Soeur Marie Hyacinthe Patry, MSC

Sr. Mary Hyacinthe was born Rose-Candide Patry on July 5, 1916, in Fontainebleau, Province of Quebec, Canada.  Her parents were Marie Zoe Roy and Joseph Patry.  Rose did her studies at Marguerite Bourgeois Normal School in Sherbrooke where, in 1934, she earned a diploma qualifying her to teach several subjects.  She also earned a superior diploma in music from the Music Conservatory of Montreal.

Rose entered the novitiate of the Marianites of Holy Cross in Princeton, New Jersey, on January 23, 1949, at the age of thirty-two.  When she received the holy habit, Rose was given the name Sr. Marie Hyacinthe.  Sister made temporary profession on September 21, 1950, and pronounced her final vows on September 26, 1953.

Following her novitiate in the United States, Sr. Hyacinthe began her professional career at Our Lady of Holy Cross Hospital in Mont Laurier, Canada, where she worked as receptionist, telephone operator, and in the admissions and finance offices.  After twelve years in Mont Laurier, Sister served as vice-provincial of the Canadian Marianites.  She resided at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Convent in Magog from 1966 until 1977.  From 1977 until 1986, she was the assistant provincial for the Canadian vice-province and continued to live in Magog. 

In 1986, Sr. Hyacinthe, along with several other Marianites, moved to a new residence, Maison St. Joseph Convent, at 4316 rue Morrisson in Lac Mégantic.  There she became very active in St. Agnes Parish where she worked with the choir, served in missionary and charitable works, distributed Communion to the homebound and to the sick at the old Marianite convent (now a clinic) on rue Champlain.

In her free time, Sr. Hyacinthe was concerned with the poor and the sick, assisting them in the most humble tasks, organizing socials and prayer meetings in an effort to ease their solitude.  At the convent on rue Morrisson, Sister participated actively in prayer and community service. 

The faith that had always animated Sr. Hyacinthe was put to the test in the last years of her life.  When illness and the prospect of death knocked at her door, Sr. Hyacinthe refused to be discouraged and with serenity and peace, she realized the end was coming.  The last months of Sister’s life were spent in the calm and prayerful atmosphere of the nursing home of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary in Sherbrooke.  The ministry of these religious who had accepted to care for Sister was a ministry of pure love, a humble, discreet, but very concrete love for which the Marianites were extremely grateful.  Sr. Hyacinthe went home to her God on January 18, 2012.  Her funeral services were held at St. Agnes Church in Lac Mégantic.

The priest who celebrated the liturgy said: “When I met with the Marianite sisters of Sr. Hyacinthe, the first thing they told me was ‘Our sister was full of goodness; we had many wonderful years of community life with her and spent many happy moments together.’ 

“From what I learned about Sr. Hyacinthe, she was generous and available to others, discreet yet efficient, small in stature but tough.  She took life as it came, seeing the good side of things and taking the less good with dignity and grace.  Her last years at Lac Mégantic found her sharing her devotion to Mary with the elderly whom she visited.

“Love of God and of others was the rock on which Sr; Hyacinthe leaned.  Her many years as a religious, the numerous years spent in Mont Laurier where she ministered at the hospital, almost twenty years at Magog carrying out the functions of provincial and assistant provincial.

“The faith that Sr. Hyacinthe shared goes beyond appearances.  God is at our side, at the side of life.  The gospel chosen for this funeral Mass tells us, ‘Come, blessed of my Father; receive the kingdom I have prepared for you from the beginning of the world.’  I invite you who came here to bid her farewell to present to the Lord an aspect of the life of Sr. Hyacinthe that touched your own life.  Then let us thank him for having given her to us for a time.”

Sr. Hyacinthe’s body is buried in the parish cemetery of Lac Mégantic.  May her soul rest in peace!