Sister Marie Veronica Norton, SP
Anna Norton was born March 25, 1899 in Boston, Massachusetts. She attended school in Roxbury and Stoneham and entered the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary of the Woods, Indiana, in 1916. After the required years of postulancy and novitiate, Anna was allowed to make her profession of vows and from that point on was known by her religious name, Sister Marie Veronica. Most of Sister's mission life was spent teaching children in the primary grades in schools in Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and Massachusetts. She loved children and they clearly loved her.
Sister Marie Veronica's face became disfigured when, as a young sister, she had an infection (perhaps from a bad tooth) and was given radiation treatments. These treatments caused such terrible burns that grafting was required. Years ago radiation and grafting had not been perfected and the results were ... not pretty (no disrespect intended). Nevertheless, Sister endured the resulting disfigurement with humility and good grace, and she returned to teaching for many more years.
Our founder, Father David, met Sister Marie Veronica in September 1961 when he began second grade at Cheverus School (the parochial school of Sacred Hearts Parish in Malden, Massachusetts). He writes: "While most of second grade is a blur--1961 seems so long ago!--I still recall one very important lesson that Sister taught us. Whenever a fire engine would go by with its siren sounding, Sister would make us stop whatever we were doing to 'say a prayer for the firemen.' It is Sister's instruction, 'say a prayer for the firemen,' that is one of the inspirations for the founding of The Prayer Society of Saint Florian which is now an international ecumenical fellowship of praying persons who offer daily intercession for the members of the fire service, other First Responders, and their families."
Sister Marie Veronica died on November 5, 1978. Sister Eileen Ann Kelley, archivist for the Sisters of Providence who provided the above information about Sister's early life, remembers Sister Marie Veronica as a "very gentle, gracious, dignified woman religious who was patient and selfless." She adds, "She certainly impressed her students. I recall a mother writing to tell how Sister had helped her daughter who had been struggling in the primary grades. Her daughter became a teacher and at that time was a principal of a school. I am sure she influenced many of her students and that they remember her fondly."
Saint Paul writes: "Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, and not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God" (1 Corinthians 1:26-29, NRSV).
The lesson is that it doesn't matter whether or not we do great things in the world's eyes, our own eyes, or anyone else's eyes. What matters is that we do the best we can and not give up when things get rough. What matters most is how the way I live my life looks in God's eyes! Sister Marie Veronica could have given up when her face became scarred and unsightly. Rather, she kept striving to do God's will in her life and exuded a beauty that resulted in at least one young lady's becoming a teacher and principal and one young man's recruiting others to pray for the firefighters!
Sister Marie Veronica's face became disfigured when, as a young sister, she had an infection (perhaps from a bad tooth) and was given radiation treatments. These treatments caused such terrible burns that grafting was required. Years ago radiation and grafting had not been perfected and the results were ... not pretty (no disrespect intended). Nevertheless, Sister endured the resulting disfigurement with humility and good grace, and she returned to teaching for many more years.
Our founder, Father David, met Sister Marie Veronica in September 1961 when he began second grade at Cheverus School (the parochial school of Sacred Hearts Parish in Malden, Massachusetts). He writes: "While most of second grade is a blur--1961 seems so long ago!--I still recall one very important lesson that Sister taught us. Whenever a fire engine would go by with its siren sounding, Sister would make us stop whatever we were doing to 'say a prayer for the firemen.' It is Sister's instruction, 'say a prayer for the firemen,' that is one of the inspirations for the founding of The Prayer Society of Saint Florian which is now an international ecumenical fellowship of praying persons who offer daily intercession for the members of the fire service, other First Responders, and their families."
Sister Marie Veronica died on November 5, 1978. Sister Eileen Ann Kelley, archivist for the Sisters of Providence who provided the above information about Sister's early life, remembers Sister Marie Veronica as a "very gentle, gracious, dignified woman religious who was patient and selfless." She adds, "She certainly impressed her students. I recall a mother writing to tell how Sister had helped her daughter who had been struggling in the primary grades. Her daughter became a teacher and at that time was a principal of a school. I am sure she influenced many of her students and that they remember her fondly."
Saint Paul writes: "Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, and not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God" (1 Corinthians 1:26-29, NRSV).
The lesson is that it doesn't matter whether or not we do great things in the world's eyes, our own eyes, or anyone else's eyes. What matters is that we do the best we can and not give up when things get rough. What matters most is how the way I live my life looks in God's eyes! Sister Marie Veronica could have given up when her face became scarred and unsightly. Rather, she kept striving to do God's will in her life and exuded a beauty that resulted in at least one young lady's becoming a teacher and principal and one young man's recruiting others to pray for the firefighters!
