

Sister Mary Stella entered the convent at the age of 32 and helped many children to learn about God and know him in her teaching career. She taught for 30 years in Brownsville at Our Lady Star of the Sea and Immaculate Conception schools mostly first and third grades. She also taught at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Port Isabel, Our Lady of Victory in Beeville and Corpus Christi Cathedral. She received her education at Del Mar College, Incarnate Word College in San Antonio and Texas Southmost College in Brownsville.

Now retired, but certainly not looking or feeling her age, Sister Stella Marie is a bundle of energy. She marveled at her age of 94. “It does not feel like I have lived this long.”

Living at the Corpus Christi Mother House, Sister Stella Marie spends her days in prayer for vocations and for patience. “Patience changes everything,” she said.

Sister Mary Lucy Garcia, a Brownsville native, was born in 1928 and is one of six children, including one brother who became a Trappist Monk.

Sister Mary Lucy graduated from high school at age 15 and then worked for three years before entering the convent. God was nudging Sister Mary Lucy, but she did not quite believe him.

“I made a novena to God for nine days, and God was not saying anything differently. So I entered the convent in 1946 at age 18,” stated Sister Mary Lucy.

Sister Mary Lucy loves education and has earned three master degrees. Her teaching career has taken her all over Texas as well as Africa, with the majority at the high school level from 1951-1981 mostly in Brownsville.

Sister Mary Lucy’s journey led her to McKinney, Texas where she helped start the first Job Core program for women there from 1966-1967.

“I had to wear street clothes instead of my habit. It was a novelty for people seeing a nun out of a traditional habit. I told them I was not born in a habit.”

Sister Mary Lucy’s influence on others was not limited to just high school level. “I worked with campus ministry at Del Mar College and at the University of Corpus Christi. I was the pastoral assistant at St. Joseph in Alice.”

In 1990, the Sisters House in Mexico asked Sister Mary Lucy to go to Nakuru, Kenya and become Head Mistress of their St. Xavier High School. “The sisters needed teachers who spoke English, and I was asked to go. I started in January of 1991.”

Of her time in Kenya, Sister Lucy said, “It was paradise.”

“During my time there, St. Xavier was one of the top 100 high schools in Kenya for five years.”

Sister Mary Lucy praised the young people going to school in Kenya. “The students want education. They know it is their only hope. We never had any trouble with any student. No student ever wanted the shame of being dismissed for behavior or poor academics.”

If it was not for her health, Sister Mary Lucy would love to return to Africa. “Education is paradise in Kenya. The students want to learn. They study from morning to night even with empty stomachs. These students want to be the individuals God wants them to be.” She returned to Texas in December 1997.

Now 80, Sister Mary Lucy is not ready to slow down. She remains a powerful source of information and continues to share knowledge of God’s love. She is currently teaching adult Bible classes four days a week.

Answering God’s call, Sister Margaret Patrice Bradley and her younger Sister Mary Christina Bradley’s odyssey took them from New York City to Corpus Christi.

Born in 1930 and 1932, respectively, Sister Margaret Patrice and Sister Mary Christina grew up in the Bronx.

Sister Margaret Patrice entered the convent in 1946 at a young age of 16 and her sister was just 14.

They had a great aunt and an older cousin, Sister Noreen Bradley who were also Incarnate Word sisters. These two women influenced their decision to join the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament Order.

“We kept in touch with Sister Noreen who was living in Corpus Christi,” said Sister Margaret Patrice, who received her education at Incarnate Word University and St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. She also attended Del Mar College, A & I University in Kingsville, and Texas Southmost College in Brownsville. Sister Margaret Patrice spent the majority of her teaching career at the elementary level.

Still soft spoken but firm in her tone of voice, Sister Margaret Patrice clearly understands how to reach children.

“I was one of the first teachers at St. Patrick elementary school when it opened. I taught all grades from kindergarten through eighth grade for fifty five years. I am blessed to have worked among all of the inspirational teachers, parents and students in south Texas.”

Sister Margaret Patrice taught a number of Catholic schools in south Texas.

“I taught at Our Lady of Consolation in Vattman. Sister Michelle Marie Kuntschner, IWBS, was one of my first grade students in Vattman,” recalled Sister Margaret Patrice.

Sister Margaret Patrice loved and influenced students at St. Gertrude in Kingsville, Immaculate Conception School in Goliad, Blessed Sacrament School in Laredo and Sacred Heart, Incarnate Word Academy and Christ the King schools in Corpus Christi.

She also served as principal at St. Gertrude, Immaculate Conception, Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady Star of the Sea in Port Isabel.

Her love for God and love of knowledge did not limit her to teaching only in Catholic Schools. “I taught CCD classes in many schools in south Texas.”

Now retired at age 78, Sister Margaret Patrice works in the Incarnate Word mother house in Corpus Christi.

Sister Mary Christina Bradley said, “I followed God’s call and entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament in Corpus Christi. It was during my formation years that God’s mission for me began to unfold. I began to appreciate the importance of a deep prayer life, what it meant to live in a community and a commitment to on-going conversion which sometimes involves growing pains.”

Sister Mary Christina spent her teenage years growing up in the convent and professed her first vows in 1948 at the age of 16.

Teaching for 52 years, Sister Mary Christina’s fondest memories are of her interaction with the youngest of students.

“I taught Montessori for 37 years at Incarnate Word Academy in Corpus Christi. I helped to open the Montessori program at Incarnate Word Academy in 1965. I taught the first Montessori classes in the basement of the convent.”

Sister Mary Christina’s love of the little children is evident in the manner in which she speaks and carries herself.

At age 76, she speaks gently and kindly when answering questions about her life.

“What a blessing it has been for me to teach little children for over fifty two years! God endows children with a nature that is innocent, free and guileless. They were a source of joy for me and kept me young at heart. No wonder Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.’”

Sister Mary Christina, now retired, works with her fellow retired sisters in the convent handling duties involved in running the order.

All four sisters are God’s testament to saying ‘yes’ to God’s call. If she could do it all over again, none of the sisters would change a thing.

Sister Mary Lucy is “very grateful for a life intimate with God and for the many lives I have touched. I pray for more vocations.”

“I would live my life just the same,” declared Sister Margaret Patrice. “I am so thankful for all of these blessings.”

Sister Mary Lucy is extremely glad “for the grace of perseverance. Vocations are a call from God. If we can persevere, that it is God’s gift because we humans can get in the way. It is a beautiful life.”

Sister Mary Christina also feels “abundantly blessed. I am truly grateful for the abundance of blessings he has bestowed upon me thus far. I love it here and will never regret it.”