ST. BERNARD'S CONVENT

UPDATE: In the summer of 2019, the Mother Superior of the Daughters of the Cross requested that all the Sisters be relocated to other countries to serve the spiritial needs of the people in those areas. It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our beautiful Daughters of the Cross. We are eternally grateful for their time and dedication here at St. Bernard's Parish and they will all be heavily missed.
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The Daughters of the Cross was founded by Blessed Marie Thérèse Haze in Liège, Belgium in 1833. Today Daughters of the Cross work in Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, England, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, and Pakistan. In 1958 four Daughters of the Cross came to Tracy to open St. Bernard's School. Over the years their ministry expanded to Angel's Camp, Lockford, Manteca, San Andreas, and Stockton.

Four sisters served most recently in various parish ministries here in Tracy.

• Sister Marlene Sylas 

• Sister Cecilia D'Mello 
• Sister Mary Lancaster (went to be with our Lord on October 23, 2020)
• Sister Bernadette Mascarenhas (went to be with our Lord on January 17, 2021)

“Come Follow Me” … Jesus  

Vocation—A call from God

Vocations take many different forms. According to the Second Vatican Council, “The forms and tasks of life are many, but there is one holiness, which is cultivated by all who are led by God’s Spirit.”

A vocation is an invitation. Whoever you are, you have a vocation. All vocations are equally important, since each one is a personal response of love to love. You are unique and irreplaceable in the eyes of your Father in heaven. You are indispensable in the service of your brothers and sisters on earth. Like the trees and the stars, you are called into being, called by the Lord to take your rightful part in the wonderful harmony flowing from the heart of God. This is your chance to make of your life…something wonderful!

According to Constitutions Article 13, “Our vocation, a free gift from God, is a call and a mission. To respond means to commit the whole of our life to God. Our charism, gift of the spirit, for the church, expression of the paschal mystery, has its origin in the Trinitarian life, in the love of God.”

Some people feel the spirit speaking to them, asking them to consider an invitation to serve God by dedicating their whole lives to the service of God and his children by living in a religious congregation, a faith-based community. As vowed Daughters of the Cross we have the opportunity to do just that. 

If you feel called to Consecrated Religious Life and want to know more about the Daughters of the Cross,  please go to:   www.daughtersofthecross.org.uk 

A PIECE OF OUR HISTORY

The Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross was founded by Blessed Marie Thérèse Haze in Liège, Belgium in 1833. Her childhood and early womanhood were lived against the political upheaval of the French Revolution in so far as it affected Belgium. She experienced the loss of home, loved ones, and possessions and knew what it was to be poor and displaced, to have nothing. Her only security was in God. It was in contemplating the self-giving of Jesus on the cross that she founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross to help suffering humanity.  During her lifetime she sent sisters to work in schools, hospitals, prisons, homes for “fallen women,” prisoner rehabilitation centers, to nurse in war zones, to take care of people in their own homes, in fact to do any work she felt the Lord was calling Daughters of the Cross to serve Him.

The Daughters of the Cross in Tracy
 

Four Daughters of the Cross came to Tracy in 1958 to open St. Bernard’s School with grades 1-3. They were Sr. Mary Peter (Superior), Sr. Ann Gabriel, Sr. Madeleine Louise, and Sr. Mary Assumpta. Unfortunately Sr. Mary Assumpta was only able to stay for a very short time as she became ill and needed to return to England. Sister Mary Laetitia replaced her. As a grade was added each year an additional sister came till there were 8 grades and 9 sisters. Sr. Martin Mary (Mary Lancaster) came next followed a year later by Sr. Mary Eugene. Sr. Maureen O’Brien came in 1969 and Sr. Marlene Jude in 1997.

In 1966 sisters took on catechetical work in the parishes of Angels Camp and San Andreas and lay teachers began to join the school faculty. In 1991 the first lay principal was appointed and just one sister remained on the faculty. 

Since 2001 there have been no sisters working in school. The work carried out and the number of sisters have varied over the years.

Ministries included:

• Visiting the elderly, homebound, & hospitalized taking them spiritual support & Holy Communion

• Training parishioners to participate in this ministry

• Organizing special Masses, Anointing of the sick, and

• celebrations for seniors

• Assisting families arrange funerals & supporting them in their time of grief

• Providing religious education especially for parents whose children will be receiving the sacraments
• Serving as Special Ministers of the Eucharist, Lectors, and musicians for parish liturgies.

Our beloved Sr. Bernadette Mascarenhas went to be with our Lord on Sunday, January 17, 2021 at a hospital in Ireland. She was 98 years old & was in the 77th year of her religious life with the Daughters of the Cross. She was loved by many here & in her community. Many of us were touched by her presence and her love of Christ during her time here at St. Bernard’s. Please keep Sr. Bernadette & the Daughters of the Cross in your prayers.

Our Beloved Sr. Mary Lancaster went to be with our Lord on Friday, October 23rd, 2020 at St. Joseph’s convent in Haslemere, England. She was 91 years old & was in the 68th year of her religious life with the Daughters of the Cross. She was loved by many here & in her community. Many of us were touched by her and  her love of Christ through her Adult Education classes during her time at St. Bernard’s. Please keep her & the Daughters of the Cross in your prayers. 

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.  May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen


Nuestra amada Hermana Mary Lancaster fue a estar con nuestro Señor el viernes 23 de octubre de 2020 en el convento de San José en Haslemere, Inglaterra. Ella tenía 91 años de edad y tenía 68 años de vida religiosa con la Hijas de la Cruz. Muchos la amaban aquí y en su comunidad. Mucha de la comunidad fuimos conmovidos por ella y su amor por Cristo a través de sus clases de educación para adultos durante su tiempo en San Bernardo. Por favor, manténgala a ella y a las Hijas de la Cruz en sus oraciones. 

Concédele el descanso eterno, oh Señor, y haz que la luz perpetua brille sobre ella. Que su alma y las almas de todos los fieles difuntos, por la misericordia de Dios, descansen en paz. Amén