Bernice “Catherine Raymond” King
“It was not you who chose me, it was I who chose you to go forth and bear fruit.”
-John 15:16
Sister Bernice King, SNDdeN was born in Waltham, the daughter of Walter and Mildred (Meagher) King. She comes from a large family and was the seventh of eight children—four sisters, much older than herself, and three brothers. “I was a happy little child and enjoyed playing with my neighborhood friends. When I was four years old, appendicitis struck me, and the doctor in the hospital told my parents that I would not live. My oldest sister, who was also my Godmother, contacted our parish priest and asked him to visit and pray over me. Soon afterwards, I began to get better and was able to go home. As I got older, I thought that God wanted something special of me.”
“I was very close to my mother and went to her for everything. My father was busy working to provide for our large family, though I remember several occasions when he would walk with me to meet the school bus. We had a player piano, and I loved to sing all the old songs. As a child, I loved to read nursery rhymes and fairy tales. I also loved to gather my childhood friends to put on entertainment with singing and dancing. We would decorate our garage and wear crepe paper costumes. We thought we were the ‘Cat’s Meow.'”
She asked her mother if she could take singing lessons, but she ended up taking tap dancing and acrobatic dancing lessons. She lived near a pond and enjoyed winter ice skating. She loved bicycle riding with a friend and stopping off for ice cream, walking through the fields, looking at the flowers, and even catching butterflies. “Almost every day, I would visit an elderly neighbor who was caring for her garden. She told me the names of the flowers, and oh, how I loved nature!”
She was part of a religious family, and she enjoyed going to Sunday School, where her sisters taught, but there was no room for her in the nearby Catholic school. “I was happy to join the Legion of Mary. I have a special devotion to Our Lord in His Passion on the Cross. I kept asking the Lord if I was being called to religious life, and I even wrote a poem about it when I was in 7th grade.”
In Catholic High School, she found the religion classes very special. She received the Religion Award upon graduation. “One particular Sister who taught me in high school was very special to me. I thought she was very holy, and I wanted to be like her. So every afternoon after class I went to her room to ask questions about entering with the Sisters of Notre Dame.”
She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame after finishing high school in 1952, took her first vows in 1955, and her final vows in 1960. Her religious name was Sister Catherine Raymond.
She taught at St. Gregory in Dorchester and transferred to the Connecticut province, teaching at Assumption in Westport, St. Rita in Hamden, and St. Mary in Branford. In Massachusetts, she taught at Sacred Heart in Springfield, served in the pastoral ministry at Mont Marie Health Care Center in Holyoke, and was a pastoral minister at Maristhill Nursing Center in Waltham and a pastoral visitor at St. Mary’s Parish in Waltham. She was also a Reiki master practitioner at Stanley Senior Center in Waltham.
Several years later, one of her sisters entered with the Grey Nuns of Montreal in Lexington, Massachusetts. “We were great pals, going on vacations and enjoying life together.”
Her first mission was a first-grade class of 70 children. “I could hardly remember their names, and here I was with no one to help me teach the children to read! Thank God, they were well behaved.”
“The ministry that meant the most to me was ministering to the sick and elderly in Pastoral Care in two different infirmaries. I believe that God has given me the special gift of relating to the elders and the sick. I love to reach out to them even now.”
“God has given me many gifts. When younger, I would write some poetry, but during the Pandemic I began to write more poems to share with family and friends and with the residents and staff here at Notre Dame du Lac in Worcester, Massachusetts. When I get an inspiration, I have to write. I write about everything and have filled nine scrapbooks. Each scrapbook contains 20 poems. Whenever I complete the writing of a poem, I feel a surge of joy. I stick at it until I am satisfied.
I also enjoy writing song lyrics to go for a particular time or season. I wrote the words for our Gathering Hymn and for the Recessional Hymn for our Jubilee Mass in Worcester.”
She enjoys leading singing at Sunday Mass, and participates in a singing group at du Lac, singing the old songs. She also serves Holy Communion, and in her spare time enjoys rides in the country and reading spiritual books.
“I also feel hope and joy when meeting so many beautiful people here at du Lac. The residents and staff. I feel great joy when my niece and nephews and friends send e-mails and call me on the phone. Wonderful connections! I am the last one in my family living on Earth, and it is wonderful that others are thinking of me.
At this time of Jubilee, I am especially grateful for all the ways the Lord has led me to minister to God’s people. I am grateful that God has given me all these years, when at four years old, I was on the brink of death. I am grateful for family and friends who are celebrating with me. At times, I am overwhelmed at their kindness, their thoughtfulness and caring.”
Here At Notre Dame du Lac
What am I doing at Notre Dame du Lac?
I know the Lord has led me here, so this is where I park.
Oh yes, among the Sisters I’d miss so many years,
‘Twas only at the meetings we’d share our love and tears.
But now we live together and still minister with love.
We share God’s Goodness everywhere, with smiles and gentle shove.
We pray God’s blessing on our Land – to touch those gone astray.
We long for truth and harmony – democracy our way.
We bring our gifts to others, at home and yes, abroad,
Exchanging news of Notre Dame – our Internet, applaud!
The Sisters touch the hearts of all – the Staff has smiles each day,
For here at Notre Dame du Lac, we share God’s loving way.
—Sister Bernice
-Bernice King, SNDdeN du Lac