Sister Muriel deeply loved Scripture and spared no effort in sharing her enthusiasm with the widest possible audience.
Sister Muriel Theresa Long, formerly Sister Maria Daniel, was born January 16, 1929, in Manhattan, one of four children, two daughters and two sons of James and Catherine Costigan Long. Muriel attended Our Lady of Good Counsel Elementary and Cathedral High School, both in Manhattan, and worked for one year before entering the Sisters of Charity of New York on September 7, 1947.
Sister Daniel received a BA in Mathematics from the College of Mount Saint Vincent in 1957, and an MS in Mathematics from Saint John’s University in Queens in 1962. Twenty years later, she received an MS in Religious Education from Fordham University. She was awarded New York State Permanent Certification for teaching Junior and Senior High School and Certification in Spanish Language from Catholic University in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Sister Muriel devoted almost half of her fifty years of active ministry to education on the elementary and high school levels. She taught upper elementary grades at Saint Joseph, Yonkers, Saint Paul and Blessed Sacrament, both in Manhattan, Saint Paul in Brooklyn, and was Principal of Saint John the Baptist in Brooklyn, and Saint Emeric in Manhattan. On the high school level, Sister Muriel taught Math and Religion at All Saints Branch of Cathedral High School.
In early1970s, Sister Muriel began her years of pastoral ministry in the religious education of adults and the formation of Catechists and Catholic Lay Leaders. She served as Director of Religious Education at Saint Peter Parish, Haverstraw, and as member of the Parish Ministry Team at Our Lady of Victory, Bronx. She co-founded the South Bronx Pastoral Center, serving as teacher and Program Director, and later became teacher and Director of Religious Formation at Saint Mary Parish, Yonkers.
Throughout her time of pastoral ministry, Sister Muriel developed her skills in Spanish, participating in programs offered by the Archdiocese of New York in Puerto Rico, and immersion programs in Mexico and Spain. Her natural language ability enabled her to both teach and develop bi-lingual courses. She also pursued biblical studies in Rome. Sister Muriel deeply loved Scripture and spared no effort in sharing her enthusiasm with the widest possible audience.
Sister Muriel was a life-long learner. Trips abroad added history and cultural appreciation to her class presentations. She immersed herself in music, literature, and art presented in a variety of genres, which enabled her to be articulate on many topics. Family and close friends speak of her as always encouraging and inspiring them to be their best and to dream “outside the box.”
Sister Muriel, at the beginning of this Advent season we sing, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, born to set thy people free.” Your God and Savior has come to set you free and take you home. Find your rest in the One whose word and love you have brought to so many in your seventy-five years of ministry. Rest in peace.
Date of Death
December 2, 2021
Age
92
Wake
Saturday, December 4, 2021
8–9:00 a.m.
Prayer Service at 8:30 a.m.
Flynn Memorial Home
1652 Central Park Avenue
Yonkers, New York 10710
Streaming begins at 8:30 a.m.: https://venue.streamspot.com/d286a8ab
Funeral
Saturday, December 4, 2021, 9:45 a.m.
St. Margaret of Cortona Church
6000 Riverdale Avenue
Bronx, NY 10471
Live Streaming begins at 9:45 a.m.: https://venue.streamspot.com/217aa3db
Burial
St. Joseph Cemetery
Yonkers, NY
Missions
Archdiocese of New York
- St. Paul, Manhattan
1950–59, Teacher - All Saints, Manhattan
1959–1961, Teacher - Blessed Sacrament, Manhattan
1964–65, Teacher - St. Emeric, Manhattan
1966–71, Principal - St. Peter, Haverstraw
1972–75, Religious Education Director - Our Lady of Victory, Bronx
1975–78, Pastoral Associate - South Bronx Pastoral Center
1979–1982, Staff Member
1982–89, Program Director - St. Mary, Yonkers Pastoral Association
1989–1998, Director and Teacher
Diocese of Brooklyn
- St. Paul, Brooklyn
1961–64, Teacher - St. John the Baptist, Brooklyn
1965-66, Principal
We are saddened to hear of Sister Muriel’s passing. My wife and I knew her as Dolly Long. She lived in the same building on East 89th Street off Second Avenue as my wife’s grandfather and her cousin Barbara Fitzgerald, who Sister Muriel sponsored and Barbara became Sister Anna Miriam but left the convent around 1971. Sr. Muriel was at Barbara’s Mass and lunch afterwards and my wife Maureen and I communicated with Sr. Muriel for several years and once we visited her in her new home on University Avenue in the Bronx, but she wasn’t home. Another Sister let us in to leave a homemade Irish Soda Bread for her. She was a beautiful person and we enjoyed our chats that we had talking about growing up on 89th Street. She is now in God’s hands and we will keep her in our prayers. May she rest in eternal peace. With our deepest sympathy and our love, Michael & Maureen Flanagan
Thank you for sharing your memories. Blessings to you both.
Thank you very much!
Sr. Daniel, as we knew her back then, was my 8th grade teacher at St. Paul’s elementary school in Brooklyn (1961-1962) . I feel I was blessed to have been one of her students. Many of my classmates and I have kept in touch with Sister over the years and are deeply saddened by her passing. Sr. Daniel, thank you for being our teacher, role model and for being part of our life’s journey. Angela Vecchio Nahas
Thank you for sharing your sentiments, Angela. Your presence in her life was surely a blessing to her, too.
Peace.
Wow! What a life well lived! RIP Sister Muriel. +
We agree! Thank you.
Dear Sister Muriel,
I have so many happy memories of you, All the O’ Connors’ thought you were top shelf. Rest In Peace dear sister.
Definitely “top-shelf”!
Our Lady of Good Counsel Class of 1954 joins other former schoolmates and parishoners offering condolences to the friends and family of Sister Muriel Long, O.L.G.C. Class of 1942.
Sister Muriel was one of our oldest living members of the Sisters of Charity in 2011 but was overlooked by the organizers of a celebration marking the 125th Anniversary of the Church. Only a very, very few remain in the Order who passed through the hallowed halls of our school.
She was always fondly remembered in the hearts and minds of those who knew her and that has been quite adequately expressed here.
R.I.P. Sr Maria Daniel