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About Mercy/FAQs: The Sisters of Mercy

Since its inception Mercy Medical Center has been blessed by the service and dedication of the Sisters of Mercy. Over the years the Sisters have served in a wide range of roles in support of the hospital and its mission. Below we honor the Sisters who currently serve the patients, families and staff of Mercy Medical Center.

Sister Helen Amos, RSM
Executive Chair, Board of Trustees

I was born and raised in what is sometimes called The Deep South, in Mobile, Alabama. When my older sister, Pat, came to Baltimore for college (and to Mercy Hospital for Medical Technology training), my family thought she came home with a strange accent.

The Sisters of Mercy taught me through elementary and high school. As I became friends with many of my teachers, particularly those who guided the school newspaper, the glee club and sports, I decided to join the community.

I’ve been a teacher and an administrator, including seven years as President of the Sisters of Mercy. In the latter role I visited the Sisters working outside the U.S., in Jamaica, Guyana, Honduras, Belize and Argentina. Observing the works of Mercy in these cultures was an unforgettable experience.

Of the four vows we make as Sisters, the vow of obedience has changed most dramatically in its meaning for me (and all of us) over the years. What it means to me today is searching daily for how to be the best instrument of peace, mercy and justice I can be. God’s work on earth really is our work.

My work here at Mercy is motivated first of all by the patients — their needs, their gratitude for every act of caring we give them, even if it’s only a smile. At the same time, I am moved by the spirit of this great house of Mercy that lives in our incomparable co-workers throughout the organizations.

Sister Theresa Carter, RSM
Hospitality Staff

Bittberg, Germany was my birthplace. My family moved to the United States when I was about two years old. My mother was born and raised in New York and my father in Georgia, so I claim both heritages. My family lives in Georgia.

I first met the Sisters of Mercy when I was a 13-year-old ninth grader at Mount de Sales in Macon, Georgia. I saw the Sisters as women who were intelligent, strong, and happy. These women felt strongly, especially about justice issues. They remained open to others and their insights, however.

Prior to working at Mercy Medical Center, I taught both children and adults for about 19 years. My first years were spent teaching French and then I became a Certified Reading Specialist. I taught in Georgia; Washington, DC; and Maryland.

Living the vowed life as a Sister of Mercy is an honor and a privilege. The vow of service to the poor, sick, and uneducated is unique to us. In my service I have been privileged to work with the economically poor and with the wealthy. Often I have been the one learning. In serving people of different cultures, experiences, and backgrounds, I have been challenged to broaden my view of the world and challenged to understand my own limitations and biases.

I am honored and humbled to work with people who are so passionate about what they do. It is wonderful to see the influence of Catherine McAuley at Mercy Medical Center. She understood the importance of meeting the needs of the whole person.

Sister Elizabeth Ann Corcoran, RSM
Assistant to the President: Hospitality

My first contact with the Sisters was at birth, right here at Mercy Hospital! And through my aunt, Sister Mary Veronica Daily. As a student in the School of Nursing, I decided to enter the community and Sister Mary Thomas Zinkand was my mentor during the discernment period and a true friend until the day she died.

The Sisters’ love and fairness to all persons attracted me: I could see their love for the very ill. I feel it is a privilege to care for God’s sick people, and for me it is always an honor to be with a dying patient.

Other than Mercy Medical Center, I have served at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta for nine years. At Mercy I have been the nurse recruiter, director of Nursing, and vice president for Nursing and Related Areas. I now work in Hospitality Services in the Conference Center and Lobby area, and am moderator for the Auxiliary and the Alumnae Association. I have loved every assignment over the years, and hope to be part of the Hospitality Services for years to come.

In everyday life the most significant vow for me has been the vow of Service to the poor, sick and uneducated. Each day I see where, as a Sister of Mercy, I am able to assist visitors, patients and staff who need help and guidance. Each time that happens, a feeling of satisfaction comes over me.

Sister Fran Demarco, RSM
Minister to Employees

I was born into a large Italian-American family in Baltimore. Though I had only two sisters, many members of my extended family lived with us in our four bedroom, one bathroom row home. There was an innate sense of community in the neighborhoods of West Baltimore at that time. A large population was Catholic. We attended the same parish school and Sunday Mass together; the parish church was the focal point of our lives. My two sisters married two brothers--childhood sweethearts from elementary school. Lucky for me there wasn’t a third brother!

After high school, I worked at the Social Security Administration for about two years realizing all the while that I was looking for something “more” in my life. I had maintained relationships with the Daughters of Charity and School Sisters of Notre Dame, who had been my teachers, but it was a Sister of Mercy who worked in the Inner City who influenced my final decision to become a Sister of Mercy. I admired her love and commitment to the poor with whom she served. Over the years I have never regretted that choice.

I received my B.A. and M.A. from Mt. St. Agnes College, Baltimore and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh respectively. Later I earned an M.A. in Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore. I have been an elementary school teacher, principal and Pastoral Associate in two Baltimore parishes as well as Pastoral Director of several Mercy sponsored programs and institutions. Ultimately the combination of these ministries and my studies guided me to the position I hold today at Mercy Medical Center. I am Minister to Employees with special emphasis on Mercy’s mission. In this position I am able to provide spiritual and emotional support to employees and staffs of the hospital: “Care for the Caregivers.” The mere existence of my job confirms that the Mercy spirit is alive and in practice. Mercy Medical’s mission is far more than a framed document on a wall: it is alive in the employees and in the decisions made at the hospital. 

Sister M. Cordelia Eckert, RSM
Assistant Auditor (part-time)

A Norristown, Pennsylvania native, I lived there while attending college. My college friends introduced me to the Sisters of Mercy when three of them joined the Mercy community in Baltimore. When visiting these friends in Baltimore, I learned about their lives in the religious community and eventually made the decision to enter the novitiate.

Besides Mercy Medical Center, I served the Mount Washington campus while it was an educational site, which included the elementary level through four years of college, and later when the campus was leased to other educational groups. As college treasurer, I was responsible for the business and general operation of the campus until it was no longer leased.

The fourth vow: care of the poor, sick and uneducated, continuously calls us in our service at Mercy Medical Center and its outreach operations. My motivation, certainly and first, is my vowed commitment made many years ago and the daily needs seen at Mercy Medical Center.

Sister Madonna Gies, RSM
Staff Educator (part-time)

Baltimore was my home from birth through my early days as a Sister. I first met the Sisters of Mercy at Cecilia’s School in Baltimore. They were caring, loving women and I wanted to be like them and to become one of them. Their example was a strong influence in my life.

After years of training as young Sister I was assigned to Holy Trinity School in Washington; St. Mary’s in Rockville; St. John’s in Florida; Assumption in Atlanta; St. Ignatius and Our Lady of Sorrows in Alabama; Immaculate Heart of Mary, Shrine of the Sacred Heart, and Mount Washington Country School in Baltimore; and Sacred Heart in Glyndon. I was principal of four different schools for 23 years and a teacher for 33 years. I have been teaching at Mercy Medical Center since 1996 and taught at Stella Maris from 1997 to 2004.

In 1987 I volunteered to move to an extremely poor region in Appalachia, Virginia, where I remained for nine years. Those years were the greatest for me! I worked in prison ministry, gave numerous tutor training workshops, participated in civic community issues, board memberships, and direct service to the poor. While there, I became certified as a nursing assistant and as a hospice caregiver for the terminally ill.

My vow of service to the poor, sick and uneducated has always been highly significant for me. The need for education is everywhere, and I am motivated each day by my contacts with my students. I have never lost my love for people or my enthusiasm for teaching.

Sister Gess Kirby, RSM
Volunteer: Pastoral Care

Having been born at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, I was raised in the metropolitan area. Most of my physicians are at Mercy so this place really is my life-line! I first met Sisters of Mercy when I attended Mount St. Agnes grade and high schools in Mount Washington. The Sisters’ warmth, friendliness, humor, spirituality and understanding touched me.

I taught in Baltimore at Shrine of the Sacred Heart Elementary School , Mount St. Agnes High and at Mercy High.

Then I moved into health care as an activity specialist at Mercy Medical in Alabama and later at Stella Maris. Today I volunteer both at the Villa (our assisted living and infirmary for Sisters), in Mercy’s Pastoral Care Department on the 10th floor and in Radiology.

To have the time to really listen to another is a privilege: emphasizing a person’s God-given gifts, offering help and love. The people of Mercy Medical Center give to me through their sharing, patience, faith and love as much or more than they receive from me.

The community of Mercy Medical Center is skilled, caring and involved. Patients and family members often say to me, “I’m treated as a person here, not just a number. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.” There’s a family spirit here - an attitude of doing one’s best, of responding creatively to constructive complaints and of seeking to be even better for all who come through our doors. I enjoy and am proud to be a member of our Mercy family because I love the people.

Sister Margaret Mary McTwiggan, RSM
Volunteer: Convent

I was born and spent my first 19 years in Washington, D.C., and attended Catholic schools from elementary through high school. It was a great place to grow up, and my mother saw to it that we did not miss important places or events. I first met the Sisters of Mercy as my teachers at Holy Trinity High School, where I had been awarded a scholarship. Sister M. Austin Stonebraker was the principal, and Sister M. Berchmans Finzel was with her on my registration day. I liked the Sisters of Mercy from the start and was especially impressed by their warmth and by the personal interest they took in each student. And I loved Catherine McAuley from the first time I heard of her concern for the welfare of girls and young women. The dedication to the vow of Service attracted me to the Sisters of Mercy. I felt this was something I had benefited from and it was an example that God had provided for me because I had known no Sisters of Mercy before registering at their high school.

Before coming to Mercy Medical Center, I taught in elementary and high schools in Baltimore, Washington, Virginia and Alabama. In elementary schools, most of my work was in the sixth through eighth grades. At Mercy High School I taught art both in the day school and adult classes in the evenings. I enjoyed all of it. (Some of our nurses who went to Mercy High School might remember me as “the art nun.”)

Though not a health care professional, my ministry is based in the Convent (18th floor) coordinating maintenance for the Sisters who live up there. It is a great job, because I meet some of the nicest and most talented employees: the maintenance and housekeeping staffs. I am impressed by their skills, the pride they have in their work, and their unfailing good humor.

Sister Aine O’Connor, RSM
Assistant to the President for Mission

Born and raised in Ireland, I am one of five daughters. Most of my family still lives there, except for one sister in Roanoke, Virginia. In 1993 I came to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta as a post-graduate student to pursue research in swallowing disorders. From the moment I entered the doors, I knew it was special place, and then met the Sisters of Mercy who sponsor the hospital. Everywhere the mission was palpable and I was invited as an employee to contribute my gifts.

The compelling mission and vision of the Sisters attracted me to join them, as well as their joyful quest for God, their obvious love of one another, and their solidarity with marginalized persons.

After my year as a clinical fellow at St. Joseph’s, I moved to St. Louis for my Novitiate year, where I volunteered at the Women’s Detention Center. I learned a lot about the link between poverty, drug abuse and incarceration, as the women generously shared their life stories with me.

I find great freedom and opportunity for fuller life in living the vows of celibate chastity, poverty, obedience and service. I see the vow of celibate chastity as “loving without limitation, laying down my life in loving commitment to more than those who love me.” (Joan Chittister, OSB) In my role here at Mercy, I have the opportunity to see our employees and physicians put our values into action in each patient encounter. What a privilege that is! I am constantly inspired by them. And in each patient encounter, I learn something new about “the wideness of God’s Mercy.”

Sister Paula Marie Phelan, RSM
Convent Coordinator, Volunteer

I was born here at Mercy Hospital and raised in Baltimore City and in Woodstock. I first met the Sisters of Mercy as a child in Little Flower School, where they taught. Attending Mount St. Agnes High School, I deepened my acquaintance with them and was attracted by their commitment to the works of Mercy and their friendly, human, caring spirit.

My first assignments as a young Sister were in elementary education, teaching at St. Bernard’s School in Baltimore, and Holy Family School in Columbus, Georgia. But in 1942 I was assigned to Mercy Hospital and have been here ever since. I was asked to start the Medical Technology program and set up the clinical labs, but since I had been prepared for teaching, I needed to study this new, “cutting-edge” field.

So from 1942-1944 I was a student, and from 1944 the director and supervisor of Mercy’s School of Medical Technology and of the clinical labs. The program ran in collaboration with Mount St. Agnes College, and I was the liaison between hospital and college during those years. Retired from the Department of Pathology in 1990, I now volunteer in the hospital and since 1970 have served as convent coordinator for those Sisters who live here.

My vow of service has been powerful for me, and is related to the engraving I chose for my ring: “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.” God has given me many blessings — not the least of which is longevity — for some definite purpose. Therefore I take every opportunity I can to fulfill this purpose.

Also serving the patients and families of Mercy Medical Center are Sister Jeremy Daigler, RSM, Sister Mary Harper, RSM, and Sister Annella Martin, RSM, Sister Jacinta Robson, RSM.