Newsletter
Intranet
Requiem for Sr. Thomasina
After so many years of strong and devoted service to our Lord, it was right and just that Sr. Thomasina (formerly known as Sr. St. Michael) should have a good send-off at her funeral on 30th October. As she continued her journey to her heavenly home, our prayers were with her, and we now rely on her as one more intercessor for us all. Fr. Peter McClaren was the main celebrant with the concelebrants Abbot Brendan Thomas OSB and Fr. Alan Davies-Hale.
We were joined in St. David’s Church, Cwmbran, by her two nephews David and Anthony, other members of the family and loyal friends and colleagues, as well as parishioners, several of whom had such good memories of Sr. Thomasina’s kindness.
As is our tradition, Sisters processed in with candles and placed the pall, the Bible, a crucifix and our Constitutions on the coffin midway through the singing of the entrance hymn, ‘Sweet Heart of Jesus’ – it had been Sr. Thomasina’s special wish to have a hymn to the Sacred Heart. Then came a special moment when Sr. Punitha, dressed in her sari, reverenced the Holy Trinity in front of Sr. Thomasina’s coffin, gently performing Aarathi with a tray of flowers, candle and incense before placing the tray before the altar.
For many of us, this was a new experience and a good way to recall Sr. Thomasina’s 30 years of ministry in India. The people of India were constantly in her heart, even when age took away memories of so much else. We learned more of her apostolate, especially her 19 years as Principal of St. Joseph’s High School, Cuttack, from a tribute sent from the Bhubaneswar Province, but the full extent of her ministry during 74 years of religious life was revealed when Sr. Mary Michael presented a eulogy which, not without humour, told us of Sr. Thomasina’s strongly Irish roots, even though she was born in Wales. We heard, too, how on her return to the UK in 1982, she applied herself to many new ministries: parish sister, head of St. Joseph’s Convent School in Cardiff, energetic fund-raiser for our hospice, English teacher to immigrants and general befriender of the poor. The full text of the eulogy is available elsewhere.
Mass ended with a hymn to Our Lady of Lourdes in Telegu and it was time to take Sr. Thomasina to her final resting place in the cemetery at Llantarnam Abbey. Sister had often expressed the desire to leave the church on the day of her funeral to the music of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, a boisterous piece as you probably know … but would it be liturgical? In the end, she had her way and after some gentle organ music accompanied her coffin back down the aisle, she ‘went out with a bang’ as Sr Mary Michael had suggested she might appreciate, to the sound of a full orchestra and cannons!
A simple service at our cemetery followed, and Sr. Thomasina was laid to rest with her uncle, Fr. Cahalane, the parish priest of Cwmbran many years ago. After the burial, we returned to St. Non’s room at St. David’s Church and enjoyed simple but excellent refreshments and the chance to exchange more memories of Sr. Thomasina among ourselves and with her family.
May Sr. Thomasina rest in peace and rise in glory.