BARLING — It isn’t often that nuns make headlines in the newspapers or are featured on the television evening news, but it isn’t often that a nun celebrates her 100th birthday.
The TV cameramen and reporters visited McAuley Convent and Retirement Residence in Barling Dec. 9 to cover a big event — Sister Mary Madonna Hall’s birthday party and Mass.
Sister Mary Madonna, a Sister of Mercy who turned 100 Dec. 23, has made many friends throughout her years as a teacher and school administrator in the Diocese of Little Rock, but she was most excited about two special guests from Newfoundland, her nieces Donna Joncas and Anne Laing.
“We hadn’t seen Sister since our mom’s funeral in 1989,” Laing said. “We’ve had a wonderful time. People here have been wonderful to us and to Sister.”
 Nearing century mark Click here |
Sister Mary Madonna first became acquainted with the Sisters of Mercy after her mother died when she was a child. Her father, a poor farmer in North River, Newfoundland, was unable to care for eight children, which ranged from infants to 14 years old. Although extended family members tried to help, he eventually made the difficult decision to send Sister Mary Madonna and her sister Mary to St. Michael Orphanage in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The two sisters continued to spend summers with their brothers and sisters, but, in the summer after her junior year, some Sisters of Mercy from Arkansas visited.
“They were recruiting girls to go to Arkansas and be sisters in their community,” Sister Mary Madonna said.
With her father’s permission, she went to Mount St. Mary Convent in Little Rock in September 1922. After making her final vows, she taught history and math in elementary and high schools in Arkansas, Texas and Missouri, including St. John, Hot Springs; Our Lady of Good Counsel and Mount St. Mary Academy, Little Rock; Holy Redeemer, El Dorado; and St. Anne Academy, Fort Smith. Later in her career, she also served as a principal in several Catholic schools, including St. Anne.
Although she retired from full-time teaching in 1980, she continued to substitute teach for several years at Mount St. Mary Academy. She moved to McAuley Convent at age 84 in May 1992.
While she was teaching at Our Lady of the Lake School and Incarnate Word School in San Antonio, Texas, she completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Sister Mary Madonna has helped write correspondence at McAuley Convent for many years and keeps busy despite a few vision problems. She walks with a walker and enjoys socializing with the other sisters, including playing card games from time to time.
Sister Mary Noeline Banks, RSM, of Hot Springs, a former student of Sister Mary Madonna’s, said her Algebra teacher helped inspire her to join the Sisters of Mercy.
“She’s a great lady — she’s 100 years and still going,” Sister Noeline said. “She put us on the right path when we were students at Mount St. Mary. She made us who we are today through her love for the students and through her ministry. She helped plant the seed of my becoming a Sister of Mercy.”
Msgr. Richard Oswald, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith; Father William Elser, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Fairfield Bay; and many friends and sisters from New Orleans, St. Louis, and Arkansas communities joined the convent staff and residents at the party.
After a cake and ice cream reception and champagne toast, Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker presented the centenarian with a proclamation and a bag of 100 rose petals, pouring them ceremoniously over her head.
Sister Mary Madonna said she is thankful for the life she has led and is optimistic about the future.
“God will see us through the problems we have in our time,” she said. “He’s always done that. I have lived through wars and depressions and hard times, but God has always been with us and always will be. We know that.”
Nearing century mark
Sister Mary Petronilla Coss, RSM, a longtime educator, celebrated her 99th birthday Nov. 23, and her two nieces from Dublin, Ireland, who visited McAuley Convent for her birthday, have promised to come back this year to help her celebrate her 100th.
