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- Sr. Therese Frances Legere
FEBRUARY 7, 1937 ? NOVEMBER 7, 2017
Leger, Sister Therese Frances The Franciscans of Halifax and the family of Sister Therese of the Divine Silence (Mary Joan Leger) announce her death which took place on November 7, following a courageous battle with cancer in her 81st year and the 61st year of her religious profession. She was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, February 7, 1937, a daughter of the late Leo J. and Lillian T. (Quinn) Leger. Wooed by God as a child, Sister Therese spent the remainder of her life consciously in the presence of the Blessed Trinity. She was educated in St. John the Baptist School, St. Vincent?s Girls High School, and graduated from the Provincial Teachers? College, Fredericton, in 1956. She taught for one year at Garnett?s Settlement, St. John County and then, having reached the mandatory age, she answered the call which she had intuited from early childhood, entering the Sisters of St. Martha, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, August 15, 1957. Sister taught at East Bay, Eskasoni, Guysborough and St. Andrews, all in the Diocese of Antigonish. She professed perpetual vows on August 15, 1962. After a period of research and discernment with contemplative communities in the United States which started in 1970, Sr. Therese sought a dispensation from her vows with the Sisters of St. Martha and began to live a radically simple contemplative life under the authority of Bishop William Power of Antigonish and his delegate Father Angus Daniel MacDonald. On June 16, 1986 Sr. Therese received the Consecration of Virgins. For nearly thirty years she lived in vows as a hermit. Eventually, after the death of Father MacDonald, and the approach of old age, Providence introduced the hermits of McAdam?s Lake to Father Roberto Donato and the community of the Franciscans of Halifax. In December 2007, Sister Therese and her Sister in the Lord, Phyllis Rooney relocated to Musquodoboit Harbour and with Sister Patricia Douglas, embraced a new contemplative life. She made perpetual vows as a member of the Contemplative Branch of the Franciscans of Halifax on May 22, 2010. Sister Therese was predeceased by her mother and father; her step-mother, Margaret (Campbell) Leger; her sister and foster mother, Frances Murphy; her brothers Edmund ?Ned?, Joseph (in utero), and Joseph Leo (at birth); by two nephews, brothers-in-law, Ronald Williams and Douglas Murphy, as well as by her brother and sister-in-the Lord: Father Angus ?Donnie? MacDonald and Sister Phyllis Rooney. She is survived by her sisters: Catherine Williams, of Saint John, and Elizabeth Reid (Paul), of Huntsville, Ontario; by three brothers, Barry (Patricia Maber), of Saint John; J. Paul (Dr. Michele Cyr), of St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, NB; and Michael, of Barrhead, Alberta; by her sister-in-law, Amelia (Tobias) Legere, an aunt, Berla (Burden) Noel; by 24 loving nieces and nephews: 38 grand-nieces and nephews and 5 great-grand-nieces and nephews and numerous cousins (all indebted to her for her unfailing prayers). A Prayer Vigil and Visitation will take place at St. Catherine of Siena Church, 6476 Bayers Road, Halifax on Monday, November 13 from 7:30-9 pm. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated by Father Roberto Donato in St. Catherine?s Church on Tuesday, November 14 at 11 am. Reception to follow in the Church Hall. Burial will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers the Family requests that donations can be made to the Franciscans of Halifax Society, Halifax or Divine Mercy School, Saint John. We extend our deepest gratitude to Nova Scotia Palliative Care Services, Northwood Home Care and Cruikshanks Funeral Home, Halifax.
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1937 - 2017 (80 years)