Sister Mary Frances was born January 3, 1934, in San Elizario, Texas, to Juan and Cecilia Carbajal Soto. Maria Francisca was the second oldest of sixteen children, which included seven girls and nine boys. She grew up in Santa Rosa, Mexico, where she attended grade school in a building that her father helped build.

When Maria Francisca was twenty years old, she left for El Paso to work for a family as a housekeeper and a caregiver for children. In 1964, she moved to Los Angeles to work for another family. She then moved to San Diego. A woman whom she helped continued to maintain contact with Sister Mary Frances and was grateful for her friendship. Wherever she lived, she was a member of the Legion of Mary, working to bring young Catholics back to the Church. She also sang with her parish choir and a mariachi group.

While attending church in San Diego, Maria Francisca spotted a pamphlet about the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. “One Sunday a friend asked me if I was interested in visiting their convent in San Diego,” she said. “We went and arrived just in time for the third Sunday procession.” She was attracted to exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and it was the Benedictine Sisters’ devotion to it that was important to her during her discernment process.

Maria Francisca entered the Benedictine Sisters September 3, 1967 and made her first monastic profession on April 2, 1970, taking the name Sister Mary Frances. She made final profession on April 8, 1975. In October 1987, she deepened her commitment in the rite of Consecration of Virgins, at which Bishop Sullivan presided. She celebrated her silver Jubilee in 2000, an occasion of much joy.

In 1991, Sr. Mary Frances had a shocking experience that taught her to consider her life precious. One night, she and Sr. Cecilia Rose were driving home from the airport in a rainstorm. A tornado touched down, destroying a warehouse they were passing. It lifted their car and a tractor trailer, tossing them in the air. A patrolman who later visited the scene said: “whoever was in that maroon Pontiac should be dead.” A steel girder had passed lengthwise from the back window through the front windshield. Before he arrived, they had been assisted, unhurt, from the vehicle and taken to a highway patrol station. A miracle indeed.

As a Benedictine Sister, Sr. Mary Frances lived in the monasteries located in St. Louis, Clyde, San Diego, Tucson, and Mundelein, Illinois. One of the sisters recalled: “Sometimes would sing for us in her low but beautiful voice. She did have a good sense of humor but was on the shy, quiet side with most people. She was dedicated and faithful to her prayer life and often prayed in the balcony at night in Clyde. I know this because sometimes I would practice soft music, and then I would hear her shedding tears of prayer.”

Sr. Mary Frances’ works included preparing flowers for the altar, helping in the laundry room, the sewing room, as a sacristan and in the printery. Most of her time was spent in the altar bread shipping department, where she worked from 1986 until 2010. Two employees, Sheila Schieber and Rosalie Starkey, said she trained them and many newcomers into the process. Sheila and Rosalie would alternate baking Sr. Mary Frances’ favorite lemon pie for her birthday. A sister recalled, “When we worked together packing the altar bread boxes for shipment, I was struck by her quiet, prayerful dedication to what she was doing at every moment. 

Sister Mary Frances spent much of her free time reading and taking long walks in the outdoors. She said that she most enjoyed spending quiet time with the Lord in prayer. “No matter how tired or sad I feel, I never leave his presence feeling the same way,” she said. “I am grateful for the gift of faith that keeps going even when all looks bleak in the world and for the infinite love the Lord Jesus has for me.”

Sr. Mary Frances became a resident of Our Lady of Rickenbach in 2010. Sr. Mary John spent much quality time with her, helping her pray the rosary, rip out seams in the sewing room, and fold community laundry. In these ways, she could contribute to the good of all, in addition to her prayer and suffering.

In her last year, Sr. Mary Frances was mostly bedfast and unable to communicate. The Lord’s mercy reached down to her on July 4th as she was surrounded by and being prayed for by her sister, Elvira Carbajal and her two daughters Evangeline Ramos and Cecilia Aguilar; Sisters Cathleen Marie, Mary John, Marietta, Audrey, Dorothy and Laurentia; our staff members Lorinda and Pam; and Cassie from Hospice.

Sister Mary Frances passed away on July 4, 2016. She was survived by her sister Elvira, her brothers Jesus, Juan, Antonio, Lorenzo, Santiago, their spouses, nieces, nephews and her monastic family. Her funeral liturgy and burial at our Mt. Calvary Cemetery were on July 6, 2016.