The Peace Within

UPON HER 70TH JUBILEE, sister IRENE NOVAK
TAKES STOCK OF GOD’S GENEROUS GIFTS

It may be no mistake that Andrew and Susan Novak named their youngest daughter Irene when they welcomed her to their growing family in 1933. The name Irene means “peace,” in Greek, and Sister Irene Novak surely seems to have found her own peace within.

Whether ministering as a teacher, principal, librarian or caregiver, she’s never really considered what she’s doing to be work. “It’s all pure entertainment for me,” she says of the pleasure she’s found in serving others.

Sister grew up in the tiny town of Egypt, Pa., — one of the oldest towns in eastern Pennsylvania — that even today boasts a population barely north of 2,000. The community was just seven miles outside of Allentown but greatly removed from the hustle and bustle of industrial life. One of six children born to a working-class father and homemaker mother, young Irene spent most of her time at church and with her friends.

“I was a boy-crazy teenager. In the end, I couldn’t find anyone who deserved me,” she laughs. Her best girlfriend did end up marrying one of the boys on which they had a crush, but Irene had her sights set elsewhere.

She and Sister Anita Kuchera — then known as “Aggie” and a year ahead of Irene in school — hailed from Holy Trinity Church, a small congregation of just 52 families, where they fell under the influence of our Sisters Magdalene Lovrich, Felicitas Konecny and Clavera Oravec. They were among nine girls from Allentown Central Catholic High School who went on a field trip to Reading, Pa., to visit the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Later, Sister Magdalene invited them to Monocacy Manor at Christmas to visit the Sisters. But their home priest urged both to finish high school before entering any religious community.

Irene’s calling to religious life was nearly derailed by the sudden death of her father at age 48. She went to work at nearby Trexler Farms Orchards, earning $30 a week to help her family stay afloat and to earn enough money for a trunk and the recommended items it should contain for her eventual move to convent life.

In 1948, Aggie and Irene made their way to Mount Assisi Academy in Pittsburgh, where Irene graduated in 1950 and entered the community that August. It wasn’t long before she’d completed the metamorphosis from student to teacher, became Sister Mary Sebastian, and took on early teaching assignments at St. Michael School in New Castle, Pa., and at back at her alma mater, teaching the younger grades at Mount Assisi Academy.

She says she can’t stand commercials, but she does like change, which suited her well while moving from school to school during her teaching years. “I thought of myself as a bee moving from flower to flower,” Sisters says. “Along the way, I’ve helped others and myself to deepen our relationship with God.”

Sister Irene delivered that help in some unique ways, drawn to the challenge of engaging the kids who didn’t want to be there. “I’ve always had a soft heart for those who struggle,” she says. “I tried to invent ways to make them like learning. I wanted them to love learning.”

She truly found her niche in 1953 when she settled into a longer tenure at SS. Cyril & Methodius School in Clifton, N.J. She recalls her collective 15 years there — including six as principal — as “remarkable. It was the strongest channel of grace I have experienced in my religious life.”

But other duties called and, in keeping with our community charism, Sister went to where the need was greatest, teaching at various parish schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and earning a bachelor’s degree in education from Seton Hall University and a master’s degree in library science from Villanova University. She put her organizational skills to the test, serving as librarian at Allentown Central Catholic and at our own St. Francis Academy, before moving to Don Bosco Seminary College and Queen of Peace Retreat Center in Newman, N.J.

Both offered austere settings but Sister Irene was able to do what she calls “incidental evangelization,” connecting with people without having to follow a lesson plan. She also met a kindred spirit in Father Joel Macul, OSB, who remains in touch and just recently visited on a trip from Nebraska.

She also counts among her dear friends Bishop Alfred Schlert, who currently heads the Diocese of Allentown and with whom she collaborated at Notre Dame Catholic High School in Easton, Pa. Sister still abides by some sage advice “Al” gave her years ago: “If you’re having a cup of coffee, just focus on the flavor of the coffee. You’ll save so much energy that way.”

After seven decades in religious life, Sister Irene still makes a habit of stopping along the way to taste life’s proverbial coffee, managing to find the lighter side of most situations. Sewing has always been a favorite pastime and, in recent years, Sister Irene has kept busy sewing and altering garments for others, including her Sisters in community. At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, she also took to sewing masks.

“I love learning something different,” she says. “I always find something to entertain myself.”

She remains entertained by her hobbies — among them a passion for stamp collecting to benefit the poor — but also some unfinished business. “There are some who have strayed away from the church. I work on them in a sneaky way,” she says with a sly smile.

Now 88, Sister remains as active as possible at Monocacy Manor in Bethlehem, Pa., which she calls home. Yet, the place and the space never seem to matter much to Sister Irene. For that which she cherishes most is always nearby. “God alone,” Sister says. “Nothing else matters to me.”