An outbreak of the new coronavirus swept through a Michigan convent “like wildfire,” killing 13 of its religious sisters who lived, prayed, and worked together in a matter of weeks, a Global Sisters Report said.
In a span of one month, 12 nuns of the Felician Sisters convent in Livonia, died after contracting COVID-19.
Overall, 18 other sisters at the convent contracted the illness from the coronavirus. One of those 18 sisters who first survived the disease later died from its effects on June 27, making her the 13th victim in the Livonia convent.
The nuns ranged in age from 69 to 99, the executive director for mission advancement, Suzanne English, confirmed to CNN on Tuesday, July 21.
Twelve of the nuns died between April 10 and May 10.
The Felician Sisters convent is officially named the “Congregation of Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Assisi (CSSF).” The sisters are located on a campus with Madonna University next to St. Mary Mercy Livonia Hospital.
The virus spread through the convent and on Good Friday, April 10, came to the first death: Sister Mary Luiza Wawrzyniak, 99.
Two days after Wawrzyniak’s demise, a second nun passed away from coronavirus-related ailments, 95-year-old Mary Estelle Printz. Two more sisters died over the next five days.
“Some of our Sisters who have had COVID-19 are struggling to recover from a variety of effects, including continuing weakness, respiratory issues and more,” explained provincial minister Sister Mary Christopher Moore. “We ask for your prayers as we support them in their recovery. At the same time, we are moving forward with slowly loosening the tight restrictions under which Sisters in our convents . . . have operated for more than three months.”
In Michigan, more than 74,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed as of Tuesday, and there have been 8,243 COVID-19-related fatalities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After so many deaths many of those who survived are facing a different reality that sometimes is challenging for their faith.
“The faith we share with sisters as they are dying, the prayers we share with sisters as they are dying: We missed all that,” Sr. Joyce Marie Van de Vyver said in the Global Sisters Report. “It kind of shattered our faith life a little bit.”
Visitors had also been prohibited but the convent still had essential staff working such as nurses, nurse’s aides, and dining hall workers. The trouble started with the workers.
Later, on May 10, Sr. Mary Madeleine Dolan, 82, died. On June 27, Sr. Mary Danatha Suchyta, 98, died after initially surviving the virus.
“We couldn’t contain the grief and the sorrow and the emotional impact,” Sr. Gabriel told the Global Sisters Report. “We went through the motions of doing what we had to do, but that month was like a whole different way of life. That was our most tragic time. It was a month of tragedy and sorrow and mourning and grieving.”
Watch the video below for more details:
Sources: AWM, Global Sisters Report
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