This is how I remember Sr. Agnes O’Reilly, of Roscommon, who entered the Sisters of Mercy, Sligo and joined us in the former US Region. In her family she was called Pearlie. To us she was Agnes, “the Lamb”, gentle, fun loving, ready to listen to child, student, adult and senior, connect and collaborate, enjoy a joke, chic in outfits in time of habit transition;  and always “Gawd” was Good, so immersed was she in the writings of Abbot Columba Marmion – frequently quoted!

Agnes always enjoyed an outing “wherever the car was going”, since she did not have a driver’s license. One of these outings from San Diego was to Tijuana, Mexico, with the then young Sisters Finbarr Burke, Celestine Callaghan, Josephine Breen, all who have now “joined the choir invisible”,  and me.

It was a great day, south of the border (so different there today). We viewed the scene, checked for bargains in leather goods and turquoise, became fluent in certain Spanish phrases and tried the tacos. A visit to the church ”fully alive” was on the agenda, too, before we got back in the car to return across the border. What a long line, lanes of cars, all occupants waiting to be checked for ID. As we neared the patrol officer, it was discovered that Agnes, who was not a US citizen at the time, had forgotten to take her visa along!

What would we do?

We planned that when asked were we US citizens we would in unison proudly say “YES” and that Agnes would smile broadly! However, each one of us was questioned separately and when the officer put the question to Agnes, she, not wanting to be dishonest, looked at us and said, “am I?”

That was enough – we were directed to drive over to the holding station, Agnes was detained in the Office for a lengthy period until her ID was confirmed after much communication with authorities in San Diego.

I still feel the anxiety of these hours of waiting and then the relief when ‘the gentle lamb” was released and not detained in prison overnight. God was very good!

Mary Frances Coleman rsm
US Region