In August 1955, four Sisters of Mercy left their beloved convent in Kinsale and set sail from Cobh, Co Cork, Ireland to start a school at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Delray Beach, Florida. The Mercy Sisters, with the lay faculty and staff, enriched the spiritual, social and educational life of the Catholic Community for 53 years. I arrived at St. Vincent Ferrer in 1968 and spent 40 years at the school as a Teacher and Principal.
In June 2008, I said good-bye to the place I called home and entered a sabbatical program at St. Meinrad, Indiana for a year. In May 2009, I embarked on a new Ministry west of the tracks at Emmanuel Catholic Church, Delray Beach. Emmanuel Parish was established in 1983. It’s a very modest community made up of Filipinos, Spanish, Haitians, Africans, Italians, and Irish. The Filipino, African, and Haitian communities bring a cultural flare with their vibrant diversity. I have the privileged and honor of coordinating all of our fundraisers. We are constantly conducting them to generate money due to a weekly deficit in our operating expenses. Despite the financial challenges, the level of faith and devotion to the Eucharist, and Blessed Mother, are part and parcel of the Emmanuel Community. These devotions and beliefs are rare and precious gifts in our materialistic world!
Every year we host the Diocesan International Marian Rosary Festival around our Rosary Lake and field. This beautiful devotion in the church is centuries old and is attended by people from various cultures bringing images of our Blessed Mother depicting her in their cultures. I have the opportunity to work as a team member in our RCIA program and religious education program. I take Holy Communion to some of our home bound; it is a very rewarding experience to share faith and prayer with these faith-filled people. I visit retirement and nursing homes a few times a month. Emmanuel has given me a new title: “First Lady of Emmanuel” as I am the first Sister to work at the parish. Thinking back over my time here, I recall the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson “To make a difference is to laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded and made a difference.”The people of Emmanuel have received me with opened arms and my ministry here has made a tremendous difference in my life.
Clare Fennell rsm
US Province
