Arsenault,Sr Marie

On January 28, 2015 at the Precious Blood Monastery in Hamilton, ON, Sister Marie (Marie Anne Dina) Arsenault entered Eternal Life in the peace of the Lord and the hope of resurrection.
Sister had faced many health issues during her life. However, over the past months a steady deterioration of health was very evident. Our head nurse, Guylaine Losier-Wey and our infirmary staff were especially attentive to Sister Marie during the last ten days of her life when she was no longer able to communicate or to take any kind of nourishment.
Born in a small French-Acadian community, Egmont Bay in Prince Edward Island, Sister Marie was the eldest of 14 children. Her parents, Florin Arsenault and Marie Anne Arsenault, had themselves grown up in the Abrams Village/Egmont Bay farm communities.
Sister Marie was predeceased by her parents, Florin and Marie Anne, and by her brothers and sisters, Aimé, Guillaume, Victorin, Joachim (Rose), Roland, Melvin (Eileen), Alphonsine (Joseph - living) McIntyre.
Sister Marie is survived by four sisters and two brothers, Adeline (Edward - deceased) Sheppherd, Thérèse (Norbert - deceased) Costello, Sister Géralda of the Sisters of St. Martha, Anne Marie (Richard) Gauthier, all of P.E.I., Gérald of Hagersville, ON, Stanley (Betty) of N.B., and by numerous nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. In addition an adopted brother, Francis, was an integral part of the family. Sister Marie spoke of him with deep affection.
Sister Marie entered the Precious Blood Monastery in Charlottetown, P.E.I., in 1945 and made final profession of vows there on August 6, 1953. Although most of her religious life was spent on the Island, Sister Marie also served in other monasteries across Canada: Alexandria and North Bay, ON, and Calgary, AB. Sister Marie was gifted artistically and she was also an excellent cook and seamstress. While opportunity for a formal education was denied Sister Marie because of her responsibilities in the care of her younger brothers and sisters, she was always eager to learn and took every opportunity available to her. She loved to read, for her own information and enjoyment, but also was an excellent and delightful reader in Community, especially during the Liturgy.
Sister Marie was 11 years old when she began caring for the younger members of her family. All through her life she carried this responsibility by keeping the lines of communication open, especially as the family continued to grow. It was traumatic for Sister to leave the Island in 2012 when our Monastery there was formally closed and Sister Marie came to live in our Infirmary Community in Hamilton. Sister continued to be responsible as the ‘first-born’ in the family, keeping up the lines of communication from ‘away’.
Visitation will be held at the Precious Blood Monastery, 154 Northcliffe Avenue, Dundas, on Monday, February 2, from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. with a prayer Vigil beginning at 7:30 p.m. The funeral Mass will be celebrated at the Precious Blood Monastery on Tuesday, February 3, at 11 a.m. Interment will follow at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Burlington, ON.