of the Holy Spirit
(Florence Rykaczewska)
January 24, 1917 – November 18, 2006
Immaculate Conception Province
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
“Do not lose a moment of time in your service of God. Give all that he asks of you. Although your gift of self may be quite ordinary and imperfect, your will and your intention make it complete. God will give you the opportunity to put everything into practice.” Blessed Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd. Journey with Her.
The Season of Thanksgiving is a time set apart to give thanks. It is a time to recognize God in Christ Jesus and with the Holy Spirit as both Giver and Gift. With grateful hearts, the sisters in the Immaculate Conception province gathered together in celebration of Thanksgiving and in grateful remembrance of Mother Foundress, Blessed Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd, on November 18. Amidst the day’s activity, Sister Marceline was not forgotten. Sister was remembered in prayer, in word and conversation, and in countless little visits to her bedside. Sister Marceline, who had been quite ill for some time, had begun the final journey in these last few days. In the darkening twilight of a typical autumn day after the sounds of conversation faded and visits slowed, Sister Marceline reached out in faith to Jesus, Giver and Gift in her own life, and entered the eternal Thanksgiving in God’s kingdom.
Born Florence on January 24, 1917, in Philadelphia, Joseph and Mary Rykaczewski counted their newborn daughter as one of their many gifts. Baptized just three days later on January 27 at Saint John Cantius Church, Florence began to live the thanksgiving of daily life. How to repay what Florence came to realize as God’s unconditional love could only be answered in the gift of life-long service in the Church. On June 15, 1936, only days after her graduation from Nazareth Academy, Philadelphia, Florence entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Torresdale, Pennsylvania. Received into novitiate on June 24, 1937, Florence, now Sister Marceline, began the practice of religious life in earnest. She made temporary vows on June 26, 1939, and perpetually professed the evangelical counsels on August 15, 1945, at the Torresdale provincialate chapel. The mystery of the Holy Spirit which she chose to accompany her on the journey was to lead her to many places as disciple and teacher.
In Connecticut, Sister Marceline served at Saint Michael, Derby, and Saint Stanislaus, New Haven. In Springfield, Massachusetts, Sister ministered at Our Lady of the Rosary; in Baltimore, Maryland, at Sacred Heart of Mary; in Elmhurst, New York, Saint Adalbert; and in Miami, Florida, at Saint Brendan. Most of Sister’s teaching career took place in Pennsylvania: Sister was assigned to Saint Anthony, Throop and Queen of Peace, Ardsley; she served as principal at Visitation Blessed Virgin Mary, Trooper. In Philadelphia, Sister Marceline accepted assignments at Saint Hubert High School for Girls, Saint Adalbert, Saint Mary of Częstochowa, Saint Stanislaus-Bishop and Martyr, and Saint Katherine of Siena where she ministered as principal, and lastly, at Saint John Cantius.
Amidst all these many missions, Sister Marceline received a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education at Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, and a Master of Science in Education at Scranton University, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Sister Marceline was very much at home in the classroom where she spent sixty-two years. Described as strict by some, there was no mistaking good discipline and a sense of order in her classroom. But her students knew and could even appreciate her heartfelt dedication to the field of education. An avid reader herself, Sister tried to instill in her students a love for learning and a genuine curiosity in the world around them. Although a private and somewhat quiet person, Sister Marceline displayed an interest in and explored the many facets of life with a good book in hand. Meticulous by nature, her attention to detail was rivaled by few.
A woman of strong character, Sister Marceline’s convictions and opinions were none other than her own. Sister was her own person and was sometimes led by the beat of a different drummer, plainly speaking her mind and heart. However, what was always uppermost in mind and heart was the doing of all that God instructed her: prayer was a part of the natural rhythm of her day. Family, too, was a real part of her life – they were as devoted to her as she was to them.
At the closing of Saint John Cantius Convent in 2001, Sister Marceline reluctantly transferred to Mount Nazareth in Philadelphia, where initially she engaged in activity about the house while continuing to offer her services as tutor to those in need. Mellowed by age and ill health and with her usual high tolerance for pain dwindling, Sister Marceline became increasingly frail. In her late eighties, her illness finally seemed to take its toll.
In this Season of Thanksgiving, not having lost a moment of time in her service of God and having given all that the Holy Spirit asked of her in Christ Jesus, the journey was now complete. In the setting of the sun on that autumn November day, Sister Marceline closed her eyes to this world in the sure and certain hope of new and eternal life. Rest in peace, dear Sister, in everlasting thanksgiving to our God, both Giver and Gift.
Digitized by S. Brendan O'Brien, CSFN
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: November 2006