Sister Margaret Theresa Maloney, CSJ

We come together as a faith community to celebrate and give thanks to our gracious God for the beautiful, joy-filled life of Sister Margaret Theresa Maloney, formerly Sister Mary Xaveria, a Sister of St. Joseph for 78 fruitful and vibrant years.

There is great sorrow in the Sacred Heart Community where Margaret has been an active and vibrant presence for eight years, yet we all rejoice that she celebrates the fullness of life with her God. Margaret’s wit, wisdom and tender sensitivity to each person will be missed. Her kindness and warmth embraced everyone. Words of gratitude for the incredibly attentive care shown by her nurses, aides and housekeepers are spoken in her name.

Margaret touched the hearts and lives of many in her ministries over the years and we welcome you, her former students and companions today.

Born in Flushing, NY to her devoted parents, Mary and James Maloney, Margaret was one of five children with Catherine, Joan, Mary and William forming the Maloney clan. They grew up in Mary’s Nativity Parish, nurtured in an active love of God that embraced an ardent hospitality and welcome to those in need. Most notably this outreach extended to family and friends from Ireland who were launching a new life in a strange land.

As Margaret went on to attend Bishop McDonnell High School the charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph became the lens of her world view. After working in Western Union for a year after graduation Margaret entered the community with an enthusiasm and joyful spirit to serve God’s people. Coupled with a lively faith these qualities deepened and enlivened her ministry in education and pastoral work for the next 68 years, yes 68 years!

Adaptability and openness to the needs of God’s people, not to mention holy obedience characterized Margaret’s ministerial life. She served in twenty-one different schools and parishes as a teacher, Grades 1-8, and for some variety was the principal in St. Clare’s, Rosedale, San Conrado, Puerto Rico and Mary’s Nativity, Flushing. Margaret’s enthusiasm for life and her love of learning and teaching overflowed into a dynamism that manifested the heart of the Gospel to her students, their families, and the entire school community.

Social media has been inundated with words of gratitude and praise for Margaret’s lived example of faith, her love of children, her personalism, listening heart and her joyful spirit of inclusive love.

The six years that Margaret was missioned in Puerto Rico were seen as a special and graced time for her. In a letter to Sister John Raymond she described the “gentle beautiful people of Ponce and Adjuntas who with deep reverence opened their homes and hearts to me. They are the face of God.”

Margaret’s pastoral presence in Holy Family parish in 2010 and her outreach to Hispanic groups continued on to her never to be called “retirement years.” She was a Eucharistic Minister to the homebound and ministered to those in need with faithful devotion She also served on the Advisory Board of Cathedral Prep. In her eyes there was a flow to life that beckoned God’s call and her full-hearted response to the mundane and humble needs of daily living. You could always count on Margaret to help out by doing whatever was the whatever!
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2017 brought Margaret to Sacred Heart Convent where she would often say that she was thankful to God for making Sacred Heart her home in the twilight of her years. We thank Christine Maher and the sisters and staff for sharing their fond remembrances of their dear Margaret.

Whenever Margaret Maloney’s name was invoked, the typical response was “I want to be just like her when I grow up” and always accompanied by a huge smile. The overwhelming feeling of warmth and kindness fills the conversation when one thinks of Margaret.

At Sacred Heart Convent, Margaret was a Wifi bowling savant, with a right swing that was legendary. When it was her turn to bowl, everyone knew it was best to stand way back! As for bell ringing, Margaret loved to participate in any music genre and used to throw in a clinker or two just to be a bit mischievous. Margaret’s inclination towards Bingo sessions was well known ~ her ability to keep two or three cards in play with an eye towards
helping other Sisters was customary. Of course, Margaret would often win and share her prizes with the House.

Margaret was the Resident Bartender at Sacred Heart and would jest that the tending of bar was her greatest ministry ~ one she did so well with everyone’s specialty in mind!

Among all of Margaret’s gifts, her greatest was the gift of finding humor in even the smallest of circumstances. Her Irish wit was at the fore ~ always breaking barriers, setting the tone and lightening burdens. One sister who had lived with Margaret in her early years wrote that Margaret’s humor could even make a cat laugh.

Margaret’s mere presence was stabilizing and humanizing ~ all felt equal and valued by her loving goodness and gratitude of spirit. Her daily prayerfulness and fidelity to Eucharist enfleshed her as a Christ presence to all.

And so it is with deep gratitude that we celebrate Sister Margaret Maloney’s 78 years of faithful, joyful living as a Sister of St. Joseph ~ a life well lived ~ a life not to be forgotten ~ a life to be celebrated in the glory of her God.

Sister Margaret Theresa Maloney. CSJ, the former Sister Mary Xaveria, died on February 21, 2025 in the 77th year of her religious life.