Margaret "Peggy" Cummins

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Sister Margaret “Peggy” Cummins, SNDdeN has devoted her life to service by making God’s goodness known through compassion, presence and love.

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts to Joseph and Evelyn (Flanagan) Cummins, she entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1967, answering a call that would lead her into classrooms, communities and sacred spaces of healing.

Sister Peggy took her first vows in 1970. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Emmanuel College and a master’s degree in theological studies from Fairfield University.

Sister Peggy taught at Presentation in Newton and Blessed Sacrament in Cambridge, and served in campus ministry at Emmanuel and the University of Maine in Orono. She was the first director of the Julie Asian Center in Lowell, Massachusetts, and the Province vocation director and coordinator for Julie Billiart Residential Care Center.

For many years, she served at Bakhita House, a safe home for survivors of human trafficking — a place lovingly described as “a home where love heals.”

Reflecting on her work there, Sister Peggy shares that ministry often begins with something beautifully simple: truly seeing another person. “Sometimes, this was as simple as noticing and honoring the women’s presence — vowing to look them in the eye, every chance they could — from the moment each woman arrived at the doorstep of the Bakhita House to the last meal they shared. Like mothers gazing upon their children, the Sisters wanted every woman who entered the safe house to know they were seen, through and through, and, still, they were loved more deeply than they could ever imagine.”

Today, Sister Peggy continues to share her gentle spirit and deep faith as a volunteer coordinator at the Notre Dame Education Center in South Boston and as a retreat leader at the Notre Dame Spirituality Center in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Wherever she serves, her ministry remains rooted in quiet grace: presence, dignity and love that reflects the heart of God.