Sr. Pauline Egan

Sr. Pauline Egan R.I.P.

Sr. Pauline passed peacefully to her eternal reward on May 9th, a fitting month for one so devoted to our Blessed Lady; with a Rosary beads in one hand and a candle in the other she gently returned to the Lord she loved and served so well for over ninety years. Some hours earlier her Community had gathered at her bedside to say the Rosary and say their final farewell to this treasured member of the Community.

Born in Ferbane Co. Offaly, within earshot of the tones of the Angelus Bell peeling out from Gallen Priory Noviciate, Pauline responded to God's call and in 1940 was professed as a sister of St.Joseph of Cluny.

Her first assignment was to Alencon, France, where she spent nine happy years in the vinyard of the Lord. She was then transferred to Rome where she spent the next twenty years. She delighted in taking visitors to see the various churches and places of interest. A regular visitor to the Convent was Cardinal Montini, later Pope Paul 6th and Sr. Pauline treasured a Rosary beads he had given to her in gratitude for her "cups of Irish tea".

Once again obedience called and this time it was to Paris where she spent the next 25 years again being a wonderful asset to the sisters going to and from their mission field.

In 1992 Sr. Pauline returned to her native Ireland and enjoyed very much the visits from her family and friends. Dying as she had lived, peacefully and serenely, she gently went out like the flame of the candle she was holding in her hand. As a final tribute to Sr. Pauline and as her cortége left the chapel for its final resting place, the air resounded with the beautiful hymn "Bring flowers of the rarest" - no doubt the same was being re-echoed in heaven.