Sr. Alice Talone, President
Volunteering at St. Edmond’s Home for Crippled Children during her junior year in high school changed Sr. Alice’s life. There she met the Sisters of Bon Secours and found their commitment and passion inspiring.
She entered the Congregation directly after high school in 1961. After graduating from Bon Secours School of Nursing, she returned to work at St. Edmond’s and eventually earned a B.S. in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania as well as a Master’s in Pastoral Ministry from Trinity College in Washington D.C.
Over the years, Sr. Alice has provided physical and spiritual care for patients as an acute care nurse, a nurse for the homebound, a pastoral associate, a hospital chaplain, and a parish nurse. She also served the Sisters of Bon Secours as vocation director for several years. All the roles she has taken on played an important part in her dedicated and evolving ministry. “I left my heart in St. Veronica’s parish in Baltimore’s Cherry Hill section where we did home nursing and social work among the very needy. That is the type of ministry I like best of all,” she fondly reminisces.
This sentiment touched Sr. Alice deeply in the course of visiting and praying with a woman with terminal ovarian cancer who saw in her the healing, consoling Jesus, just as Sr. Alice saw Him in her fragile patient. This dual nature of bearing witness to Christ while also finding him in those they care for is central to the spirit of the Sisters of Bon Secours.
We are an apostolic community devoted to bringing the message of hope to those in need especially the sick, the poor and the dying. “As Sisters of Bon Secours, we are an apostolic congregation, and we are prayerful women living this life. Some of our sisters come from different backgrounds such as the hotel industry or journalism and this has helped us to be more creative and innovative,” says Sr. Alice of her community. “We serve people who need God’s healing touch in many areas of their lives, in a holistic way.”
To those considering becoming a sister, Sr. Alice suggests they look at various communities and discover if the Congregation of Bon Secours is the community they are called to. “Living in a community is a challenge and no pie in the sky, but it is a gratifying journey for a woman whose focus is on God and serving those in need, the sick and suffering, the poor and dying.” For Sr. Alice and her fellow sisters that commitment stems from our charism of healing, liberation and compassion.
God had other plans
But Sr. Alice feels God had other plans for her as well. She was elected President of the USA Province, a term that began in January, 2004 and will extend to ‘09. “I discovered I can do things I never thought I could, so I trust in ‘the grace of the office,’ that this is what God is calling me to do at this point and He is helping me to be effective. My mantra is, ‘I can do all things in God who strengthens me,’ from Philippians 4:13.”
During her term, Sr. Alice is especially interested in encouraging the sisters to nurture relationships within their own community and to renew their commitment to minister to the poor.
As President, she is the leader of the Leadership Team which also includes Vice President Sr. Rose Marie Jasinski and Srs. Anna Mae Crane, Elaine Davia and Mary Shimo. Day-long team meetings are held monthly. The members report on current activities and discuss whether their decisions are in keeping with their mission. They follow a circular model of authority where everyone is included in sharing responsibilities and decision making, especially on issues that affect the lives of the sisters.
Although outgoing and community oriented, Sr. Alice lives by herself and has for the last 15 years since moving into a Baltimore apartment near Bon Secours Hospital where she once worked. In 1987 she enjoyed a Sabbatical year which renewed and refreshed her commitment.
She took courses at Washington Theological Union, and traveled to Paris for the first International Experience for the Sisters of Bon Secours at the Maison Mere (Motherhouse), to the Generalate (the Congregation’s administrative offices in Rome), visited relatives in Italy, traveled in London and Ireland, and then took a side tour to Israel. In her spare time, music and cooking appeal to her as well as meeting new people. She is very close to her twin sister and her brother, not to mention numerous Irish-Italian relatives.
