Sister Mary Catherine

Sister Mary Catherine         ND 4959                 PDF Download
(formerly Sister Mary Clement Marie)
Catherine BRAZIS

Christ the King Province, Chardon, Ohio, USA

Date and Place of Birth:      March 22, 1937    Cleveland, Ohio
Date and Place of Profession:  August 16, 1957   Cleveland, Ohio
Date and Place of Death:     April 23, 2016       Health Care Center, Chardon,Ohio
Date and Place of Funeral:  April 27, 2016     Provincial Center, Chardon,Ohio
Date and Place of Burial:    April 27, 2016       Resurrection Cemetery, Chardon, Ohio

Catherine was the middle sister of the three girls born to Clement and Mary (nee Missus) Brazis. The girls were close in heart as well as in age, always enjoying each other’s company whether they were playing, praying or studying together. The family bonds and Catherine’s love for reading and walking and the constant source of beauty she found in nature remained throughout her life.

After graduating from St. George Elementary School, Cleveland, Catherine enrolled at Notre Dame Academy, Cleveland. Her mother had been taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame and so Catherine knew that the Sisters would give her the best education. It was during her high school years that she responded to the grace of a religious vocation. While grateful for this privileged call, she wrote, “My greatest heartache will be leaving my family who has been very close to me.” She entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Notre Dame on February 2, 1955, and at investment received the name Sister Mary Clement Marie. She later returned to her baptismal name, Sister Mary Catherine.

Sister earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in education from St. John College, Cleveland. She ministered as a teacher in elementary schools in Ohio, Virginia and Florida for thirty-seven years. When Sister Mary Catherine retired from active classroom ministry in 1996, she served the Provincial Center community and continued to develop a “spirituality of usefulness” in her approach to the ministry of service.

Assisting at the switchboard, in the printery and in the archives were among her early assignments. She welcomed the opportunity to help others, often working behind the scenes in her quiet, efficient way. Sister assisted in the Medical Benefits Office as an assistant for thirteen years and then as a support staff member. In community, one could be sure of her welcoming smile and many hidden acts of kindness. Her desire to be useful and to contribute were expressions not only of her natural inclination but of God’s grace working in her and through her.

Sister Mary Catherine loved to walk outside to enjoy the beauty of creation in every season—an expression of the simplicity of God’s love. To her family, her sisters, and co-workers she gave witness to a life devoted to fulfilling God’s plan and the reward of work well done. As her physical strength diminished, her trademark smile remained. May Sister now rest in peace and joy in the presence of our good and gracious God.