I first met Sr. Margaret Joseph when I was a novice. We had many adventures together in our old-truck-camper-converted-into-bookmobile, with the Pauline Family emblem and Ephesians 3:10 emblazoned on the side: “That through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God may be made known!” She taught me how to read a paper map long before Google Maps. She taught me a lot about religious life, and was always a good example.

In the ’90s, we attended university together in NYC with a few other Sisters. In one class, we were four Daughters of St. Paul, and for some reason we used to sit in the four corners of the room. The students called us “the God squad.” The professor was trying to pit the hierarchical nature of the Church against the charismatic aspects of the Church. With her keen intellect, Sr. Margaret helped him see that the hierarchy and charisms are both gifts of the Holy Spirit to the Church. On break, the professor followed her out to the drinking fountain and said: “Sister, I will never teach this class the same way again.”

We were stationed together again in Toronto, in the late ’90s. The Archdiocese was gearing up for the New Millennium, and Sr. Margaret served on a committee chaired by Bishop Terry Prendergast, SJ, to prepare for the Year 2000. She wound up giving talks on John Paul II’s encyclical and became known as “Sr. Tertio Millennio.” We gave her a bumper sticker that said: “Millennium, Schmillennium.” 

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Our Queen of Apostles Youth Group used to request Sr. Margaret to give them teachings and would pick her formidable brain on all matters Catholic. She was also beloved of our Pauline Cooperators for the same reason.

Sr. Margaret Joseph helped me tremendously with the MediaApostle.com film (the life of our Founder, Blessed James Alberione): everything from translating important historical information that was not available in English, to aiding the film crew on the 12-day Pauline bus pilgrimage around Italy, to some serious fundraising.

The inspiration for the founding of the Daughters of St. Paul and the Pauline Family took place on New Year’s Eve, 1900-1901, in the Cathedral of Alba, Northern Italy, when Fr. Alberione was a seminarian in Eucharistic Adoration. To recreate the scene, we needed the impossible: someone to turn the lights on, a monstrance and an unconsecrated host—all within the space of one hour, because the tour bus was moving on. Sr. Margaret to the rescue! She managed to track down the priest and convince him to give us all three.

To say that Sr. Margaret had the gift of gab was an understatement. Sr. Margaret herself told me that Sr. Mary David, her novice mistress, once told her that she could “give a whole dissertation on a blade of grass.” If you were looking for engaging, passionate conversation, “the Pearl” was your girl. (Sister loved to remind us that “Margaret” means “pearl.”) But she wasn’t a know-it-all: for all her knowledge and opinions, she sincerely wanted to know what you knew, what you thought about something. 

For the past nine years, Sister worked at the Vatican Secretariat of State, and had just returned to North America. She began feeling unwell for a span of about three months, went to have some tests done, and pancreatic cancer was found—but the extent and seriousness of it was not immediately detected. I

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I last saw her on January 4, Epiphany Sunday. She was leading night prayers and decided that we should sing “The Huron Carol,” because of the line about “the hunter braves” (the Magi). Later that week she collapsed and was rushed to hospital where they discovered that the inoperable cancer had spread to her liver. She wanted to come home and do hospice at the convent, but was too weak. She couldn’t even be transferred to a private room, but stayed in ICU. 

Mass was offered at the foot of her bed by two Pauline priests; nuns, family and friends came to say goodbye. The Rosary was prayed continuously at her bedside, and just before she was received by the Bridegroom on January 31, she opened her eyes and stared toward the ceiling, transfixed in wonder.

Dear Sr. Margaret, I will miss our philosophical and theological conversations, your refined graciousness, your generous laugh. We tend to throw these words around easily, but in your case, I feel they truly apply: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Sr. Helena Raphael Burns, fsp, is a Daughter of St. Paul. She holds a Masters in Media Literacy Education and studied screenwriting at UCLA. HellBurns.com  X/Twitter: @srhelenaburns  #medianuns MediaApostle.com  Instagram: @medianunscanada

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