Sister Dorothy Brogan, CBS ~ Hospital Chaplain Ministry
Born in Ireland, Sr. Dorothy Brogan entered the Sisters of Bon Secours in 1952 and took her final vows in 1960. She has served the Congregation in many ways in many places. She first worked as a licensed practical nurse in Pennsylvania at Our Lady Help of Christians and Villa St. Joseph as well as at Bon Secours Hospital in Methuen, Mass. A graduate of the Camillus School of Practical Nursing, she took graduate courses at Holy Cross Hospital Health Care Ministry and the Institute of Music and Imagery.
Sister Dorothy Brogan, CBS, with a patient in Ecuador. c. 1994
In 1992, Sr. Dorothy began preparing to go to the Sisters of Bon Secours’ mission in Riobamba, Ecuador, where she ministered to the poor in the barrio. After returning from Ecuador, she participated in a Spanish parish ministry in Miami before launching a new ministry in the Hospice of Charlotte in Port Charlotte, Fla. In 2000, Sr. Dorothy became hospice chaplain in Greenville, S.C., and subsequently chaplain of the Palliative Care team there. Her work with hospice and palliative care patients continues today in Greenville, where she is part of the Inpatient Palliative Care team and serves as its chaplain. She also makes home pastoral visits to people who may live alone, be in the end stages of their life or need to make end-of-life decisions.
“My journey in religious life has opened many doors of opportunity and challenge through which I have grown personally, spiritually, and professionally,” says Sr. Dorothy, who has also been a member of the Sisters of Bon Secours Vocation Formation team and serves as president of Bon Secours St. Francis Health System Foundation and on the local health system’s ethics committee. “I am very blessed and received a wonderful gift to be able to follow in the footsteps of all the Sisters of Bon Secours who came before me. My ministry directly reflects the mission and charism of the Sisters of Bon Secours as most of my ministry has involved ministering to the sick and dying in both institutional and home settings through my work with hospice and palliative care patients and their families. In my ministry with the sick and dying, I often receive more than I give, and I see God’s work very alive in the faith and courage of the sick. I also am blessed to have my community of sisters, who have taken the journey with me throughout all these many years.”
Tags: bon secours, catholic nun, catholic sister, jubilee, life as a nun
I am searching for information about my grandmother’s baby sister, Margaret Mary Prendergast, whom I believe joined the Bon Secours as a young woman. She left St. Louis as a young woman to join the order. I recall family stories of her “running” the hospital in Baltimore. She was born in 1906 and I think she may have attended Visitation Academy along with her siblings but I have no record of that. I would so appreciate any record of her having been in Baltimore with the order. I do have a record of her being on a passenger ship leaving Ireland to return to Baltimore when she was 30. She was listed as an American citizen. Sending prayers that you can help. Thanking you in advance.
Barbara
P.S. Her parents were Jeffrey and Mary Prendergast.
I have forwarded your message to our Archives office. Perhaps they will be able to assist you in your search.
Thanks!