Mary Patience Hora

Mankato Mortuary
388-2202

Our beloved Sister Mary Patience Hora, 95, died peacefully at 9:25 p.m. on Sunday, March 27, 2011, at Good Counsel Provincial House, Mankato. Sister Mary Patience had grown progressively weaker these last weeks, and sisters had begun to stay with her a few days prior to her death. Sister Lorraine Mosso was present with her when she died.

The funeral Mass for Sister Mary Patience, with Father Andrew Olsem as presider, will be on what would have been her 96th birthday, Thursday, March 31, at 10:30 a.m., in Good Counsel Chapel, followed by burial in our cemetery. The vigil service will be at 7:00 p.m. on March 30. Loving sympathy to her brother George, her nieces and nephews and their families, her former colleagues, and her sisters in community, the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Fanny (Hanzel) Hora, brothers Fred, Frank and Robert, and her sister, Rose.

Sister Mary Patience was born March 31, 1915, in Bowman County, North Dakota, the fourth child of the family. In a postcard to her sister, Sister Mary Patience's mother wrote, "Now we have 2 boys and 2 girls, just what we wanted." Marie Mamie was the name given to the newest family member at her baptism on May 10 at St. Agnes Church, Cox, South Dakota.

As a novice, Sister Mary Patience wrote about her early life, "Being born on the farm, I grew to love the outdoors, with all the beautiful creatures of God's creation, although at that time, I did not stop to think of their Creator, for I knew so very little about Him. We went to a country school about two miles from home. We rode horseback, walked or drove the car. In winter we enjoyed the sleigh ride most of all."

When Marie was seven, her mother died, leaving her father with four children to raise. Four years later, her father married again. The next big change in Marie's life occurred when she was fourteen and beginning eighth grade. She and her sister became boarders at St. Mary's School, New England, North Dakota. She remembered, "This was the first time I was away from home and I got so lonesome that I thought I simply couldn't stay, but somehow the tears dried and the smile came, and I stayed with our sisters that whole year and came back again the next year. I loved the sisters very much right away, this being the first time I saw what a sister looked like. They were all so kind and good that one just couldn't help loving them." She was especially grateful for Sister M. Rose Franzwa, who instructed the Hora girls in the Catholic faith. At Christmas, 1930, they received the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist for the first time.

During her second year at St. Mary's, Marie made known her desire to become a sister. She wrote, "That summer I bid farewell to my parents, brothers and sister and started on my long trip to Mankato to find the Sisters of Notre Dame. When I entered the front door, the first thing I noticed was the wonderful silence of the convent. . . . A few days later we were permitted to put on our candidate's dress and received with great joy the bonnet from Venerable Mother Superior." Marie was a candidate for three years, working in the motherhouse kitchen the first year, at the Northfield convent the second year, and at Sacred Heart, St. Paul, the third year. She was received into the Novitiate on July 16, 1935, and given the name Sister Mary Patience.

Following profession in 1936, she was missioned to SS. Peter & Paul, Mankato, for four and one-half years. The next half year was spent at St. Joseph, Cresco, Iowa. That summer, she received her next assignment, SS. Peter & Paul, New Hradec, North Dakota, where she stayed nine years. She enjoyed working with boarders and commented, "We had eighty children who were boarders. They were very nice and friendly, and helped with the peeling of vegetables and potatoes, and also cutting up meat. I loved the Bohemian Christmas songs, even though I could not sing them or understand them. The Lord has blessed me and my work."

Beginning in 1950, she provided home service at a series of missions, including St. Michael, St. Michael (1950-53); St. Francis de Sales, St. Paul (1953-57); St. John the Baptist, Dayton (1957-60); Good Counsel (1960-61, 1962-63, 1969-72); St. Joseph, Spokane (1961-62); St. Joseph, Cresco (1963-64); St. Andrew, St. Paul (1964-65); Holy Childhood, St. Paul (1965-66 and 1972-74); St. Francis Xavier, Sartell (1966-68); St. Peter, Canby (1968-69); and Good Counsel Academy food service (1974-1975). In 1975 she came to the provincial house, where she gave community service in a variety of ways until her retirement in 1992.

A marvelous cook, Sister Mary Patience had three recipes published in the 1947 SSND Centennial Cookbook: Caramel Frosting, Filled Brown Sugar Cookies, and Choice Karo Caramels. Her hospitable nature made it easy for to her develop and use her homemaking skills both on mission and at Good Counsel.

Gardening was her love, and she delighted especially in raising tomatoes. Even in her last years, when she could no longer go out to the garden, she had a planter of tomatoes growing on the Notre Dame Hall second floor porch. She wrote, "When I was called in from mission to our motherhouse, I had a garden for some years. When I watered with a hose I sometimes saw a beautiful rainbow in the spraying water. I thought of our loving God who put rainbows in the sky to tell us He would not destroy the world again by water."

Sister Mary Patience expanded on her life, saying, "I loved to ride horseback, raise a garden, plant flowers and vegetables. I enjoyed weeding also, and the fresh air. I enjoy skating, hiking, looking at God's beautiful scenery. I love roses and lilies of the valley. I love to listen to spiritual songs, beautiful music, and to pray before the Blessed Sacrament."

Those who shared her later years here on the Hill recall how rapidly she propelled her wheelchair, both indoors and outdoors, using foot power. When she was able, she also made daily visits to the Notre Dame Hall aviary, claiming the yellow bird as her favorite. An animal lover, she enthusiastically welcomed anyone who brought a pet to visit.

One of the last statements in her autobiography reads, "When I got older, it seems I had more longing for my God. So I prayed for a deep love relationship with Him." This ties in so well with her Liturgy theme, "My soul is thirsting for the living God." May Sister Mary Patience, after almost 96 years of thirsting for God, find that thirst delightfully quenched in God's presence forever.

Sister Mary Kay Ash