The Gift of Giving
SISTER FRANCIS MARIE DUNCAN RECOUNTS HER students’
EFFORTS TO create special holiday moments for others
Sister Frances Marie Duncan
Some of my happiest Christmas memories stem from the service opportunities with the Outreach Club at Saint Peter’s Preparatory School in Jersey City, N.J., where I taught for 20 years. One of our favorite activities was to plan Christmas parties for students from two middle schools — St. Ignatius in the Bronx, N.Y., and Nativity in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The high school-aged boys from Prep would decorate the cafeteria and plan games and activities. We would buy presents for all the students, have a great meal together and have a visit from Mrs. Claus (played by the late Sister Marcia Fidishun). The Sisters in Guttenberg, N.J., always helped out with the cooking and baking.
Another favorite was taking part in the Adopt-a-Family Program where each homeroom adopted a member of a needy family and purchased at least six gifts for each individual, ranging from microwave ovens, to sheets, to winter coats, toiletries, games and toys.
Wrapping the gifts was always a fun project. Teaching teenage boys to wrap gifts was a sight to behold! The Sisters in Guttenberg also helped with the wrapping and preparation of the gifts. The tiny living room at the convent had hardly an inch of space to walk between the boxes and gift wrap! These were moments that captured the true meaning of Christmas for me.
A young Sister Frances Marie loved sharing spiritual songs of the season with her students.
spirit in song
Preparing my students for Christmas performances also are some of my best Christmas memories. In my early years, when I taught smaller children, I often taught them the songs from Sebastian Temple’s Great Day in Bethlehem.
The songs traced Salvation History from the ancient prophets, through the Annunciation, Visitation, Birth of Jesus, Presentation, Flight into Egypt and ended with a song of the Perfect Family.
The songs were catchy and lively, and the students loved singing them and enacting the scenes. It was amazing how their singing captured the hearts of those listening.