Sister Catherine Grace Bowen, 1929-2020
Sr. Catherine Grace Bowen, baptized Charlene Florence Bowen, 91, died November 13th in the 56th year of her Profession as an All Saints Sister of the Poor. The third daughter of Charles and Florence Bowen, she was born on July 31, 1929 in Camden, New Jersey. Prior to entering Religious Life, Sr. Catherine Grace was a registered nurse who thrived in the environment of the Operating Room and later in the Recovery Room, which she established in Cooper Hospital in Camden.
Sr. Catherine Grace receiving her honorary degree, Nashotah House, Sesquicentennial Convocation, 1992.
Sr. Catherine Grace Bowen led in the founding of The Joseph Richey Hospice in Baltimore, Maryland, together with Mount Calvary Church, an Episcopal parish in Baltimore. Continuing in a legacy of hospital care, the All Saints Sisters of the Poor were pioneers in hospice care in America, when, under Sister Catherine Grace’s leadership they founded the hospice in 1987. Throughout their history, the sisters worked with the poor of Baltimore as part of their charism of hospitality. Some of that work has included reaching out to children with special needs and ministering to AIDS patients.
Prior to the founding, the All Saints Sisters in England and America were early pioneers in the field of hospital nursing. A contemporary of Florence Nightingale, Mother Harriet Brownlow Byron (1818-1887) took the same approach to managing hospital nursing, namely to provide a safe and caring environment that promoted patient health and wellbeing. The All Saints Sisters nursed first on the frontlines during the Franco–Prussian War of 1870. In this field hospital they worked with the Little Sisters of the Poor and formed a lasting bond between the two sisterhoods - the one Anglican, the other Roman Catholic.
The American branch of a society founded in England, the All Saints Sisters of the Poor came to Baltimore in 1872 and have been at their current location in Catonsville, Maryland, since 1917. In 2012, the community of Episcopal nuns and their chaplain were received into the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1992, Sr. Catherine Grace was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Nashotah House.
Wearing full habits with black veils and white wimples, the sisters have been a visible beacon of hope in Catonsville for generations. In addition to devoting their lives to a rigorous daily prayer regimen and worshiping in community six times a day, the sisters offer religious retreats, visit people in hospice care, and maintain a Scriptorium where they design religious cards to inspire others in the faith.
Sr. Catherine Grace (left), Sr. Mary Joan Walker, Mother Christina Christie, and Sr. Hannah Smith, 2009. Image: The Catholic Voice
As a Religious, Sister Catherine Grace served in many capacities; Infirmarian, Guest Mistress, nurse at St. Gabriel’s Home for Retarded Children, St. Timothy’s Episcopal Day School, and a nurse mentor at the former Church Home and Hospital. She served as the Sister in Charge of St. Gabriel’s Retreat House, which she established, as Assistant Superior, and later was elected Superior of the Community for seventeen years.
Sr. Catherine Grace will be remembered for her vision of hospice care, shared by the late Dr. Robert Irwin, which unfolded in the co-founding of the Joseph Richey Hospice with Mt. Calvary Church.
Sr. Catherine Grace was known to never speak above a “whisper”, yet she led many Quiet Days and retreats. She was known for her spiritual wisdom and guided many priests, the wives of priests, seminarians, and other lay persons.
She is survived by her niece Susan Robinson Fagen and her husband John, niece Christin Robinson, and great niece and nephew, Kate and Patrick Fagen, and cousin Evelyn Barnhart, all of New Jersey, as well as, by the members of her Community of All Saints.
To read Sr. Catherine Grace’s obituary, please click Candle Light Funeral Home’s page here.