Sister Anna (Annella) Kosenski, OP ( )

Transcription

1 Sister Anna (Annella) Kosenski, OP ( ) One of the ending paragraphs in Sister Anna s autobiography read, My talents may be few but my adventures have been many. A study of her life s story reveals that her adventures have truly been many, but so are her talents. She wrote that she enjoyed reading, walking, studying Polish, and working with flowers. I also find cleaning messy corners very rewarding. On September 28, 1914, in Pe Ell, Washington, also called Little Poland, a daughter was born to Bernard (Ben) and Anna (Soleric) Kosenski. In baptism, the infant received the name Anna Magdalen, in honor of both her mother and grandmother. She wrote, My father told me that I was born at noon, which accounted for my good appetite. Both parents were from Europe. Bernard Kosenski was born in Torun, Poland, and his wife was from either the Ukraine or Poland. Her exact birthplace was never known. Anna was the oldest of the three children born to them. Her sisters, Lottie and Helen, followed her. In January 1919, when Anna was four years old, her mother died. The father moved the family to Hoquiam, Washington, where relatives cared for the children. Before long, the father remarried, and the family was reunited. His new wife was Elizabeth Brezicha, who became a beloved mother to his three little daughters. In the coming years, three more children swelled the family: Isidore, Leonard, and Theresa. When the children were small, the family spoke Polish in the home much of the time, but when they began school, English was spoken. Sister wrote that she soon forgot most of the Polish. Sister Anna described her father as a good worker and provider, kind and loving. Children were drawn to him. He entertained them by making up stories, laughing, and playing with them. She knew very little about her birth mother, except that she laughed a lot and was a religious person who spent much time before the Blessed Sacrament. When Anna was six years old she began school at Washington School, a few blocks from where she lived. The nearest Catholic school was two miles away. Later she transferred to St. Mary School, where she finished grade school, graduating in June 1928 at the age of thirteen. Her desire to enter religious life started at that time, although she could not have explained why. She began high school at Perpetual Help in Everett, Washington, with the intention of entering the Everett Dominicans, later known as the Edmonds Dominicans when they transferred their Motherhouse to that city, but they considered her too young. She was, however, allowed to enter the next year on July 2, 1929, at the age of fourteen. During her postulate and novitiate, she lived at St. Dominic Convent in Everett and finished her high school work at Holy Angels Academy in On January 7, 1930, with her group she 1

2 received the habit and her religious name, Sister Mary Annella. Profession of first vows took place on January 8, Sister Anna s teaching ministry was with primary children. During her years of teaching, some of her children won prizes for their projects, and she herself was the recipient of awards for articles that she wrote for various publications. She began her ministry at St. Alphonsus School in Seattle. In 1932 she was transferred to Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Bremerton, where she remained for eight years, also serving as church sacristan. She then returned to St. Alphonsus for ten years, again serving as sacristan and teaching catechism in all eight grades. During the summers she studied at Holy Names College in Spokane, and was awarded a bachelor s degree in Sister Anna was sent to California in 1950, and spent five years at St. Peter Martyr School in Pittsburg. In 1955 she was transferred to Assumption School in San Leandro, where she also took on a rather difficult but enjoyable, ministry that of preparing a mentally retarded group for First Communion. Four years later she was transferred to Miles City, Montana, where she taught at Sacred Heart School. In 1961, Sister Anna returned to Washington, and spent a year at St. Mary School in Aberdeen. The next year she returned to St. Alphonsus School where she served for another two years. In these parishes she also served in the catechetical program. In May 1962, she received the privilege of traveling to Rome for the canonization of St. Martin de Porres, to whom she was very devoted; and about a year later a friend gave her a wonderful gift: a trip to Torun, Poland, to visit her relatives there. She also visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa. In 1964, she returned to St. Mary School in Aberdeen for nineteen years. She taught first grade, as well as catechism, and served as vice principal during her last year. During the summer of 1968, Sister Anna served as a teacher in the Head Start program in Washington, D.C., and in 1971 she received a certificate in religious education from Portland University in Portland, Oregon. Sister Anna s years at St. Mary School included a sabbatical in 1979, and she attended St. Mary College at Orchard Lake, Michigan, taking Polish Studies. There, she first met the Adrian Dominicans. Little did I know that we would be journeying together one day! She transferred to St. Matthew School, also in Seattle, in 1983, where she taught reading and supervised the playground. In addition, she tutored students at Seattle Central Community College in ESL (English as a Second Language) until In 1983 she received the Miriam Joseph Farrell Award from Our Sunday Visitor. In 1987, Sister Anna studied specific learning disabilities at Seattle University, received a certificate, and for a few months during 1991 she tutored homeless children at Whittier School in 2

3 Ballard, Washington. She was designated Volunteer of the Year in 1988 and again in 1991 by Seattle Community Colleges. She re-learned the Polish language, and was permitted to go back to Poland, where she taught English to ninth grade girls at Mariowka High School in Smogorzow for four years, from 1992 to Upon her return to the States, she served as a third grade aide at the parish school in Everett. Sister Anna formally retired in 1998, but continued to serve as a teacher s aide until In addition to tutoring, she volunteered at King County Jail, wrote letters to the inmates, and served on the Dominican Federation Commission to abolish the death penalty. Sister Anna s classes were large, usually numbering in the high sixties or seventies. Her impact on her students is shown by letters of appreciation in her file from former students, Father Paul Vassar and District Judge Lawrence O Neill of California. Another former student, Father John Morse, who kept in touch with Sister over the years, sent a letter of appreciation that was read at the wake. All three wrote of the impression she made on them in their early years In November 2003, after the merger between the Edmonds and Adrian Dominicans, Sister Anna decided to go to Adrian for care. She remained in Adrian until her death on June 4, 2014, a few months before she would have attained the age of one hundred. A wake-remembrance service was held for Sister Anna on June 8 in St. Catherine Chapel. Before the service began, Sister Magdalena Ezoe, who had met Sister Anna at a conference, played three of Chopin s compositions. Sister Jo Gaugier, Chapter Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter, extended sympathy and welcomed the many friends who had assembled to bid Sister Anna farewell. Sister s family members were unable to come. Sister Jo summarized Sister Anna s life and ministry, and gave thanks for her teaching and prayer ministry. Sister Mary Rae Waller read a poem entitled Live This Day that she felt was fitting for this occasion in honor of Sister Anna. Sister s grand-nephew Dan sent a long letter about his Auntie Sister. He wrote in part: My Auntie took great pride in her heritage of being a Polish woman. She had a great zest for life and took on many challenges. Being around her made you feel you should try to be a better person. She walked with grace and elegance and held her head high. I have all the letters she wrote to my mom and dad. I am glad that she is at rest with God, even though I am crying as I write this to you. I feel so blessed to have had her as my Auntie Sister. Elizabeth Heard, Sister Anna s chaplain, said in part: Sister Anna loved her family and the many students who kept in touch with her over the years. She believed in the beauty of life, and would watch the birds out of her window. She loved to see children and hear about animals. I will miss her greatly, but I am so happy that she is no longer in pain and is united with St. Martin in heaven. 3

4 Sister Mary White, also a former Edmonds Dominican, spoke fondly. She said in part: Sister Anna s greatest love was the children she taught. She really enjoyed celebrating her eightieth birthday in Poland. She loved birds, especially cardinals. When she first came to Maria, she could see cardinals from her window, but when she was moved to another room she couldn t see them. She felt bad about that. Sister Carleen Maly shared (quoted in part): I share Polish ancestry with Sister Anna, and every time I saw her I greeted her in Polish. She d ask me if I spoke more Polish, and I d have to admit that I didn t. About a week before she died I heard that her health was declining, so I decided to visit her. Her eyes were closed, and I said the first part of the Hail Mary in English and the rest in Polish.... Then I sang a song, Stolat. I know only the refrain which means, May you have 100 years. She opened her eyes and asked me to teach her that song but pointed her finger to the wall of her bedroom and said, But first I have to go with that man. She closed her eyes and said no more. It was a sacred moment, and I was in awe. I have no idea who the man was, but I believe she saw someone who was welcoming her to heaven. Sister Angela Susalla, also of Polish ancestry, spoke of her friendship with Sister Anna. I first came to know Sister Anna after Sister Carol Coston sent an asking if we sisters with Polish ancestors would meet with an Edmonds sister who was Polish. That began my friendship with her. Each time I was in Adrian I visited with her and I will always remember the beautiful smile with which she would greet me. She loved flowers and birds and her children. She was such a good and special person, but somehow she said that she wasn t good enough to go to heaven and that she wasn t worthy to be loved by God. She didn t recognize how special and beautiful she was, and often needed affirmation. Because I was of Polish background, I asked her to teach me some Polish words, but I just couldn t get the right pronunciation. She was so patient with me. I told her I was a hopeless case, and she didn t contradict me. I liked to leave her smiling, so I would wave my arms as I left and say, Fly with the birds, Anna. Although she couldn t be here, Mary Trzasko asked me to tell you that at the time of the funeral she will be singing for Sister Anna in Polish the hymn that is sung during the final procession of the body. The funeral liturgy for Sister Anna was celebrated on June 9. Father James Hug, SJ, chaplain at the Motherhouse, was the presider and Sister Karen Rossman, a former Edmonds Dominican and now in charge of the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, was the homilist. Some quotations from her homily: Sister Anna, was a first grade teacher, not a professor at Harvard, Yale, or Oxford. But she changed the world and brought about the reign of God, one child at a time. Like St. Martin, she reached out to the marginalized she tutored homeless children, she accompanied Sister Patrice in her jail ministry, and each Sunday she wrote a long letter to a prison inmate. 4

5 She was willing to risk. At age seventy-eight she re-learned the Polish language and flew to Poland, not for a vacation but to teach English as a Second Language. After our congregations merged, she moved from Seattle to Adrian because she was now an Adrian Dominican. Also, they had more Polish sisters. She was gifted with the virtue of simplicity. She lived letting God work through her. I asked the sisters in Seattle to share memories with me. They remembered that she loved licorice ice cream that she enjoyed walking, arranging flowers, and listening to music. Karl Rahner reminds us that old age is a grace, but it is not given to everyone. Sister Anna was given that grace. In her last year Sister Anna asked so many times to go home. After the beautiful liturgy and homily, Sister Anna was laid to rest in the Congregational cemetery. Although her body lies here, we believe that her spirit has gone home to the God whom she loved and served all her life. 5