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Sister Vincent Marie Wilson, FHM, has been a Franciscan Handmaid of the Most Pure Heart of Mary for 62 years and has been a member of NBSC for many years. She was born in the Bahamas and entered the Handmaids in Staten Island, New York.
The Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary is one of three African American religious orders in the United States. They were founded as a Marian community in Savannah, GA, in 1916 by Rev. Ignatius Lissner, S.M.A., and Mother Mary Theodore Williams, the first superior general of the community. In 1930, the congregation was established as a Third Order Regular Franciscan Order. Their primary purpose is to give praise and glory to God with a mission of uplifting human dignity, educating minds, nourishing body and soul, and relieving suffering.
Their life is centered on the Gospel of Christ and the Holy Eucharist as a sacrament of unity and transformation. Sr. Vincent Marie Wilson is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College and has a graduate degree from the Catholic University of America. As a religious, she has had many ministries. She has been a teacher, and a principal, done parish work and served as director of Camp Saint Edward. Sr. Vincent Marie has been Vocation Director for the Franciscan Handmaids and Spiritual Advisor for Franciscan Handmaid Associates. We could
fill pages with Sr. Vincent Marie's ministries and the awards she has received. She is a member of St. Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary Court 22 in New Orleans. She is also a member of Catholic Daughters of the Americas Court Mater Dei # 868.
As I spoke with Sr. Vincent Marie, a couple of things stood out for me. She loved working at the food pantry on Staten Island. Part of her mission as a religious is to feed God's people who cannot feed themselves. She shines when she speaks of distributing food baskets to senior citizens. There is another ministry that gripped Sr.Vincent's heart. She told me she believes that no one should die alone. While missioned to New Orleans, Louisiana, she worked in hospice care. Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on palliating a
terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. We pray that God will be with Sr. Vincent Marie as she leads the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary.
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