As we celebrate National Catholic Sisters Week, we honor the Sisters whose shoulders we stand on, who worked tirelessly with the Archdiocese and Catholic laity to serve the people of New York and beyond. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s final words to her sisters urged them to be united, to be faithful, and to be daughters of the church. Sisters of Charity treasure these words as her legacy to us and to the church of New York.
Sister Mary Melita Clancy, SC, was Community Treasurer when elected in 1900; she served until 1906. Mother Mary Melita belonged to the Board of Managers of the nine corporations responsible for the legal and financial obligations of community institutions. She possessed a keen, retentive mind that impressed community lawyers. During her term in office she opened fourteen missions, including hospitals and other institutions.
Missions During Mother Mary Melita’s Leadership
1900: St. Francis Xavier School, Manhattan
1900: St. John Chrysostom Academy, Bronx
1901: Nazareth Day Nursery, Manhattan
1901: St. John the Baptist School, Staten Island
1901: St. Eleanora’s Home, Tuckahoe
1902: St. Vincent Summer School, East Moriches
1902: Immaculate Conception School, Stony Point
1903: Blessed Sacrament School, Manhattan
1903: St. Vincent’s Hospital, Staten Island
1903: Nazareth Hospital, Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx
1904: St. Charles Borromeo School, Manhattan
1904: St. John Academy, White Plains
1904: All Saints School, Manhattan
1905: Holy Name School, Manhattan
1905: Our Lady of Good Counsel School,Manhattan
1905: Cathedral H.S., first archdiocesan high school, parish of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Manhattan