Sister Christina MacGillivray
Passed on: October 19th, 2016
Sister Christina MacGillivray, formerly Sister Mary Bernarda, 83, a Sister of St. Martha of Antigonish, died at Bethany, the Motherhouse, on Wednesday, October 19, 2016, in the 63rd year of her religious life.
Born on Glen Road, Antigonish Co., Nova Scotia, Sister Christina was the fifth oldest in a family of ten children. She was the daughter of the late Donald Vincent MacGillivray and Mary (MacLean) MacGillivray.
Sister Christina entered the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Martha on February 15, 1951. She pronounced her first vows on February 15, 1953 and made her perpetual profession of vows on August 15, 1956. Sister had many gifts and natural talent which allowed her to carry out many services in the ministries of the Congregation. She attended the Festival of Fine Arts in Tatamagouche in 1960 and developed skills in leather tooling. In 1973 she received her diploma in Institutional Management from the Confederation College of Applied Arts and Technology, Thunder Bay, Ontario. Sister Christina provided services in Nova Scotia at Bethany in Antigonish as sacristan, seamstress in the Church Goods Department, administrator for six years and pastoral care worker in the Extended Care Department; superior at St. Andrew’s Convent in St. Andrew’s, Antigonish Co., in Cape Breton as superior and administrator at Little Flower Institute in Sydney, in Alberta as superior, catechist and home visitor in Blairmore and as housekeeper and superior at Martha Centre in Lethbridge. Sister Christina, also, served the Congregation as Mistress of Postulants for two years, and as superior at St. Augustine’s Seminary in Scarborough, ON, for seven years. Because of failing health, Sister Christina had to retire from full-time ministry and entered the Congregation’s Extended Care on September 30, 1995. Sister suffered with her illness and inability to converse with others without complaint for all these years. She was always gentle, courageous and pleasant with our Sisters and Staff.
Sister is survived by six sisters, Charlotte Malcolm, Elizabeth Van Vlaenderen, Florence MacGillivray-Delaney, Mary Margaret Arsenault, Marie and Vencentia (Vency) Jean and by one brother, John Lawrence (Buddy). Sister Christina was predeceased by two sisters, Rose Mary and Catherine MacNeil. Her remains will be resting at Bethany, beginning Friday at 1:15 p.m. A Celebration of Vigil will be held in Bethany Chapel on the same evening at 7:30. Liturgy of Christian Burial will take place on Saturday at 2 p.m. in our Bethany Chapel. Arrangements are under the direction of MacIsaac Funeral Home of Antigonish. www.MacIsaacs.ca.
