Sr Muriel Fetherston
The First Disciple of the Divine Master to respond to God’s Call from Ireland!
Testimony of Sr Kathryn M Williams:
My first encounter with Sr Muriel Fetherston was in 1987. I was 33 years of age, a newly perpetually professed sister, full of enthusiasm and energy for the mission of the Disciples of the Divine Master. While studying in Rome, I was asked to go to Ireland to continue my studies. It was during this time that I encountered the gracious and sociable Sr Muriel.
What was there about this 61-year-old sister that made such an impression on me? In this brief account, I will highlight some incidences that speak of a life well lived, a life filled with eagerness to do good.
Her Living and Active Faith: When I first met her, Sr Muriel had received a diagnosis of cancer and was at the end of a strict regime of chemotherapy. She was physically weak and pale. However, this challenge to her health did nothing to daunt her spirit. When I asked her how she managed to remain so positive after receiving the diagnosis of extensive cancer, she replied with a sparkle in her eye, “I told it to ‘get out of my life!” Obviously, the cancer was banished from her life, and she continued to serve in the mission in Ireland.
Her Spirit of Kindness and Hospitality: The Irish people are well known for their welcoming and hospitable spirit. On one occasion,
my sister Robyn was visiting Ireland with her 18-year-old daughter Hannah. I suggested that when they pass through Athlone, to call in to the community and greet them. It was near evening when they arrived and after meeting the sisters and being entertained with the Irish cup of tea and warm welcome, my sister asked if there was a Bed and Breakfast where they might stay for the night. Muriel immediately jumped up and exclaimed, “I will arrange it for you, we know some very kind people who we recommend very highly.” Within half an hour, she called Robyn and Hannah and said, “I will accompany you to the best B&B in Athlone!” She immediately picked up their bags and ushered them downstairs to the guest room of the community. In those few moments she had prepared the beds and placed fresh flowers on the table. True to her word, the hospitality was exquisite, and the Irish breakfast next morning was enough to keep them fed for the day! This incident spoke more to my 18-year-old niece than any talk on the values of religious life! Thirty years later, Hannah and Robyn still remember the welcome and kindness received from this sister. I felt proud and happy to know that my family were extended such a kindness. When I thanked Muriel for this gesture, she said the words that I have often heard from her lips: “This house does not belong to us, it belongs to God, and we must welcome those who come to us!” Pope Francis speaks of the Joy of the Encounter. Muriel had refined and perfected this spirit well before it became up to date!
Adapting to newness in Religious Life: As in any lifestyle, a pitfall of religious life is that of getting stuck in a rut and resistance to change. If various rules and ways of living lose their original meaning, it is time to creatively adapt, finding new expressions that speak to the times we live in. For many in religious life, the challenge to change one or other aspect of a well-tested and tried lifestyle can lead to a loss of security. Not so with Sr Muriel! While she would have never been called a “trailblazer,” when changes in our lifestyle emerged, she serenely and gracefully welcomed them. She seemed to know instinctively how to sort out the essential from the non-essential. She was able to “go with the flow” when things were asked of her, but she knew how to retain what was of value. One of these non-negotiables was prayer and a warm and spontaneous relationship with her God.
Graced Aging: In recent weeks I am reading a book entitled “Age Proof.” It is based on a scientific study of aging, written by Professor Rose Anne Kenny. In her studies she highlights the fact that to age well is never simply a matter of years. As I pondered this book, I could see that a life consecrated to God and lived in community with other sisters is brimming with opportunities to age well. A rich community life has a balance between solitude and community, it offers times of prayer and meditation, it highlights the joy of encountering others and the day-to-day invitation to gently move away from self-isolation into the worlds of others. Community life offers a balanced lifestyle: meals, laughter and a rhythm of work and play.
Sr Muriel today? At the age of 97, she still sparkles. Her health has deteriorated, and her legs don’t work as they used to. By evening she is anxious to get to bed and is very assertive about telling us. Despite her physical decline, she has retained the joy of living, of being able to still “do my ministry” and find small ways to serve. While her short-term memory is fading, she still remembers the names of each of us sisters and all the tried-and-true prayers that have been forged into her consciousness.
Poetry: When, as a young postulant, she first arrived in Italy, she was taught a poem to help her with the assimilation of the language. It is often on her lips and for me, it sums up her cheerful and optimistic life. She recites it with opened armed gestures, with great fervor and gusto!
Sr Muriel’s Poem
It takes so little to make oneself loved,
A good word said at the proper time –
a little kindness, a caress,
A simple smile that lights up one’s face.
The heart always welcoming to whoever comes.
It takes so little to make oneself loved!
12 Comments
I have never met Sr Muriel in person but I have sometimes spoken to her via Skype. She was always very warm and friendly and after these brief encounters I was left feeling peaceful
and serene. It just takes a smile and kind word to brighten one’s day ! Thankyou Sr. Muriel for your wonderful witness of joy and hospitality. God bless you.
I am so blessed to live with Sr Muriel for nearly 7 years! I have learned so much from her and the way she lives her consecration with so much openness and joy. She often corrects my English pronunciation and helps me in the liturgical centre and in the kitchen… she is a witness of peace in the service of the Lord! I am also learning how to be a good nurse at this stage of my life. It has been a very fascinating learning for me to see how Sr Muriel welcomes her declining years. May God grant her many more! Sr Juliana pddm
I give thanks to God for this wonderful and facinating personality of Sr Murial. What a wonderful and living testimony of growing old gracefully.
Each time when I met her she lighted up the day with her colourful Irish stories and her wit during the conversation that keeps you amazed.
She enjoys peace and joy and she is ever grateful to the sisters around her with a gracefilled word of ‘Thank you’.
God bless you Sr Murial with long life and we love your presence…
A special thanks to Sr. Kathryn Williams who have written this testimony.
I am smacked by the giving life of this Disciple of Jesus Master Sr Muriel . I feel like i know and have met an Angel 😇 her glowing service of her ministry . I am just a wandering soul who calls on the Sisters in Athlone for spiritual and physical sustenance. It,s just a little piece of paradise! Thank you 😊
My name is Niamh, I know Sr Muriel and she is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met in my life. She has dedicated and devoted her life in good faith and I hope to live up to the mark she’s left on me. I am eighteen years old and I sometimes do voluntary work with the sisters I am currently studying for my final exams in Leaving Cert, the prayers of the sisters definitely getting me through this year, I am eternally grateful to meet someone like SrMuriel!
97? Unbelievable !!! Indeed I agree that she and her sisters are great women. Women of graciousness and hospitality. Always welcoming! Truly they are among the Holy women following the Lord in our times. Lord, grant them an experince of your love as the Good Shepherd.
It is with great joy that I am one of the blessed to have met Sr Muriel when I stayed in the Anthlone convent in October of 2021. Her joy is contagious both in daily life and prayers. I was also able to experienced the warm welcomed and hospitality of an Irish decent. My stay felt home.
I thank our Divine Master for blessing with a personal encounter of Sr Muriel. Every meal was special because it was full of jokes from Sr Muriel, laughter, love and the simplicity of life. Thank you Sr Muriel for saying “Yes”!
I’m a friend of the PDDM in Fresno Ca. The sisters have been part of my life for the past 23 years. Although , I have not meet Sr.Muriel her spirit, love, faith and hospitality come alive through this beautiful reflection by Sr.Kathryn. There is so much richness to be pondered on with the life of Sr.Muriel as she continued to adapt to newness. At the center was love, prayer and hospitality.
Somehow in my heart I feel a kindred spirit with Sr.Muriel as if I’ve meet her. So I’m sending love and gratitude to her for the love filled vocation she lives and shares so freely with others.
Melissa Lehman
Wow, what a fitting and beautiful testimony on the life of Sr Muriel. The testimony speaks brilliantly of the joys and values of religious life, which is a leaven in the world. Thank you Sr Kathryn for this wonderfully exquisite rendition.
I first met Sr Muriel in Athlone on a summer afternoon in 1996, 27 years ago.
I still remember that meeting. She was waiting for me with Sr Paul on the threshold of the Convent door. It was a warm welcome, as if we had known each other for a long time.
Since that day I have lived a true and profound spiritual communion with Sr. Muriel.
I was admired by her spirit of prayer, especially by the spirit of the liturgy which she has always cultivated with love, by her vocational fidelity and by the joy with which she lives it, by her always beautiful and positive vision of life.
A woman of communion and hope, for whose closeness and friendship I thank the Lord.
Thank you, Sister Muriel
The Lord bless you and fill you with all good things
Thank you for writing about Sr.Muriel, Sr.Kathryn!
It warms my heart to know our very own pddm sister even if I have not met or heard of her name before. Thank you for this testimony.
She is an inspiration!
So beautiful story.Thank you so mach.I was touched by Sr.Muriel’s words :“This house does not belong to us, it belongs to God, and we must welcome those who come to us!Indeed, nothing is our own, everything is a gift from God.