of the Holy Name of Jesus
(Mary Banach)
September 13, 1907 – December 7, 1971
Immaculate Conception Province
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sister M. Martina entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Torresdale in 1929. After her first profession made September 1, 1932, she taught in a few elementary schools of the Province; in Nazareth Academy, Torresdale; and in St. Mary’s High School, Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1957, she joined the Holy Family College faculty and, subsequently, became professor and chairman of its Art Department, which post she held until her death.
Her art work had been exhibited at the Armory in New York City and was part of the Traveling Exhibit of the Catholic University, Washington, D.C. Her work can also be seen in many churches, convents, hospitals, and at Holy Family College. It is at the latter institution that her well-acclaimed masterpiece, “The Holy Family at the Crossroads,” now hangs. It depicts Jesus, Mary, and Joseph against a background of symbols from the Old and the New Testament.
Sister died peacefully after a short painful illness of cancer at Nazareth Hospital, on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The Funeral Liturgy held at 4:30 p.m., Friday, December 10, 1971, in the Nazareth Chapel of the Provincialate, was truly a beautiful occasion in the alleluia spirit of the Resurrection.
It was participated in by Sister Mary Rose, Provincial Superior; by Sister M. Neomisia, the former Superior General; by many Sisters; several priests; by the administrators, faculty, alumnae, and students of the College; by Sister Martina’s friends; and by her family. The faculty and students marched in the funeral procession and three members of the Theology Department, Fathers Francis Cegielka, Francis Hanley, and Gerard Steffe concelebrated the Mass, during which the congregation, led by the Sisters sang poignantly.
Prior to the Introit, Mr. Thomas Lombardi of the English Department, read the following poem written by him in Sister’s memory:
Yearlong she supped and dined
with Picasso and Matisse,
tea with Raphael,
talked with Tzara and Van Gogh,
even Michaelangelo.
One lightning brush stroke,
an amorphous hunk of clay,
autumn in a butterfly
tilt-a-whirled her mind.
She was a gentle pilgrim
without a plane or ship
to Monmartre and Firenze.
Sheer through painted mindscapes-
her penultimate odyssey
in-
to
Art,
On one blue December night
with brush and palette
she walked across her studio floor
in-
to
and
-through-
a near
completed
Landscape
hanging on the wall ,
-toward home ….
O exquisite-suffering journey!
Little wobbly artist,
bonnet slightly awry ,
eyes twinkling,
chuckling,
slowly walking . . .
the long winding ivory road
-toward Nazareth.
The last strokes-
A house. A door. A knock!
(Jesus Mary Joseph)
the extended Hands of Fire
Mr. Frank Smith or the Art Department read the first Epistle and Miss Sue Deutsch, Vice-President of the Student Association, read the other.
After the Gospel, Father Hanley of the College’s Theology Department and the Headmaster or the Holy Ghost Prep School, Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania, preached a brief but beautiful eulogy. At the outset, he dramatically exhorted his hearers not to weep but to rejoice in that Sister Martina had fulfilled her Christian commitment, had gained all that she lived for. He then dwelt on Sister’s love of her vocation, quoting her as saying to him once, “Father, I was born to be a religious and my first novice-mistress was my mother”; her sincerity and simplicity; her constantly being alive as a person; her habit of “philosophizing,” the giving of mini-lessons upon any given opportunity; her ability to design and seek and to see harmony and darkness and light not only in the art in which she was so involved but also in life. “If we were to ask her now,” he said in conclusion, “Sister, what do you think of your new way of life?” she would respond, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.”
After Holy Communion, which most or the congregation received, Sister M. Florence, Academic Dean, read the following original prayer:
O God, Our Father in Heaven, we thank You that in Your Infinite Wisdom, You designed the very special person who was Sister Martina, for us and for this earth.
For none of us lives for himself only, none of us dies for himself only; if we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. Whether we live or die, then, we belong to the Lord. “For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord or the living and of the dead (Rom. 14:7-9) .”
Now that Sister Martina wholly belongs to You and Your Holy Family, we pray for her soul, adapting the prayer she said daily together with other members or our Congregation, and so ... we ask You, Jesus, Word made Flesh, Savior of the World, You whose life was for her an example of total dedication to Your Father and to the work He entrusted to You; You, who helped her to live fully her religious consecration, to spend herself completely in your salvific mission to the People of God ... Jesus, God, be good to her!
Mary , Mother of God, whom she loved so well and who obtained for her the grace of intimate union with Your Divine Son and in and through Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit ... Mary, be good to her.
St. Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family, you who taught her to live a life of prayer, humble work, and self-forgetfulness, so that she became an ever more docile instrument of the will of God ... Joseph, be good to her.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, you who inspired her so to live her community life that she was a sign to others that Christ has come, that our hope is centered in Him, and that we look forward to the glory of the resurrection ... Holy Family, be good to her.
You know better than we, dear Father, that Sister Martina’s whole life “was a celebration” and that in her daily life she realized the truth of the statement, “I wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of living ... and loving” (Gibran).
You have taught us, Father, that the day of man’s death is a joyful birthday into eternity, the day in which we begin our true life. We then ask You, Father, please wish her a “Happy Birthday” in the name of all of us gathered here. And do thank her all that she was to us, for all that she gave to us, for all that she will still give us by way of good example and inspiration for a long time to come until that day when we – her sister, brother, niece, her whole family, her friends, the students, alumnae, and faculty of the College, her Superiors and her Sisters in our Congregation – all of us can share in the resurrection of her life and sing eternal alleluias together with her and with Your Holy Family in Heaven forever and ever. Amen.
Sister Martina was a good religious, one who deeply loved her prayer life, her vocation, her fellowman, and her God. The following excerpt found among her papers speaks eloquently of this:
I have already spent 24 years in the convent. Perhaps there will never be another 24 years. My sister Albina has endured much during this period. Many Sisters have suffered much, even martyrdom. But Jesus has always protected me, even “spoiled” me.
Through all these years, I have never received one rebuke at the hands of my Superiors. Personally, I do not feel myself growing in virtue nor in greater usefulness to my Congregation. But this I want more and more, that I may find truth in dealing with my God, with others, and with myself.
Lord Jesus, do not allow me to see virtue which does not exist in me. I ask You, to give me the will deliberately to follow You from this day onward. Jesus, strengthen my will, enlighten my mind. Enlighten my Superiors that as You do, they see me as I truly am, that they do not hesitate to tell me the truth in all sincerity.
Give me a good memory that I may fulfill my school responsibilities well. Give me light that I never harm, by passing false judgment, any Sister, any student, any living soul.
Sister Martina’s love of God on the vertical plane was manifested on the horizontal plane by her love of neighbor, especially of her fellow-religious and of her students. Her almost maternal solicitude for the latter was quite evident. “My job,” she once said, “is to help my students and I am truly more interested in their work than in my own.”
Her interest in others was characterized by self-forgetfulness, by thoughtfulness, and kindness. The following anonymous verse found in one of her private notebooks reads like a resolution drawn up and one so obviously kept by her.
CHARITY
Do something today to bring gladness.
To someone whose pleasures are few;
Do something to drive off sadness –
Or cause someone’s dream to come true.
For only through kindness and giving
Of service and friendship and cheer,
We learn the pure way of living
and find heaven’s happiness here.
Sister certainly found “heaven’s happiness here” doing good for others ... quite frequently through her hands. In fact, we are told that one of the famous Styka artists photographed them and used them as his model for painting the hands of our Foundress, Mother Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd, in his famous portrait of her. Incidentally speaking, Sister Martina loved “Matuchna” very much.
Some of us used to hear Sister Martina sing “Take My Hands” at the Offertory of the Masses which we shared with her. And then admiringly we watched her put those words into action, for she certainly used her hands in generous ways for God’s “kingdom here on earth, consecrating them to His care, anointing them for His service” and “opening them to human needs.”
Requiescat in pace . . .
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