Faithfully Woven: Sister Mary Philomene, SNDdeN

Home > About Us > U.S. East-West Province  > 175 Years in California

Our archives are alive with the fascinating stories of our Sisters who established our presence in California. Read more about Sister Mary Philomene, SNDdeN, who entered the convent in her 30s after being shunned by her family for converting to Catholicism. 

Trailblazer from the East: Sister Mary Philomene (1831-1880) 

Sister Mary Philomene, SNDdeN had an unusual pathway to religious life. 

Sister Mary’s San José science building.

She was born into a prominent family in Battle Town, Virginia, in 1831, and was named Elizabeth Shaw. Her parents decided that their daughters deserved the same classical education available to the men of their day. Elizabeth loved her tutored lessons so much that she was called a “bookworm.”  She excelled in all areas of instruction, especially the sciences, mathematics and languages.  

In pursuing the study of religious thought, she became dissatisfied with her parents’ faith tradition and decided to convert to Roman Catholicism. Her parents were extremely opposed and banished Elizabeth from their home and family. At that time, Elizabeth took up teaching to support herself.  

Sometime in the early 1860s, Elizabeth accepted an invitation from her oldest sister and brother-in-law to join them in San Francisco, having been assured that she could practice her faith. Over the years, Elizabeth wanted to give herself entirely to God in consecrated life, and her sister supported her in this desire. Her confessor, Father Conssata, SJ suggested that she consider the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. At the convent in San Francisco, she felt at home immediately. 

Elizabeth began her postulancy at age 34. She was the only postulant in her group, being a bit older than most women being accepted by the Sisters. In 1865, she received the habit and the religious name of Sister Mary Philomene from Sister Superior Mary Cordellia, SNDdeN, who had a great devotion to Saint Philomena.  

True to the guidance of Saint Julie Billart, Sister M. Philomene was humble in all the activities that she was assigned. Sisters would discover her wealth of talents through her willingness to help them teach the sciences, math and French when they needed help. She also had an artistic ability that emerged in celebration projects. 

From 1868 to 1880, she was assigned to schools in San José, where her artistic and teaching skills were well appreciated by the schools’ administrative staff. Sometimes she ventured out with students and boarders for picnics and botany field trips. On one such trip, the students found a very rare plant surrounded by poison oak. Sister M. Philomene plucked up the specimen and later suffered a violent reaction to the poison. Having recovered only somewhat, she died on September 10, 1880. 

Sister M. Philomene was an example of Julie Billiart’s exhortation to use all the gifts of her education to advance the students entrusted to her. Having paid a high price for her conversion to Catholicism, she made her mark on the frontier of California.