To everything there is a season
A time for every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing
A time to lose and a time to seek A time to rend and a time to sew
A time to keep silent and a time to speak
A time to love and a time to refrain from loving A time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Time is a thing Sister Angela Linardy had in abundance—92 years of life—72 of which were lived in religious life. This is her testimony. It is apparent that her call in time was one of witness as a faithful follower of Jesus.

One of six children born to Antun and Anastasia Linardy, Mary Alice (as she was named) was brought up, as any Bostonian Catholic would be, in the faith. This faith blossomed into a call to religious life at age 20, and this faith enabled her to minister to the people of God for many, many years.

To everything there is a season
A time for every purpose under heaven.

Religious life at the time Mary Alice entered it in 1932 was not only structured, it was predictable. Time formed one’s day, and each moment of one’s day was occupied specifically with either prayer, study, or duty. Mary Alice learned about the tradition of Dominican life. She attended daily Eucharist preceded by the chanting of the office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She recited 15 mysteries of the rosary, recreated two times daily and did spiritual reading. She was also assigned house duties.

She brought to her Dominican family her great love of music and in time used her gift of music to enhance the life of community both at prayer and recreation. This love and appreciation of music brought Sister Angela great contentment and enabled her to bring great joy and solace to many throughout her life.

To everything there is a season
A time for every purpose under heaven

As Sister Angela matured in religious life she used her time to study nursing, and then used her acquired skills to nurse the sick and destitute in Ohio, New York City, Minnesota, and the Bronx. The image of the Dominican sister in her black and white habit carrying a black nursing bag on the street, on the bus, into the homes of the sick became a common sight to many. Sister Angela brought to her patients and their families, not only her professional skills, but also her deep faith in a God who is a constant friend to the destitute poor.

While much of her religious life was engaged in this ministry to the sick, Sister Angela realized that time would dictate an adaptation. She studied recreational therapy and, as she aged, she was able to combine her musical gift with acquired recreational skills to create a new ministry in nursing homes to elderly residents there.

From this ministry she volunteered at a local hospital and finally, when she moved to Mariandale, did clerical work for the Family Health Service there. Her ministerial life continued throughout her retirement years.

In 1999, at the age of 87, she formally retired to the Center of Hope at Newburgh. It is here that she found the time to remember a life well spent among God’s people. It is here she found the time to ponder that faithful God who has been her constant companion.

To everything there is a time
A time for every purpose under heaven

The past few months of time for Sister Angela have not been easy. She has been asked to wait on the mercy of God who would – in time – call her home. She has been patient with this time of her life. She has struggled with its call to suffering.

Time, as we all know in the depths of our being, belongs to God and not to us. In God’s time Sister Angela was called home. She leaves Cindy and Charlie, her faithful family, and all of us, especially Sister Dolorata – to live in God’s time – for –

To everything there is a time
A time for every purpose under heaven

Godspeed, Sister Angela,to a place where there is no longer time, just eternal peace.

Veronica Miller, OP

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