by Carole Anne Scott

On May 26, at Fontbonne Academy’s 48th commencement exercises, Sister Mary Ellen O’Connell, who grew up right here in Roslindale, was one of the five members of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph (the “CSJs”) presented with the Mother St. John Fontbonne Award for service to others. Fontbonne is currently celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, so it seems particularly appropriate that the honor was bestowed this year on the five graduates of the school who went on to become CSJs, the religious order which founded Fontbonne and continues to number it among its sponsored ministries.

Sr. Mary Ellen (Class of ‘63) delivered the commencement address to the graduates. Sharing the speaking responsibilities with her was Sr. Joanne Gallagher (Class of ‘66). Among the remaining three recipients was another nun with ties to Roslindale, Sr. Brenda Forry (Class of ‘58) who taught at the junior-high level from 1972-1977 at Sacred Heart School. The remaining recipients were Sr. Patricia Cushing (Class of ‘63) and Sr. Roberta Ristuccia (Class of ‘58).

Chatting with Sr. Mary Ellen revealed that she has many fond memories of Roslindale and her years spent here. One of three children, her vocation was not unique in the family, as her brother Kevin, eight years her senior had preceded her in choosing religious life. Both of them entered right out of high school, with Mary Ellen joining the CSJs and Kevin becoming a Jesuit. Father O’Connell is currently stationed in Amman, Jordan and upon occasion makes a return visit to the Parish, even celebrating a Mass, complete with fascinating homilies about what it is like to be a Catholic priest in a Middle-Eastern country where the official state religion is Islam. They also have a married brother who has three children. When asked if he lives far away too, Mary Ellen joked, “He would tell you that, but I don’t think so. He lives in Seekonk.”

Obviously fond of both her siblings, she stated that a Roslindale neighbor of theirs once explained their different personalities by saying that “Father Kevin would take ten words to say what could be said in one word, and his brother would say the same thing in one word.” Judging from the just-right length of her commencement address, it seems that Sr. Mary Ellen struck a judicious balance between the two extremes.

Matriculating from Fontbonne to Regis College, Sister went on to teach locally at St. Theresa’s in West Roxbury where she served from 1968 to 1972. She spent the next four years at St. Mary High School in Brookline. Somehow during that period, she also found time to earn a master’s degree in mathematics from Boston College.

Only eight years out of college, Sister Mary Ellen applied for and received the position of principal at St. Catherine School in Somerville. It was an ambitious move for someone so young, but partially explained by genetics: Sr. Mary Ellen’s Dad had also been a principal, having served locally at the Washington Irving. She confided in me that she had figured, “If Dad could be a successful principal, I could too.”

Succeed she did, as she served eight years in Somerville before moving on to St. Gregory’s where she was principal for the next eight years. It seems difficult to believe, but Sr. Mary Ellen explained to me that at one time, the maximum length a CSJ was allowed to stay in one place was eight years. Contrast that to Sr. Gail Ripley’s current and continuing term of twenty years as principal at Sacred Heart School, to Sr. Eusebia Callahan’s role as sixth grade teacher, librarian and then sister-in-residence at Sacred Heart for more than forty years until her recent departure for Bethany, or to Sr. Raynald who also has been a fixture here for more than forty years!

Sister Mary Ellen returned to the classroom as a teacher at St. Colombkille in Brighton from 1992 to 1994 and spent the next five years as a principal at Charlestown Catholic Elementary, again returning to the classroom as a teacher at Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree. Putting into practice the PhD. Degree in Administration that she earned in 1987 from Boston College, Sister has served in a leadership position in the CSJs from 2000 through the present.

Despite her assignments in areas outside of Roslindale, Sr. Mary Ellen remained a constant visitor to our community, with her Mom residing here for so many years. Despite the untimely passing of Mr. O’Connell at an early age and despite her own failing health requiring use of a walker, Mary Ellen’s Mom remained fiercely independent and remained in her Roslindale residence.

In her address to the graduating class, Sr. Mary Ellen fondly reminisced about how she as a seven-year-old, riding in her parents’ car, passed by the school as it was being constructed. “We thought it was a factory being built and tried hard to figure out what company was going onto this land; there was no sign anywhere,” she quipped. The students responded with appreciative laughter, but in all seriousness, she added, “Amazingly, it would be the place where my heart and mind were formed.”

When I asked her about that incident, she told me that the family would often drive by Fontbonne during the summer on their way from Roslindale to the Cape. “In those days schools were made of red brick,” she explained, “and they were tall. Fontbonne didn’t fit the pattern, so we had no idea it was a school.”

Of her experiences as a student at the Academy, Sr. Mary Ellen stated, “For me, Fontbonne was truly a place where her ‘Alma Mater’ was alive. I found there the ‘waters of wisdom and grace’ and the ‘knowledge and ideals’ that proved to be the foundation of my life. At Fontbonne, we developed a strong academic attitude, centered in a deeply spiritual foundation, and enriched with activities that were social [and] athletic...”

Usually the Mother St. John Fontbonne Award is presented to one recipient. As the single spokesperson for the entire group of five recipients, Sr. Mary Ellen had a very difficult task. Wisely and humbly, she kept her own reminiscences to a minimum in her speech and concentrated on the achievements and history of the Order re-founded by Mother St. John Fontbonne for whom the school and the award are named.

Suggesting that her audience close their eyes and picture the six young women who began the Sisters of St. Joseph under the prompting of Father Medaille, Sister Mary Ellen presented a vivid portrait of their struggles to assist the needy among them in impoverished 17th century France. She then fast-forwarded 100 years to the time of great political unrest and religious upheaval in France that saw a “Reign of Terror” brought on by the French Revolution. The CSJs were victims of the madness, as they were forced by the government to disband, were arrested and thrown into prison, and some were even guillotined. Surviving imprisonment, Mother St. John Fontbonne went on to re-found the CSJs.

In the 19th century, six nuns from the Order were sent to America. In a poignant moment, Sr. Mary Ellen pointed out to the graduates that of those six, “...a couple of them [were] even younger than you are today.” Extolling the pioneer sisters’ praises, she explained that they “set out for a life of material hardship and disease across the ocean. In St. Louis, these women brought their commitment to education and their desire to bring a new way of life to desperately poor and uneducated people. The community thrived in this new world. Their faith and trust in God, their zeal for the mission of Christ, and their commitment to responding to the needs of a poor and immigrant society brought sisters throughout the country.”

Coming to Boston in 1873 and dedicating themselves to teaching immigrant children, the sisters set up a school for girls in Jamaica Plain. Sr. Mary Ellen told the graduates that in September 1954, four CSJs came to Milton to begin Fontbonne Academy, adding, “These sisters brought a vision which continues to influence the school’s history; they brought a challenge to young women – to be women of courage, of faith, of conviction, and of wisdom.”

Similarly, Sr. Mary Ellen issued a challenge to the current graduates, telling them, “As those early Sisters of St. Joseph of the 17th through 20th centuries committed themselves to their charism of unity and reconciliation, I challenge you to bring the spirit of Fontbonne Academy into the 21st century. I challenge you to be women of unity and reconciliation in your homes and in your workplaces, with your family and friends, with the ‘dear neighbor’ wherever he/she may be found.”

It is obvious that Sr. Mary Ellen has lived out this charism to the fullest. We are very proud of this Roslindale girl turned woman religious and congratulate her on her many achievements, all culminating in her receiving this wonderful award for service to others.