Written by Sr Terry Smith fcJ
Sister Pat MacDonald, FCJ
Celebrating 65 Years of Vowed Religious Life as an FCJ Sister
Sr. Pat was born and raised in Calgary. She attended St. Joseph’s School and then St. Mary’s Girls’ High School before she entered with the Sisters Faithful Companions of Jesus on Feb. 2, 1956. She made her first vows on Aug. 5, 1958 and studied at the University of Toronto.
She travelled to England for teacher training at Sedgely Park College, Manchester, and did a year of spiritual studies, the “tertianship”, in preparation for final vows. Sr. Pat taught at Madonna High School in Toronto from 1963 to 1975 when she moved to Portsmouth, R.I. to teach in St. Philomena School there for two years.
Her next move was to Alberta to a small FCJ community in Oyen. She taught Grades 5 and 6 and some Junior High subjects. She was a Teacher Aide half time at St. Basil’s in Lethbridge from 1980 to 1987 and a parish worker in St. Patrick’s Parish. Sr. Pat assisted with RCIA in parishes where she lived or worked. She enjoyed a time of renewal in Ontario in 1987 before moving to Calgary.
Her first three years and her most recent ones have been at Sacred Heart Convent with an interlude of thirteen years in the FCJ House in Renfrew. She oversaw all the maintenance of the FCJ Centre and convent until a few years ago. Sr. Pat enjoys reading, crossword puzzles and organizing.
Sister Ann Marie Walsh, FCJ
Celebrating 60 Years of Vowed Religious Life as an FCJ Sister
Sister Ann Marie Walsh was born and raised in Providence, R.I. She travelled by train to enter with the Sisters Faithful Companions of Jesus in the winter of 1961. The entering date was Feb. 2. She made her first vows of poverty, chastity and obedience on Aug. 15, 1963.
She was sent to Dublin, Ireland to study science in University College Dublin and afterwards taught in the elementary school of St. Joseph’s Parish, Fitchburg, Massachusetts and was involved with the parish youth and religious education programs. Summers enabled her to achieve a master’s degree in elementary education. She became principal of Blessed Sacrament School in Providence in 1972 and in 1980 moved to Portsmouth as community leader. From 1986 to 2006 she was principal of the private school there, St. Philomena. She was also involved in the local parish and in various Portsmouth Town Committees.
As a retired principal, she undertook spiritual direction training at Loyola House in Guelph, ON and was asked to be part of the staff there. During those years, she was the local leader for the FCJ Sisters in Toronto. She was missioned to Calgary as local leader of Sacred Heart Convent community and was a member of the Spiritual Direction Team at the FCJ Centre from 2012 to 2017, enjoyed sabbatical time in Ireland and returned to live in Calgary in 2019. Sr. Ann Marie is fully engaged in giving retreats and spiritual direction.