Sr. Rita Prendergast, CCVI (1931 -2020)

Who would have predicted that a young girl in Ireland who dropped out of school would later get a doctoral degree in English from a major American university, teach in a college, and eventually instruct prisoners in Peru who wanted to learn English?

That’s the fabulous story of Sister Rita Prendergast.

Her father moved the family to his parents’ home in the countryside while he was in the army and later traveled to and from Dublin for work. The young Rita had to drop out of middle school to help her mother with her younger siblings and later held several entry-level jobs to help with family expenses.

One day, looking through a newspaper, Rita spotted a news clip about some Sisters from Texas visiting Dublin hoping to find young girls to join them and help educate African Americans. With the simple desire to do something “good,” she attended a meeting – and the rest is history.

But Sr. Rita’s story needs more unfolding. Her family had a strong faith life, attending Mass every Sunday, reciting the rosary daily, and seeing her father say his morning prayers as he shaved getting ready for work.  The fact that one of her sisters was also interested in joining the Sisters in Texas made Rita’s decision to leave Ireland and enter the convent easier.

She didn’t get a clarion call from the Holy Spirit. Still, once Rita started with the Incarnate Word Sisters in San Antonio, she knew she had made the right decision. The disciplined convent life was by no means easy, but she accepted this new way of life because, well, that was how Sisters lived.

That was the same response she made when she was assigned to become a grade school teacher when she actually aspired to become a nurse and when she was chosen to acquire graduate degrees at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. so she could teach English at Incarnate Word College.

The move from teaching in grade school began with a vacancy in the Registrar’s Office at the College. Her work there brought her in close contact with the Academic Dean, Sister Clement Eagan, a deeply spiritual woman. Along with setting the curriculum, Sr. Clement spent hours diligently translating classical Latin literature by the Church Fathers for publication in English. It was truly inspiring to work with someone so dedicated to the College and the students and at the same time was richly talented and willing to devote as much time as she could to better the world of knowledge.

Sister Clement and the other Sisters were evidently holy. “You would see them,” Sr. Rita remembers, “and you’d know…that they were holy….We didn’t talk about it (holiness), but they were doing what they were supposed to do according to the dictates of our rules and our order. It was just obvious that the women were holy.  I was really impressed…”

Sister Alacoque Power, also hard-working and very prayerful, would always encourage Sr. Rita during her graduate work. Once she finished an assignment, Sr. Power would usually spur her on by saying, “Now, honey, that’s one more thing you don’t have to do.”

Sister Rita was also inspired by Sister Florence’s work in Ireland. She respected the humanity of the poor, washing and mending their hand-me-downs because even in their poverty they deserved personal dignity.

That holiness and dedication was evident even in the retired Sisters, who dedicated their lives to praying for others, although some of them would nod off during meditation in the chapel. Yet they followed the rules, “They are there (waiting to go to heaven) and they are being patient. It came, I think, with their fidelity [to God].”

That fidelity motivated Sr. Rita to work in Peru, helping prisoners endure sometimes unjust sentences. She wasn’t alone, of course; there were other Sisters with her, all of them motivated by their relationship with God.

Sister Rita speaks of the CCVI (Incarnate Word Sisters’) spirituality that captures the Sacredness of the Moment: