Farewell to Sr. CeciliaOn behalf of the Sr. Maeve, Sr. Philomena & the Community we warmly welcome Monsignor Dan O’Connor, chaplain to Mt. Sackville in the 80’s. Monsignor was very close to the Kenny family and the Mt. Sackville Community. We thank him for being with us for our farewell to Sr. Cecilia.
We are happy to have with us Kieran/Olga and family members Patrick, Marcia, Helen & as well as close relatives and friends. Unfortunately Fr. Ownie (Kansas) Patrick (Australia) Celine (Paris) and Una Maria (England) cannot be here with us but are united with us in prayer. We are happy to have our sisters join us from other communities as well as the Nursing Home staff. As we join together for this Eucharist we know the sisters and communities in India are present with us in a very special way praising and thanking the Lord with us for the life of their beloved Mother Cecilia.

The Mass leaflet outlines the time span of Sr. Cecilia’s life as a religious - 71 years in all. She was happy to spend 60 of those in India. Small wonder then that messages of condolence have been pouring in these last few days. What a wonderful legacy she left behind her and less we don’t know three sisters who presently live with Sr. Judith requested her to be their scribe. So we have special memories they want to share with us:

Sr.Damien, from our community at Joseph’s Pondicherry says thus;
As a newly professed I was sent to Chandan Nagar  where Mother Cecilia was superior. After four months I got transfer to Kalimpong, within 2 months Mother Cecilia reached there as superior . She took to heart my formation for the next 6 years I used to say I had my third Novitiate with Mother Cecilia, but this time it was all round. I knew her from 1959 to 1970.she was very spiritual, firm, practical, with a vision ahead.  Knowing what may happen to the foreigners in India Mother took to heart to train the Indian sisters in every possible way. At times  she would  entrust us with tasks which would look beyond our ability.

But she would push till she sees that we have put our maximum effort into what is asked of us. She would see that our character was refined, manners polished, spiritually strong and already to face anything and do any work. Two years back she wrote to me “you were one of the best teacher St. Joseph’s ever had. Only your health reasons you had to be transferred.

Sr. Theophane writes: My tribute to Sr. Cecilia Kenny
“I will not grow weary until perfection shines out like the dawn in spring and flames come forth like a torch”. This thought seems to be a fitting Tribute to Mother Cecilia Kenny who spent all the active years of her life in Indian soil among her Indian sisters. I personally must admit that what I am today is due to the initial training I received from Mother Cecilia as a Novice almost for a year. Thank you Mother dear, for polishing this rough stone, into something presentable to the Lord.

Sr. Stella Selvam writes: In June 1947 when I entered Yercaud Novitiate, Mother Cecilia used to bring boarders  to our chapel  and used to watch her. She was tall young and had the personality of her own. She helped them to take their seats in the chapel and I always admired her gentleness in dealing with the boarders. When our Novice mistress, Mother Marie Joseph left for Ireland, it was Mother Cecilia who was appointed as Novice Mistress.  I was very happy as she had a special way of dealing with us novices too. She never corrected any of us in public, but used to call us to her room and explained to us and asked us to correct our faults and failings. Everyone liked her way and found it easy never to repeat the same fault again. She was serene, pleasant patient, and always available. I could  feel she lived for God and all her actions were imprinted with serenity , gentleness love and respect even though she was a formator and we were only formees. She was transferred to Malleswaram for the new foundation in Bangalore in November 1948, and it was too hard to say a good bye to her. After my canonical year I was sent to Malleswaram, for the new foundation as a teacher since I joined Cluny as a teacher. Mother used to help us with pealing of vegetables and other chores.  She started the school in a garage there. After my profession again I was sent to Malleswaram I was overjoyed to be with her again. In 1957 Mother Cecilia was called to north Province.

 
Sr. Cecilia's Brother Kieran and Sister Philomena 

Several young girls entered Cluny by the influence and the good example of Mother Cecilia eg. Sr. Marie Edel( the late provincial of Bangalore), Sr. Joseph Chatelier and others. A past pupil recalls Mother Cecelia as the first principal of Cluny Convent, Malleswaram, she writes: 

Mother Cecilia- The first principal of Cluny Convent, Malleswaram  I saw Mother Cecilia for the first time way back in 1951, when my parents moved to Bangalore. One day, as I was playing in the garden at home, I was amazed to see a foreign nun in a white habit merrily riding a bicycle down the quiet 6th Main Road in Malleswaram. This was none other than Mother Cecilia, the first principal of Cluny Convent.  The next day she came home and persuaded my parents to admit me to her school.  This motherly and friendly nun who took the trouble to come home, prompted my parents to agree.  The first time I went to school, Mother Cecilia welcomed me with open arm, took me to my classroom and introduced me to my 3 other classmates.  This was the beginning of my association with Cluny.  A versatile and bold person, she charmed my parents who became her very good friends in the years to come.  She walked the talk and even drove a rickety old van which taught us that nothing is impossible if you really want to achieve it!  She was a strict disciplinarian but with a kind and compassionate heart.  She inculcated in us the values of sharing and caring telling us to talk softly and to be gentle and ladylike.  Her favourite quote was “Dream big and aim for the stars!” Mother Cecilia taught us to appreciate Shakespeare and the characters in Romeo and Juliet, As you like it and Hamlet just sprang to life when she read passages from these plays.  She loved poetry – Keats and Wordsworth were her favourite. 

How she would make us recite, repeat and pronounce the words clearly and properly.  Her dry sense of humour made her classes enjoyable and fun!  She encouraged us to take part in extra curricular activities like debates and games.  While she complimented us on our achievements, she taught us to play fair and lose gracefully.  We learnt the values of truth, honesty and justice which have always stood me in good stead in all these years. The school was always a second home for us in those years and we looked forward to being in school – studying, playing games and learning these values along the way. I bow my head in eternal gratitude to God for having sent Mother Cecilia down 6th Main Road almost 59 years ago to handpick me to be a Clunyite. May Mother Cecilia’s soul rest in peace! 

From all that has been shared we know Sr. Cecilia was a true educator and formator empowering and enabling very many young Indian girls take their rightful place in society and in religious life, in a holistic way, both professionally and in the home, school and community environment. We are proud of the memory our Indian sisters continue to hold of her, may she continue to be a guiding star for them as they continue to emulate her. In her retirement she learnt to use the computer through which to continue to communicate with our sisters in India. This gave her great pleasure and must have lessened the pain of retirement away from India. Knowing of her love for India it must have been difficult for Sr. Cecilia to retire home to Ireland! We welcomed her here to Mt. Sackville where for a further 13 years she enriched the community with her quiet reflective presence. She was a woman of faith with a spirit of deep prayer and with a wonderful love and knowledge of scripture which she shared with many of us.

 
Sr.Philomena (Sr.Cecilia's sister) 

I remember some years ago, as a community having a prayer session, role playing “the woman at the well”. Sr. Cecelia impersonated so well the gentle loving Christ that one could not but feel the deep relationship of love she shared with Him. It was a bonus for both Sr. Cecilia and Sr. Philomena to have been privileged to live together in retirement. It was nice to witness the love and concern they felt for each other and for the late Peggy whom they cared for so well and visited without fail every Sunday, when Kieran would pick them up and take them to the hospital.  

They enjoyed family visits with Kieran and Olga, seeing the children grow. Visits from Fr. Ownie were very special too, more so from the fact he stayed here in Mt. Sackville, with Kieran coming and going to complete their family holiday time together. It was a special bonus for both of them have their sister-in law as a care assistant daily until Olga retired a couple of years ago However, as time passed, Sr.Cecilia struggled with failing eye sight.

This continued to be a painful experience for her but she accepted the hardship it brought to her daily living, with patience, calm resignation. In her latter years of failing health she continued to be an inspiration for us and for the nurses and carer assistants who cared for her with so much love and respect. It was unfortunate that she had to spend 10 days prior to her death in hospital. We knew she was longing to be home and literally wonderful that at the ‘eleventh hour’ so to speak, she had her wish, arriving home by ambulance at 9 pm and dying at 11.30pm. For a moment we will pause to say thanks for all who were interwoven into the fabric of her long life.   I will finish with one more sharing. As she lay dying, within the last few minutes she opened wide her eyes, looking upward and into the distance. One wondered what she saw… Then she closed them.  Within another minute or so she opened them again, this time she turned her head slowly to look at the picture that hung on the wall. It was the picture of Christ standing at the door knocking.  I like to think Christ was opening the door to usher her into her new and eternal life with the words “well done Cecelia, at last your long journey is over and your are home forever”  May she rest in peace forever.