Sister Patricia Schofield of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, left, with family members at the Marianne Cope Convent in Liliha May 12. Sister Patricia’s son Joe, his wife Amy and stepdaughter Alyssa spent Mother’s Day in the Islands. (HCH photo | Darlene Dela Cruz)
Sister Patricia Schofield is a Sister of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, St. Marianne’s order. She is also the mother of eight, the grandmother of six and the great grandmother of 15.
She celebrated Mother’s Day, May 10, with her son Joe and his family, who visited the Islands this month from the Mainland.
Joe, his wife Amy and stepdaughter Alyssa stopped by the Marianne Cope Convent in Liliha May 12 for a photo and chat with the Hawaii Catholic Herald.
Joe spoke briefly about what it’s like to have a nun for a mother.
“It’s good for me,” he said. “She’s just given herself over to God a hundred percent. It’s awesome.”
Sister Patricia, affectionately called “Sister Mom” by family and friends, took a roundabout path to become a Franciscan nun. But she believes God was preparing her for this destination throughout her life journey.
Sister Patricia said God first called her to religious life when she was 8 years old and a third grader in Utica, New York. When she turned 16, Patricia volunteered in the city’s St. Elizabeth Hospital, which was founded by St. Marianne Cope, the Franciscan nun from Syracuse who came to Hawaii in 1883 to care for Hawaii’s Hansen’s disease patients.
At St. Elizabeth Hospital, Schofield visited the sick and delivered newspapers. She also met many Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.
Schofield entered the Daughters of Charity convent in Emmitsburg, Maryland, at age 17. Her time with the religious order was short-lived.
“What I didn’t know at 17 was why I needed to be in the world, but not of it,” she explained. “I told the Lord I’d be back. Although my return took a long time, God certainly made sure I did.”
She eventually married and raised a family, modeling her ability to love and support her children unconditionally after God’s unconditional love for her.
“My love for them enabled me to give them the freedom to grow and find out who they are,” she said. “Now that they are older, they thank me for this.”
Schofield and her family attended several parishes where the Sisters of St. Francis served as teachers. Drawn to the Franciscan way of life, she joined the Secular Franciscan Order, a community of Catholic men and women who pattern their lives after Christ in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi.
She later became a lay Franciscan Associate of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, sharing in the mission of the sisters while maintaining her lifestyle.
In 1997, Schofield thought her dream of becoming a Catholic nun was still within reach. She was part of the Franciscans in Action volunteer service program, working with the elderly and disadvantaged in David, Kentucky, when she met and was inspired by a formerly married woman undergoing religious formation.
After working as a teacher for 30 years in Utica public schools, raising children, saving money to pay for her youngest daughter’s college tuition, and paying off all of her bills, Schofield in 1998, divorced and her marriage annulled, entered the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities. She was 53.
She gave most of her material possessions to her children and presented them with monetary gifts for future grandchildren.
“My children were happy for me and knew this was where I belonged,” she said.
As part of her religious formation, she served as pastoral minister at St. Joseph Hospital Health System in Syracuse, New York, a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of St. Francis. In Syracuse she also attended the Franciscan Church of the Assumption, the church where St. Marianne Cope professed her final vows in 1863.
In 2004, Schofield professed her final vows. All of her children had a unique role in the ceremony, and her parents and in-laws were in attendance as well.
Two years after profession, Sister Patricia was asked to serve in Honolulu. Like St. Marianne, who more than a century ago responded to God’s call to care for the outcasts in Hawaii, Sister Patricia said “yes” to her Island assignment.
Today she works as a chaplain ministering to the sick and dying at St. Francis Hospice.
“I minister to the outcast of society as well as those who are very vulnerable because of sickness during their life’s final journey,” Sister Patricia said.
She noted that her life experiences have given her a unique ability to empathize with others.
“I have been through divorce, getting annulments and I had a brother die of AIDS,” Sister Patricia explained. “As a mom and a sister, I bring compassion to others and advocate for them.”
Sister Patricia, 70, uses social media to keep in touch with her children, who live across the U.S. In 2009, when she completed studies for a master’s degree in pastoral theology, her daughter and sister visited Hawaii to celebrate the accomplishment.
In addition to hospice ministry, Sister Patricia also serves as regional director for the Franciscan Associate program and is part of the order’s vocations team.
“To be a Franciscan sister is to be in relationship with all creation and to bring God’s love and the Franciscan spirit to all I encounter,” she said.
Sister Patricia’s son Joe said he appreciates how his mother, as a religious, is living out the call to share that spirit of humble service. He admires “the way that she serves God, day in and day out, the selflessness and just caring for the people every day.”
“I respect my mother,” Joe said. “I look up to her as like a hero.”
Darlene Dela Cruz contributed to this story.
