Sister Ann Julie Peters, SNDdeN
October 19, 1926 - April 15, 2021
“My life has been blessed,” Ann Julie wrote, “by a devoted family whose roots are in Tipperary and County Down.” She was especially grateful for her parents’ sacrificial support of her decision to enter religious life. As first-generation immigrants, they must have had great expectations for this daughter of 23, who had earned a B.A. magnum cum laude from St. John’s College in Brooklyn and was holding down a steady job. “Yet,” she recorded, “there never was a moment that they did not encourage me with generous hearts.” Ann’s love for them, and for her three younger brothers, ran deep. Increasingly, as she approached her own passage into a new life, she counted them as honored members of her own particular “Communion of Saints.”
She wrote of her Notre Dame family as a blessing, too: “I can only sing Our Lady’s ‘Magnificat’ to a good God who has called me to Julie and Françoise’s Congregation—a group of women religious I had never known.” Unlike so many SNDs who attribute their entering Notre Dame to the influence of their SND teachers, Ann Julie had attended public schools through 12th grade. We don’t know the details of how she was drawn to our congregation. But we have a description, in her own words, of how grateful she was for God’s call:
Becoming a daughter of Julie was an experience that changed my life. No matter where I was sent on mission, Julie’s inspiration helped me to place my trust, day by day, in God’s Goodness.
Like St. Julie herself, Ann Julie, once professed, ministered in various locations and settings. Though her first mission was close to home (Brooklyn), successive assignments took her to schools and parishes in four other dioceses as well (Philadelphia, Baltimore, Atlanta and Rockville Center). Over the years, she donned various “bonnets,” just as Julie had done: as a teacher (at parochial, secondary and junior-college levels); an administrator (Dean of Students, Academic Dean, Principal, Department Chair); a Campus Minister; and a Director of Religious Education. A pilgrimage to “Julie country” around the time of her diamond jubilee seems to have instilled new and deeper insights into her life as an SND. Ever after, the experience of walking in the footsteps of St. Julie where Notre Dame life and mission first took flesh in parishes and schools, was “a time to remember and to cherish!”
Ten years later – now in her 70th year as an SNDdeN – Ann Julie again looked back at the road she had come:
It is with deep gratitude that I have come to understand that we plant the seed and that our Good God gives the increase. It is in this spirit that . . . I was enabled, enriched and energized by those who accompanied me on my journey and whose faith-filled lives challenged me to live the Gospel Message.
Of the various ministries she had undertaken, her 23 years of teaching and Campus Ministry at St. Anthony High School in Rockville Center seem to have claimed a special place in her heart:
My retirement in 2015 was celebrated with a Liturgy of Thanksgiving . . . . It was a moving moment when just before the Recessional, my seniors gathered at the altar and prayed for and anointed me, in the power of the Spirit, as I moved into the future.
Since retirement, Ann Julie’s ministry has been grounded in prayer and community outreach. “. . . I continue to be present to whoever comes my way,” she wrote, “to see the Lord’s image in the other, to take time to listen, to empathize, to be a compassionate, welcoming presence, to visit those in need. Our telephone ministry and emails often call us to minister and to be ministered to. As I face my own limitations, it is in the spirit of Mary’s Magnificat that I can proclaim with a grateful heart that “the One Who is mighty has done great things for me.”
BIODATA
- Born Ann Mary Peters, October 19, 1926, Brooklyn, NY
- Baptized October 31, 1926, St. Stanislaus, Brooklyn, NY
- Parents: William and Bridget (Murnin) Peters (both born in Ireland)
- Siblings (deceased): William, John and Raymond
- Entered Notre Dame November 15, 1949 (Ilchester, MD)
- First profession: July 30, 1952
- Final vows: July 30, 1957
Education
- B.A., St. John’s University, NY
- M.A., Villanova University, PA (English)
- M.A. , Fordham University, NY (Religious Studies)
Ministries include:
- Teaching and Administration
- SS. Joachim & Anne, Brooklyn, NY (Teaching 8th grade - 1952-54)
- Notre Dame High School, Moylan, PA (Teaching - 1954-55; 1963-64;)
- Villa Julie College, Stevenson, MD (Teaching and Dean of Students - 1955-63)
- St. Pius X High School, Atlanta, GA (Teaching and Academic Dean - 1964-68)
- Academy of Notre Dame, Villanova, PA (Principal - 1968-70)
- Sacred Heart Academy, Rockville Center, NY (Teaching and Department Chair - 1977-92)
- St. Anthony High School, Rockville Center, NY (Teaching and Campus Ministry - 1992-2015;)
Religious Education
- Director of Religious Education, St. Catherine of Genoa, Brooklyn, NY, together with
- Pastoral Outreach to Long Island Migrant Communities (February – June 1972)
- Director of Religious Education, St. Brigid, Westbury, N.Y. (1972-76)
- Director of Religious Education, SS. Cyril & Methodius, Rockville Center, NY (1976-77)
Retirement
- St. Julie Convent, Westbury, NY (Ministry of Prayer and Community Outreach - 2015-2021
Death
- April 15, 2021
Prepared by Sr. Mary Ann Cook, with the assistance of Sr. Agnes Elizabeth Curran and Sr. Kim Dalgarn (Archivist for the Ohio Province)