of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
(Helen Lemanska)
February 17, 1910 – May 4, 2003
Immaculate Heart of Mary Province
Monroe, Connecticut
“Jesus gives you an opportunity to show Him your fidelity in your relationships with your sisters. May these encounters be gentle, full of love, patience and sweetness.” (Words of Blessed Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd)
Born on February 17, 1910, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Sister Adeline grew up in a loving, Christian family environment. The fourth of nine children, born to Peter and Catherine Mielnicka Lemanski, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth on July 1, 1925, from Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, Worcester, Massachusetts. She was admitted into the novitiate on July 14, 1926, in Des Plaines, Illinois where she made her first profession on July 18, 1928. She pronounced her final vows, in Torresdale, Pennsylvania on July 11, 1934.
Sister Adeline was a teacher for most of her religious life, and an exceptionally good one. Countless are the students who were deeply touched by her. Some say she was strict and demanding, but all say she was wonderful, caring and considerate of their needs. Sister worked her students hard, and challenged them to succeed, and they appreciated the love that always prompted her actions toward them. Her ministry of teaching spanned eight dioceses over a period of sixty years.
Sister Adeline suffered a heart attack while attending the Mass for Cardinal Glemp at St. Joseph Cathedral, Hartford, Connecticut, September 22, 1991. With her health failing, Sister was assigned to Immaculate Heart of Mary Provincialate. Here again, as she lived during her active ministry, so too, now in retirement, she put energy and enthusiasm into each task she undertook, performing them conscientiously and perseveringly. She was always busy with some worthwhile activity; such as, crocheting afghans for each of her family members and for sale at the annual lawn festival. This was her favorite pastime.
Once a strong and vigorous woman, she learned to accept the suffering that Our Lord asked of her. Due to poor circulation, it was necessary to amputate Sister’s leg in April of 1998. This operation was very difficult for Sister and then just eight months later Sister Adeline faced the amputation of her second leg.
Even though bedridden, Sister Adeline had a wonderful spirit about her. She never complained and always loved to help others. She expressed appreciation for any favors done for her and she always made you feel welcome in her presence. Whenever someone came to visit and asked how she was doing, she camouflaged her cares, afflictions and pains with a warm, sincere smile.
She delighted in making others happy, and never lost an opportunity to extend herself in some way to everyone she met. The smile on her lips was always accompanied by a sparkle in her eye, and she was a joy to be with. The warmth of her love for God and for her Sisters flowed from her, and was consequently returned to her. Complaint was something foreign to her nature, she was a wonderful source of inspiration to others.
The liturgy and the Eucharist were the center of her life. Sister’s love for the Eucharist was well known, and the ministers who brought Holy Communion daily to Sister will always remember the devotion of her reception of the Lord.
For Sister Adeline, the most significant people in her life were her family members. Visited daily by her sister, Sister Theophane, she kept abreast of all the family happenings. She would speak of her family members, both immediate and extended, with love, pride and concern.
On the evening of May 4, 2003, without warning, Sister Adeline quietly slipped into the arms of God to whom she had been so faithful. The death of Sister Adeline left a void in the hearts of many, especially her family and the sisters at the provincialate where she had spent the last ten years of her life.
Her life on earth had been a rich, full, joyous experience, but we feel sure that this was only a shadow of the love and joy she is now experiencing in the presence of the God she served so faithfully and so long.
May her joy live on in our hearts and may she rest in peace.
Digitized by S. Brendan O'Brien, CSFN
Instructor
School of Arts & Sciences
History Department
Holy Family University
9801 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19114
215-637-7700 x3279
srbrendan@holyfamily.edu
http://web3.holyfamily.edu/srbrendan
Last updated: February 2006