Sister Mary Damien Peters

Sister Mary Damien Peters, FDC

Theresa Helen Peters

          Sister Mary Damien Peters died on October 9, 2010 at home at St Therese Convent surrounded by her family and religious community.

          Theresa was the third of six children born to Stephen F. and Anna (Miller) Peters on December 23, 1925. Her parents preceded her in death along with her brother, Stephen and her sister, Ann. She is survived by her brother, Michael (Louise) of South Bend, Indiana, her sister, Mary Elizabeth Martin (Vaughn) of Clatskenie, Oregon, her sister, Rose Tirone (Joseph) of Lakewood, New Jersey, eleven nieces and nephews and eighteen grandnieces and nephews.

          Theresa attended the elementary school staffed by the Daughters of Divine Charity in the parish of St. Stephen in South Bend. Her family home was very near to the church and from an early age she participated in its devotional and religious functions, nurtured and encouraged by her deeply devout parents and family. 

          The witness of the lives of the Sisters who taught her encouraged her and supported her in the discernment of her vocation to serve the Lord as a Daughter of Divine Charity. In September of 1940 she traveled to Staten Island, New York to begin high school at St. Joseph Hill Academy and her preparation for Religious Life. 

          Theresa was received into the Novitiate on August 28, 1944 and received the name by which she has been known, Sister Mary Damien. Her sisters Mary Elizabeth and Rose fondly remember finding a marble composition tablet that Theresa had used in third grade that had many pages where Theresa practiced writing, Sister Mary Damien, FDC in her newly acquired cursive hand. The awakenings of her religious vocation already had taken place in 1933 around the time of her First Holy Communion. The life and the selfless dedication of the Saint of Molokai inspired her even as a young child. 

          Sister Damien professed her first vows in August of 1946 and began her studies at Fordham University towards her degree in Education/History. She taught at St. Joseph Hill Academy, on Staten Island, New York and at St. Ladislaus and St. Stephen Schools in New Brunswick and Trenton, New Jersey. 

          In 1947, Sister Damien was chosen to be one of the pioneer Daughters of Divine Charity assigned to the school in the newly founded parish of St Charles Borromeo in San Diego, California. The founding group of Sisters traveled cross-country by train. The 4-5 day journey was quite eventful. Sister Damien and some of the other sisters contracted food poisoning from the provisions they had been given for the trip. An emergency stop for medical care was made in Albuquerque. As the ill sisters detrained Sister Damien fell into the arms of the actor, Paul Muni. 

          Sister Damien taught for seven years at St Charles followed by two years at St. Joseph School in Fontana, California. In 1952 Sister Damien made her profession of Final Vows. In 1956, Sister Damien began her ministry in the formation of young women in Religious Life. She returned to St Charles Borromeo Parish as the Directress of Postulants. She also taught in the primary grades. During this period, Sister Damien pursued and completed studies at the then San Diego College for Women (USD). 

          In 1962, Sr. Damien was transferred to the Provincialate at St Joseph Hill where she became the Directress of Postulants. She also taught in the elementary school there. 

          In 1967, Sister Damien was appointed to be the Directress of Novices at Villa Madonna, in Allamuchy, New Jersey. Throughout the seventeen years that Sister Damien ministered in formation, she had a solid influence on the lives of many, many young women. Some of them continue today as Daughters of Divine Charity and many others serve the Lord in the Church in various fields as vibrant women. 

          After teaching for a few years again on Staten Island, Sister Damien returned to San Diego and her beloved Parish of St Charles Borromeo in 1977. She served there until 1986 when the Daughters of Divine Charity withdrew from St Charles. Sr. Damien was appointed the Superior of St Therese Convent and served there until the present time in various capacities. She was the CCD Coordinator, Vice Principal of the Academy and the School Librarian. With the assistance of friends, Sister Damien was serving in the school library within weeks of her death. 

          Sister Damien was truly a renaissance woman. Her family and all its members were extremely important to her. She was keenly interested in everything about their lives and accomplishments. Her family was a source of great strength and solace to her in her illness through their presence, telephone calls and letters. 

          Sister Damien was a consummate educator who had a profound effect on the children she taught and their families. She continued to be in regular contact with her former students - many from the earliest years of her teaching career. Sister Damien was a voracious reader - a person for whom the title "lifelong learner" could truly be applied. 

          Sister Damien was interested in a expansive variety of things. She marveled at God's creation and loved to travel and experience all the diversity that nature and the world has to offer. Sr. Damien loved desert flora and specially enjoyed maintaining her cactus garden. Trees and flowers, mountains and all the vistas that our wonderful country provides filled her with awe for the Creator and creation. 

          Sister Damien was an artist - a master of Bargello or Hungarian Point needlework. On trips with her family and friends she often found patterns that she quickly sketched to replicate in needlepoint projects. She loved various types of architecture and spoke of a yearning to decorate a Victorian home. 

          Sister Damien had an especial devotion to her namesake, St. Therese of Lisieux, for the entirety of her life. Born in the year of the canonization of the Little Flower, her birth was difficult and she was not expected to survive. Her parents had her baptized immediately with the name of the new saint. In thanksgiving that baby Theresa survived, her mother placed a dozen roses each month at the statue of the Little Flower in their church. 

          Sister Damien had the custom of providing her students each year with some memento of St Therese on her feast day. This year Sister Damien designed and distributed holy cards of St Therese to all the students of St Therese Academy on October 1. 

          Sister Damien was a strong quiet woman who until the very end, thought of others before herself. Even in her last days her sparkling eyes and quick wit revealed her outlook on life and her keen sense of humor. 

          Sister Damien personified the charism of the Daughters of Divine Charity - she truly "made the Love of God visible".