Sister M. Antoinette Targonska

Immaculate Conception Province
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“Jesus has granted you an exceptionally great grace, calling you and choosing you for his spouse. Be faithful then to his grace, loving Him above all and offering yourself to Him through self abnegation, through self -sacrifice, through humility, and through obedience.” (Blessed Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd – Love Conquers All)

In this her diamond jubilee year, Sister Antoinette and her beloved Spouse, the Lamb of God, fashioned in secret a jubilee celebration beyond compare: On April 6, 2004, Sister Antoinette joined the great and glorious heavenly multitude in jubilation song:

Alleluia! The Lord has established his reign, our God, the Almighty. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready. She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment.

Indeed, the wedding feast has begun in Resurrection time for Sister Antoinette who, although quiet even somewhat reclusive in nature, eagerly hastened on the day of her birth into Resurrection-Life to be counted among those prostrate in worship before the Lamb.

Personally well-disciplined and nothing less than obedient in life, Sister Antoinette recognized the place of self-sacrifice as a necessary aid to be practiced in climbing the ladder to holiness. These same standards were applied to all others with whom Sister came in contact, both personally and in apostolic life. For Sister, this was unmistakably a way of life that proved successful and rewarding in pursuing her relationship with God; forthrightly and willingly, Sister Antoinette shared this example not so much by word but by virtues in practice. Generous and kind, she offered this precious invitation to others in her Nazareth family and that of her extended family in ministry as she experienced it through the years in Italy, England, Puerto Rico and Philadelphia.

As in all lives hungering for growing union with their Spouse, Sister Antoinette experienced the spiritually natural letting go of earthly things that is born and bred of age and in wisdom. Sister’s serene surrender of physical health became increasingly apparent with time, a model example to be sure. But there was much more in store for Sister Antoinette: Those closest to Sister’s reality in her much later years were intimate witnesses to Sister’s supreme self-sacrifice, a call to obedience far beyond all that she could have ever imagined for herself, far beyond the imaginations of even those life-witnesses whose eyes and hearts painfully beheld the gradual deterioration and eventual ravages of the debilitating Alzheimer’s disease as it claimed another victim in Sister Antoinette.

As the disease progressed and its stages had become fully apparent and daily experienced, those invited to see with eyes other than their own almost immediately realized the power of God’s presence in Sister: The life lessons catching the attention of all those who dared to see arid learn were offered. Sister Antoinette, even in the midst of this most devastating and self -emptying disease, remained ever the teacher par excellence, ever the example. The Lamb of God, written on her heart so long ago, became the living book of learning for willing and able students. While her own life in all its mental complexity slowly ebbed away, surely it was the God-life so deeply rooted by a lifetime of faith-filled Fiat that shined forth and provided sustenance for all those souls surrounding Sister Antoinette who hungered, like her, for the everlasting nourishment found at the banquet of the Lamb. Like the Lamb of God, Victim and Victor, Sister was brought to the slaughter in a disease still far too mysterious to comprehend; one, out of which in faith born of Resurrection hope, Sister has risen victoriously! Out of seeming famine – a lavish feast; out of seeming death-life!

It was on April 16, 1908 in Boston, Massachusetts, that proud parents Stanley Targonski and Michaeline Zubrzycka first laid eyes on the new life cuddled in their arms. Undoubtedly, the ever-wondrous and always unconditional love of God swelled in their hearts: They somehow knew that from this time on, their household would be filled with more love, deeper joy and overflowing gratitude in the gift of their daughter. Giving thanks to God, Antoinette was accompanied to the living waters of the baptismal font at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church, Boston on Apri1 25, 1908. There, church and family offered fitting praise to the God of Salvation Promise.

Three years after graduation from Cambridge Latin and High School, Cambridge, Antoinette entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth from St. Hedwig Parish on August 5,1929. The God of Promise unmistakably caught Antoinette’s heart. Received as a novice on July 8, 1930 in Ariccia, Italy, Sister Micina, then known, promised chastity, poverty and obedience for the first time on July 16, 1932. It was in Enfield, England, both as a student and teacher, that Sister spent her first eight years in active ministry from 1932 to 1940. Her broadening experiences in Nazareth life and mission were brought to flower in Sister’s perpetual Fiat proclaimed at the foot of the altar in Rome in 1938.

Most certainly filled with mixed emotions, Sister Antoinette’s journey home to Philadelphia invited the promise of life in transition: A myriad of soon-to-be discovered graces were sure to root her ever more deeply in spousal love and Nazareth life. Her destination – Nazareth Academy High School – where she served as a teacher unti1 1955. From 1947 to 1949, while continuing her teaching assignment, Sister Antoinette also served as provincial secretary.

Armed with a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education from Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania in 1953, Sister Antoinette’s teaching career was in full swing by the time she was transferred to Holy Family University in 1955. A Master of Art in English soon followed in 1958 from Villanova University. Her degree along with many years of experience, natural abilities and acquired still served the University and Sister’s students well.

Recalled as strict, but always fair and just, Sister exhibited a genuine care for her students. Reveling in knowledge for its own sake, Sister brought a certain and sure depth to the subject matter she presented. Seemingly unapproachable from afar, some students may have entered her classroom in fear and trepidation, but soon they found that Sister was one who served her discipline well, both loving her craft and those entrusted to her care. They hung on her every word, not only because she was soft-spoken but because in her classroom she made every word count. Sister seemed larger than life – somehow the whole of the academic world filled her person. After some initial encounters, her students inevitably breathed a sigh of relief! They soon learned that it was always possible to meet Sister Antoinette heart to heart.

Although retired from the University in 1978, Sister was far from retired! She returned to Nazareth Academy High School for another eight years serving as she did in a clerical capacity. All in all, Sister Antoinette spent forty-five years on the Torresdale campus with twenty-three of those always-fondly remembered years at Holy Family University.  In 1987, Sister Antoinette accepted an assignment at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Puerto Rico. The following year, Sister Antoinette was transferred to Infant Jesus Convent, Philadelphia, where she remained in part-time clerical work until her transfer to Mount Nazareth in 1993.

For her lifetime of faith-filled Fiat, one of Resurrection hope, Sister Antoinette intimately experienced the shelter of the Lamb of God, the God of Salvation Promise. Sister, you now stand triumphant and victorious among the multitude in perpetual jubilee at the banquet of the Lamb, “wearing a white robe and holding palm branches in your hand ... for the wedding day of the Lamb has come,” and, you, his bride, “have made yourself ready ... for worthy indeed is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing ... forever and ever!” (Book of Revelation)

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