A Special Day For Me

 Departing from my reflections on Advent, I wanted to share a memory with you.

 

70 years ago today I was in the 5^th grade at St. John’s School in White Plains.  It was my first year in a Catholic school and I was still getting used to the rituals and discipline – and the “habits” worn by our teachers, the Sisters of Charity.  To a child those long black robes made them look a little more than scary.

 

My teacher, Sister Winiferd was especially fearsome.  We thought she was “older than God” though in reality she was probably younger than I am now, but she was definitely too old to know anything about what it meant to be living in the world of an almost 11-year-old girl.

 

I had been warned by the other students to “stay low and don’t do anything to draw her attention”.  But on this particular day, December 13^th, after morning prayers, Sister Winiferd looked straight at me and said “Lucy McMahon, please come up to my desk.”

 

With knees shaking and hands trembling I made my way up the aisle to her desk.  She was even more terrifying up close. Her long robes flowed over her chair onto the floor and the crucifix, from the rosary beads she wore around her formidable waist, dangled dangerously at her side.  A few wisps of white hair escaped the bonnet that the Sisters of Charity wore and, as I stood there quivering, I detected several matching sprigs of hair growing out of her chin. 

 

Wait, was that a smile? 

 

“Do you know what today is?” Sister asked.  I shook my head, afraid to speak.  “Today is a very special day for you,” she explained.  “Today is the feast of St. Lucy.  

 

With a kindly smile, she handed me a holy card and went on to explain that St. Lucy was a beautiful young girl in the days of the early church.  The Romans who were persecuting the church tried to make her disobey God’s law, but she refused, sacrificing her life for her love of God and for what she knew to be right.

 

“You should always be proud of your name,” Sister told me, “And always be true to what you believe.”  

 

To this day I gratefully remember her words, her encouragement and her kindness, and I am reminded that we cannot judge anyone by how they look or what they wear.   

 

And I am proud of my name!