Hilda Margaret BROMELING

1 SEP 1916 - 22 APR 2020

• BIRTH: 1 SEP 1916, Woodlawn (now Aliquippa), PA
• DEATH: 22 APR 2020, St Marys Convent, Notre Dame, IN

INDEX

[N24164] Sister M. St. Brigid, CSC
(Hilda Margaret Bromeling)
Daug of Joseph Neivelt and Irma (Erma) Malasko
September 1, 1916 - April 22, 2020

Entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross from Eaton Rapids, Michigan on August 1, 1941
Initial Profession of Vows on August 15, 1944. When Hilda Bromeling applied to the Sisters of the Holy Cross in May 1941, after graduating from Saint Mary’s College in 1940, her motivation was “to serve God and to remove the obstacles which hinder my perfection.” She was accepted into the Congregation and entered a few months later. Among her college classmates, Hilda was viewed as “the least likely to become a nun.” Yet, she spent over 75 years seeking perfection in charity as a consecrated woman religious as Sister Mary St. Brigid. There were obstacles along the way, whether due to her personal history or restless spirit. The last obstacle was rolled away on Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter. Her life has been perfected in death, completing her lifelong journey to seek the Lord to the ends of the earth. Bromeling was Hilda’s name by adoption. She was born in Woodlawn (now Aliquippa), Pennsylvania, September 1, 1916. Hilda was the youngest of eight children born to Czechoslovakian immigrants of refined, well-to-do families, Joseph Neivelt and Irma (Erma) Malasko. When the mother died, their father needed help raising the youngest children, one boy and two girls, as the rest were older boys he could handle or close to adulthood. Since no one was able to take on all three children as the father insisted, the three were placed in “a home for adoption.” It is known that Merton and Margaret Blacker Bromeling adopted Hilda, “who was a very sweet child,” giving her every advantage, providing for an excellent education and extensive travel. In adulthood she called them her guardians. Both the Bromelings were deceased by 1951 when Sister St. Brigid was in her thirties. She remained close to her sister Elizabeth. Their mother, Erma, was remembered as being very religious and prayed as she was dying that her two little girls would be well taken care of. Sister St. Brigid did develop a very deep faith. At the end of her novitiate formation at Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame, Indiana, Sister St. Brigid seriously considered entering a contemplative order instead. After counsel by her spiritual director and the superior general, she accepted God’s will and freely pronounced vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Two other times Sister felt called again to enter a monastery and twice more, her discernment led her to remain in Holy Cross. Sister earned a master’s in Theology in 1952 from Saint Mary’s School of Theology, Notre Dame, Indiana the first of its kind for Catholic women. Her first 28 years of ministry were mostly in elementary education in Utah, California, Indiana, and Michigan specializing in catechetics and methods of teaching. Mentored by the great Sister M. Hildegardis (Gettier) herself, Sister St. Brigid taught methods to young sisters preparing for the teaching ministry in the 1960’s. In her pursuit of perfection, Sister St. Brigid always wanted to be or do something more. Not only had she felt drawn to the sacrifice and silence of the contemplative life, she simultaneously felt compelled to throw herself into being a missionary in the new Holy Cross foundation in São Paulo, Brazil where she taught at the Colégio Santa Maria, from 1956 to 1961. Later in 1971, having given two previous summers of service in the leper settlement of Kaulapapa, Molakai, she managed to secure an extraordinary permission from the Hawaiian Department of Health to live for only a year on the island, lest she develop the infectious Hansen’s disease herself. Her mission was to write for the blind and handless lepers, visit them in their cottages, and read them the Bible and other books. Upon advice of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Syracuse, New York, who trained her for this ministry and with whom she lived, Sister St. Brigid returned to South Bend in 1972 and gave service to the Congregation in various capacities for many more years. She retired to a fully contemplative life of prayer in 2000 at Saint Mary’s Convent, Notre Dame, Indiana where Sister St. Brigid died the morning of April 22, 2020. Her heart now rests in the Risen Lord for all eternity. A private prayer service and Rite of Committal with Final Commendation took place on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Kaniewski Funeral Homes handled the arrangements. You are invited to make a donation in Sister’s name to the Sisters of the Holy Cross Ministry with the Poor Fund at www.cscsisters.org --Written by Sister Catherine Osimo, CSC