Sister Marie Ignatius Fauvel
Sister Marie was born in Wellington in the year 1919, to Nellie and Albert Fauvel. Marie had two siblings: Joyce and Frank, both of whom predeceased Marie.
After leaving school, Marie was an assistant teacher at Sacred Heart College, Lower Hutt, for a time.
In 1945 Marie entered our Novitiate in Christchurch, and received the name of Sister Marie Ignatius. After making her First Profession on 6 January, 1948, Sister began teaching at Sacred Heart Girls’ College in Christchurch, as well as caring for the boarders there. Sister Marie was an excellent Mathematics teacher, and many young women were grateful for the grounding they received from her before going on to university. Marie also taught Maths and Religious Studies at two of our other Sacred Heart Colleges: in Nelson and Lower Hutt…a school-teaching life spanning almost 40 years.
Marie was also very musical, and achieved her ATCL in piano, followed by a Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music. At different times, Marie also held several positions of responsibility in our Province, including Local Superior, Province Bursar, and Novice Mistress.
One of Sister Marie’s special ministries was to be the convenor of our Sacred Heart Past Pupils’ Association. She loved encouraging and affirming the many women who have remained faithful to the Sisters down through the years. These women still work together raising money for our Congregational missions in developing countries.
In 1986, after Sister Marie retired from teaching in school, she moved to Auckland, and for almost 25 years she worked tirelessly there, teaching English to new immigrants from Asia, and assisting in the parish of St Mark’s in Pakuranga. When the numbers of immigrants and refugees increased dramatically, Marie advertised in the local papers, offering assistance to new arrivals to help improve their English language. Hundreds of people in the area responded. Marie matched them up with over 100 parishioners who volunteered for weekly hour-long one-on-one conversations. It was a great success, and much appreciated especially by the Chinese community in the Pakuranga area. As a report to the Diocesan Pastoral Council noted, this was purely a service to the local community, not a work of evangelisation.
Sister Marie was very dear to the hearts of the parishioners of St Mark’s, and when she finally had to leave there in 2015 to go into full-time care, there was much sadness…both for her and for the people. She was wonderfully cared for at the Josephite Sisters’ home in Mission Bay, and when that unexpectedly closed down, the Little Sisters of the Poor in Ponsonby generously accepted her into their compassionate and loving care – which she continued to receive until she died.
Marie was a deeply prayerful woman, and her daily prayer reached far and wide. During her years in care, her trusty walker assisted her to the chapel every morning for Mass, and then back again to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament every afternoon.
Marie was also a prolific emailer. It was her principal way of keeping in touch with people, as her deafness made conversation on the phone difficult. She was a regular, faithful correspondent with a large number of people, never forgetting a birthday or feast day, and she kept this up until only a few days before she died.
It was just three and a half weeks before Marie died that we celebrated her 75th Jubilee of Vows in Religious Life. Although frail, she thoroughly enjoyed the celebration. The photo above was taken that day, the 6th of January, and it reflects how happy she was.
When one of the Sisters visited Marie on the afternoon of 24 January, she found that a carer had persuaded her to stay in bed. Marie did this very reluctantly. It was not part of her philosophy to have a day in bed – 103 years old or not! She was feeling a bit tired, and one of the things she said during that visit was, “Oh, I’m just so glad that I ‘ve finished all my ‘thank you’ letters to everyone for their kind wishes for my Jubilee.” That was only two and a half weeks since the jubilee, and there had been rather a lot of mail to answer. This was so typical of Marie…everything was to be done properly, in the correct manner…and everybody acknowledged and thanked for their kindnesses.
It was actually a shock to the Sisters when they were called back there about 6 o’clock that very evening because Marie was dying…and they prayed quietly with her until she died, very peacefully, at 11.30 that same night.
Sister Marie had completed everything, so now she could go in peace, into the arms of her God who was awaiting this oldest Sister in the Congregation of Our Lady of the Missions – surely welcoming her as a truly “good and faithful servant”.