Sister Marie-Thérèse Magnan

 “You are my hiding-place and my shield;
   I hope in your Word”  Ps 119

 November 3, 2011, Sister Marie-Thérèse Magnan,
in religion Médéric-Marie,
went home to God.
She was 96 years old and had been professed for 76 years.

Born in Saint-Gérard Magella, L’Assomption, Quebec,
she was the daughter of Camille Magnan and Dorila Riopel.

At the age of 18, a year after having graduated from our boarding school in l’Épiphanie, Marie-Thérèse Magnan entered the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.

After her religious profession, Sister Médéric-Marie, a young woman with many gifts, taught regular classes for 8 years. She then became Mistress of Discipline for two years.  At the age of 30, she turned to Home Economics and taught culinary arts for a few years before quickly becoming a professor emeritus of “cutting and sewing”, an art which she taught for 31 years at the “Institut de Pedagogie familiale” in Outremont and in the "College Durocher" in Saint-Lambert.

An energetic and daring woman, at the request of a Missionary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, she used her summer vacation to go and teach the basics of our sewing and cooking to the Inuit in Northern Quebec (Nunavik).  Someone who accompanied her spoke of her in this way: “I saw Sister Médéric leave with the book 'Useful Cooking' in her light luggage... I saw her returning, tanned and smiling, enriched by this contact with women from another culture!”

Another person pointed out her energy:  “How many times I admired her when, at 6:15 in the morning, I saw her braving all kinds of weather to walk for her health.”
 
She was an active woman but also a contemplative one: “Following the example of our Blessed Foundress, she spent time before the Blessed Sacrament each day.”
While Sister Marie-Thérèse left teaching at 65 years old, she continued to put her many talents at the service of her Sisters: cutting hair, cooking tasty meals, making exclusive tailor-made clothing, and all this, while assuming responsibility for maintenance at the General Administration. She then became sacristan and receptionist at the Saint-André Residence in Longueuil for 17 years.

Sister Marie-Thérèse was 88 years old when she was named to prayer ministry in our Ste-Émélie Residence.  Seven years later, she moved to our iInfirmary in Longueuil. She was ready to meet her Lord and her God.