Franciscan Sisters mark 100 years

PARSIPPANY  Bishop Serratelli helped the local community of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth celebrate an “exciting” national milestone for the religious order: the 100th anniversary of sisters in the U.S. and the establishment of their first convent in Newark in 1919. The Bishop served as main celebrant and homilist of the anniversary Mass June 22 in St. Peter the Apostle Parish.

The Mass marked the centennial of the arrival of the first three Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth, who traveled a long way by ship from Italy to the shores of the U.S. in 1919. On arrival, they lived in Newark and, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi and also their founder, St. Ludovico of Casoria, established convents in New Jersey, New York and Indiana. Today in the U.S., 54 sisters serve in Florida and New Jersey, including in the Paterson Diocese, where 25 of them live in Delegate House in Parsippany where they operate and teach at St. Elizabeth Nursery and Montessori School here or serve in nearby dioceses. Around the world, they minister in Ethiopia, India, Panama, the Philippines, Vietnam and Korea. During their long history, they have served in hospitals, orphanages, parishes, schools and homes for the poor and aging and as catechetical instructors.

“This is an exciting anniversary for the Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth. It gives us an opportunity to think back to 100 years ago, which we don’t do much because we’re usually looking to the future,” said Sister Cathy Lynn Cummings, former principal of St. Elizabeth Nursery and Montessori School, who recently moved to Nutley to begin serving as principal of another nursery school and pre-school. She also will serve as mother superior of the sisters in Nutley. “We are honoring the courage of the first three sisters, who came to the U.S. with very little. In Newark, they first lived in an attic apartment, where they slept, ate and prayed in close quarters. They also were slow to learn English. Yet, they trusted the Lord to minister to the Italian immigrant community there and ended up touching the lives of so many people,” she said.

During the liturgy, the sisters, who serve or have served in the local area — with some coming from other parts of the world — filled St. Peter the Apostle Church here. They included Mother General Lissy Thattil, who traveled from Italy, and Sister Superior Liberina DePari, mother superior at the Delegate House in Parsippany. Bishop Serratelli concelebrated the Mass with several priests, including Father Francis Kelly, who has served as chaplain to the sisters.

The Mass also featured Bishop Serratelli reading printed blessings from Pope Francis for the 100th anniversary of the order and for the significant anniversaries — 25 and 50 years — that six of their sisters are celebrating this year. They included the following sisters from Parsippany: Sister Superior Liberina for 50 years and Sister Clare Arangassery and Sister Josephine Thaikkattil, both teachers here, for 25 years. The Bishop blessed the sisters, including the jubilarians, who publicly renewed their promise to continue to serve the people of God. The liturgy was followed by a reception in All Saints Academy nearby, which featured a historical slide presentation on the sisters and a prayer dance, Sister Cathy Lynn said.

The long legacy of love and faith demonstrated by the Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth first took root in 1862, when St. Ludovico of Casoria, a Franciscan Friar, established this religious order of women in Naples, Italy. St. Ludovico placed the congregation under the protection of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, one of the first members of the Third Order of St. Francis and its patron, and entrusted the care of orphans and African girls to the new foundation.

On March 30, 1885, St. Ludovico, who also founded the former Gray Friars of Charity religious order of men, died in Naples. St. Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1993; Pope Francis canonized him in 2014.

In 1962, the sisters arrived in Parsippany, originally on 63 acres of property on Park Road, before they sold off parcels. They moved their novitiate from Indiana to New Jersey because many of the novices hailed form the East Coast. In 1970, they opened a Montessori school at the suggestion of Bishop Lawrence Casey. In 2001, it underwent an expansion and now offers classes from nursery school to sixth grade. The school educates 287 students.

“With Montessori education, students are learning in a way that is more hands-on. It helps connect the fingertips with the brain, so that they can apply the information that they are learning more easily and also move at their own pace,” said Sister Cathy Lynn, who noted that the school also uses traditional educational methods.

Each day, the sisters recite 6 a.m. prayers, attend daily Mass, and then have a holy hour, Eucharistic Adoration and, later, evening prayer.

“To sanctify each sister through a total consecration to God, the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Elizabeth, an international community, strives to imitate and follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ by living the Gospel message through a life of obedience, without property, and leading a pure and holy life rooted in the example of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Ludovico of Casoria,” the sisters state about their charism. “The sisters’ apostolic work of education, health care, assistance to the elderly and infirm, catechetical and parish apostolates in local churches along with evangelization and other charitable works attempt to satisfy the needs of our neighbors at the present time. The joy, charity and peace of St. Francis of Assisi move us to witness God’s presence in the world around us through a common life of prayer, love, and service in his Church,” they write on their website: www.franciscansisters.com.