Sister Catherine Mary McGuigan, OP, was called home to God the day after her 98th birthday. Catherine was born in Brooklyn on Aug. 20, 1926. In 1940, she entered the Dominican Juniorate, and upon graduation, she entered the novitiate in Amityville on Sept. 8, 1944.
Catherine received the Dominican habit on Aug. 6, 1945, and took the name Sister Venard Marie and the title “of the Sacred Heart.” She professed her first vows on Aug. 6, 1946, and her final vows on Aug. 23, 1949.
Catherine began her 60-plus years of ministry first on the elementary school level in St. Joseph’s, Long Island City (1946-52); St. Margaret’s, Middle Village (1952-57); and St. Ignatius, Hicksville (1957-60).
From elementary school, Catherine moved on to teaching high school religion in St. Agnes, Rockville Centre (1960-66), and Queen of the Rosary Academy in Amityville (1966-70). It was after more than two decades in traditional education that she became a trailblazer. At the request of Rev. Frederick Schaeffer, she moved into diocesan ministry as the Director of Pastoral Services (1970-79).
In 1972, she became part of an intentional community in Our Lady of Lourdes Convent in Massapequa Park. After a brief sabbatical at Weston Priory in Vermont, Catherine returned to Long Island. In 1980, she was part of a small group of Sisters who lived in Brentwood, during which time she ministered in St. Anne’s parish as the Director of Religious Education and then served her sisters in the Motherhouse Infirmary in Pastoral Services.
Returning to Long Island in 1994, Catherine then served in the Adult Formation Program on St. Ignatius in Hicksville, where she once taught as a young Sister. Her ministry had come full circle. Catherine “retired” in 1994, first living in Harvest Grove in Lake Grove and then in St. Patrick’s Convent in Huntington before she moved into Amityville in 2015.
She is survived by her nieces and nephews: Maureen, Patricia, Daniel, and Richard; the local nieces and nephews Mary, Catherine, Diane, Christine, Robert, Michael, and Patrick; and all their families.
The wake and funeral, including the Mass of Christian Burial, were held on Aug. 27 in St. Albert Chapel in the Motherhouse in Amityville. Interment is in St. Dominic Cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.
