For Sacred Hearts sister, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was central
Kauai-born Sacred Hearts Sister Juliana Costa Brum, who attributed her long and fruitful vocation to a prayer to the Holy Spirit given to her in her youth by her mother, died March 15 at Malia O Ka Malu Convent in Honolulu. She was 97 and a religious sister for 78 years.
Sister Juliana was born on Nov. 28, 1922, in Lihue, Kauai. Growing up, she was a great help to her mother, learning to cook and sew, skills that would serve her well when she entered the convent. She went to public school in Lihue and attended Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Lihue.
Her mother cooked for the parish priests. It was through this contact, specifically with Sacred Hearts Fathers Celestin Holzem and Philibert Vanfrachem, that she would join the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
“I attribute my vocation to a prayer to the Holy Spirit that my mother gave to me as a young teenager,” Sister Juliana recalled in 2017 on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of her profession.
Father Philibert, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish, helped arrange for her to go to Honolulu where she was introduced to the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts. She had not known any Sacred Hearts sisters before then since there were none on Kauai at that time.
“I attribute my vocation to a prayer to the Holy Spirit that my mother gave to me as a young teenager,” Sister Juliana said.
Juliana was 16 when she moved to Oahu and attended the boarding school at Sacred Hearts Convent.
“There I came to know some wonderful sisters,” she said.
Determined to enter the novitiate, she did so on Oct. 3, 1939. She made her first profession of vows on Oct. 25, 1942, at Sacred Hearts Academy in Kaimuki and professed her perpetual vows on Oct. 28, 1945.
Religious life led Sister Juliana to serve in communities in California and Hawaii, and in many ministries. She was primarily a sacristan and seamstress, and also taught kindergarten. She worked at Sacred Hearts Academy, Maria Regina Convent in Gardena, California, St. Anthony Retreat Center in Kalihi and finally at Malia O Ka Malu Convent in Kaimuki.
“Another happy experience of my religious life,” she recalled in 2017, “was making a retreat in Europe which broadened my joys of being a Sister of the Sacred Hearts since I experienced in a special way the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.”
When Sister Juliana retired, she continued her ministry of reparative adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
In 2017, the House of Representatives of the 29th Legislature of the State of Hawaii recognized, commended and expressed a heartfelt mahalo to Sister Juliana for her 75 years of profession and unwavering dedication to her ministry of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Because of the COVID-19 directives, she had a private funeral.
The Sisters of the Sacred Hearts appreciate the gifts and prayers in memory of Sister Juliana.
