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PAGE 8 - The Georgia Bulletin, August 23, 1990
Sister M. Stella Maris Bergin, RSM.
First Saturday
Devotions
Thirty-four churches and chapels in the archdiocese and
a Knights of Columbus council now have the Five First
Saturday Devotions in honor of the Blessed Mother, under
the title of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Mary appeared six times between May 13 and Oct. 13,
1917, to three children in a field called Cova da Iria near
Fatima, Portugal, north of Lisbon. She recommended
recitation of the rosary; urged works of mortification for
the conversion of sinners; called for devotion to herself
under the title of her Immaculate Heart; asked that the
people of Russia be consecrated to her under this title; and
requested the faithful make a Communion of reparation on
the first Saturday of each month. The apparitions were
declared worthy of belief in October, 1930, after a seven-
year canonical investigation.
Devotions in the archdiocese will be held at the fol
lowing times and places, Sat., Sept. 1:
7:30 a.m. - St. Thomas More, Decatur.
8 a.m. - Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta; St.
Joseph’s Church, Dalton; Our Lady of the Mountains, Jas
per; Church of the Transfiguration, Marietta.
8:30 a.m. - All Saints, Dunwoody; Corpus Christi,
Stone Mountain; St. John the Evangelist, Hapeville; St.
Joseph’s, Marietta; St. Jude the Apostle, Sandy Springs
and St. Mary’s, Jackson.
8:45 a.m. - Immaculate Heart of Mary, Atlanta.
9 a.m. - Our Lady of Assumption, Atlanta; Holy
Family, Marietta; Church of St. Ann, Marietta; Immaculate
Conception, Atlanta; St. Andrew, North Fulton; Our Lady
of Perpetual Help, Carrollton; Sacred Heart, Griffin; St.
Elizabeth Seton, Manchester; St. George’s Newman; St.
Matthew’s, Fairbum; St. Pius X, Conyers; Knights of
Columbus Council 660, 2620 Buford Highway and St.
Paul of the Cross, Atlanta.
9:15 a.m. - Holy Cross, Atlanta; St. John Neumann,
Lilbum; and St. Patrick’s, Norcross.
9:30 a.m. - St. Anthony, Atlanta.
10 a.m. - St. Peter’s, LaGrange and St. Oliver Plunkett,
Snellville.
12 noon - St. Mary’s Hospital Convent Chapel, Athens.
12:10 p.m. - Sacred Heart, Atlanta.
12:30 p.m. - St. John Vianney, Lithia Springs.
5:30 p.m. - St. Joseph, Athens.
Devotions include Mass, the rosary and meditation. For
more informatioa or assistance in starting First Saturday
devotions in your churcti or any corrections to be made in
this list call Marcy at 325-6814 evenings.
New Outpatient Center Honors
Sister Who Comforted Dying, Kin
BY PAULA DAY
Stella Maris Outpatient Center, named in honor of a
woman Religious who spent the last decade of her life
ministering to critically ill and dying patients, was blessed
Aug. 15 by Bishop James P. Lyke, OFM.
The three-story, 88,000 square-foot center is dedicated
to Sister M. Stella Maris Bergin, RSM, who died Sept. 2,
1987. She had been a Sister of Mercy for 65 years. The
last 12 years of her life, she was a member of St Joseph’s
Hospital staff.
Before the hospital initiated its pastoral care department,
Sister Stella Maris visited patients and their families. She
“took call” and was available whenever staff called her
for a dying patient or other emergency situations, accord
ing to Sister Michelle Carroll. “Availability was her great
characteristic.”
While she was untiring in her effort to do anything to
console and comfort patients and their families, she could
also be very matter-of-fact and businesslike with them, the
senior vice president of sponsorship for Mercy Health
Services of the South said. Sister Carroll knew Sister
Stella Maris for 30 years. The pastoral minister would
point out that the patient had to do his or her part to
recover, that family members needed to “get a hold of
themselves” in their grieving, “come to terms with it and
get on with the business of living,” according to Sister
Carroll.
Sister Stella Maris’ ‘tough love’ approach was legend
ary throughout the hospital community. One anecdote
circulated concerning a physician, not on staff, who was
a patient in the hospital. He reportedly told a fellow
physician, “You know, she bossed me to recovery.”
Stella Maris is Latin for Star of the Sea, a title attribut
ed to Mary, the mother of Jesus. In remarks at the dedica
tion ceremony, Sister Angela Marie Ebberwein, RSM,
provincial administrator for the Sisters of Mercy of the
Baltimore province, found a connection.
“This title of the Mother of God, so faithfully worn by
our Irish sister for over 60 years, provides some meaning
ful clues for us about what this dedication signified,” the
Religious said.
“In the Catholic tradition, Mary, Star of the Sea,
symbolized a hope, a light and a refuge for those who are
lost and vulnerable, for those whose confidence and
strength is weakened in the wake of conditions that
threaten their lives or well-being.
“Stella Maris was so utterly and profoundly sensitized
to others’ needs in vulnerability that she consistently
reached out to extend hope and refuge to those whose
diminished health or threat to health led them to St.
Joseph’s.”
Sister Stella Maris was bom in Errill, County Leix,
Ireland, in 1906. She entered the Sisters of Mercy of
Savannah in 1922. At one time she was provincial of the
Baltimore province as well as assistant administrator
general for the Sisters of Mercy of the Union, a national
position.
Her fellow religious remember her sensitivity, kindness
and generosity or availability. “She loved the outdoors
and gardening and would spend her leisure time tending
the rose garden,” Sister Carroll recalled. “She worked
and worked with the vegetable garden, but maybe with not
as much success as she hoped for,” the Religious added.
Up until the last year of her life she insisted on cooking
the sisters’ Christmas dinner. Included in the menu was a
special kind of plum and fig pudding. She always made
“quarts and quarts” of eggnog, Sister Carroll recalled,
adding that the excess was deliberate so she would have
some left over to give hospital employees.
Stella Maris Outpatient Center adjoins the east side of
the hospital. It houses the majority of St. Joseph’s outpa
tient services ranging from plastic and reconstructive
surgery to orthopedic and cataract surgery. The cardiac
catheterization labs, EKG area, Steiner Lung Center and
Hispanic Services are also located in the Center.
The mission of the Center, according to William T.
Foley, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Hospital, is “to
improve the well-being of those requiring care. By
combining these services St. Joseph’s is able to simplify
the experience and therefore benefit the patient.”
St. Joseph’s Hospital was founded in 1880 by the
Sisters of Mercy. It began as Atlanta Hospital on Court-
land Street in downtown Atlanta and moved to the present
Peachtree-Dunwoody location in 1978.
Seminarian Took Roundabout Rood
BY RITA McINERNEY
John Murphy, 36, an
Irish seminarian who spent
the summer in the archdio
cese, came to St. John’s in
Waterford, Ireland, by a
roundabout journey.
A Dubliner, one of
seven children of William
and Mary Murphy, both
deceased, he finished
school at 16 and began a
variety of jobs that were to
give him a knowledge of
life not found in textbooks.
He worked as a glazier, a
prison officer, a security
guard for cash in transit,
and a hospital porter.
It was his work with
Mercy nuns at their Dublin
hospital that helped bring
him to a decision on pre
paring for the priesthood,
something in the back of
his mind since his teen
years.
Before he took the
hospital job, he traveled
around Europe and worked
for a year in Germany.
Then the illness of his
father called him home to
care for him. It was then
he began working as a
John Murphy
porter in the operating
theater of the hospital.
He like this work, en
joyed helping the patients.
It was good to discover
that “you could be a
Christian, that you didn’t
have to keep your dis
tance.” This was in - sharp
contrast to his two years as
a prison officer. “It was
illuminating to see how the
prison system worked.
There didn’t appear to be
rehabilitation, just depriva
tion of liberty.”
He worked at the hospi
tal for about nine years.
After his father died in
1986, he recalled seeing
newspaper advertisements
about the Irish vocation
program of the Atlanta
archdiocese. He was put in
touch with Father Edward
Dillon, vicar general, who
formerly directed the pro
gram.
Father Dillon told him
about Adanta and suggest
ed he get in touch with
other seminarians studying
for priestly service here.
“After a lot of prayer,” he
decided to check out the
seminary in Waterford.
There he met Frank Rich
ardson, another delayed
vocation, and eventually
made his decision.
He entered St. John’s in
December, 1989, and
started his study of philos
ophy. He is thankful to
God that “everything has
gone well.” He finds
seminary life “very en
riching,” especially his
regular meetings with a
spiritual director. With his
guidance, he is reading
Scripture and developing a
good prayer life.
“I feel I’ve brought a
lot from my life experien
ces. I’m learning how to
apply this knowledge in a
spiritual way,” he admit
ted.
Seminarian Murphy
spent the summer at Holy
Spirit in Atlanta under the
wing of Father Brendan
Doyle, parochial vicar
there. He found the people
he met to be devout, with
a deep commitment to the
Church. He was impressed
with the hours so many
devote to church activities.
In September, he will
begin his first year of the
four-year theology pro
gram at St. John’s. There
are 50 students from all
over Ireland currently
studying there for U.S.
dioceses, one for Canada
and one for England. Sev
eral are visiting in the U.S.
this summer. He expects
they will return to Ireland
with “good insights" into
the culture here to share
with their classmates.
He would advise anyone
interested in the priesthood
to pray, talk with a priest
who will be “totally hon
est with you” and check
out a seminary.