Sister Noel Cullen

Sister Noel Cullen never remembers a time when she did not sing. “I have always sung”, she says laughing, “Most babies are born crying. I was probably born singing.” It has been the trademark of her life.

Arlene Cullen grew up in St, Michael’s parish in Brooklyn and attended elementary school there. Although the school was staffed by Sisters of St. Joseph, she really got to know the community as a teenager at Our Lady of Perpetual Help High School. It was there she formed a strong bond with her Spanish teacher Sister Milagros. It was she who spoke with young Arlene about entering the congregation. When Sister Milagros left the congregation to become a Carmelite, Arlene was bereft. However, she continued her plans and after graduation she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph. At Reception she received the name Sister Grace Noel.

After her Novitiate, Noel went to nursing school and was sent to St. Joseph Convent in Flushing as a nurse. After nursing there for three years she spent a brief time working at St. Joseph Hospital in Rockaway. When Maria Regina opened, Noel became part of the early nursing team. She worked there as a nurse for the next thirty-seven years. During that time, she also earned a degree in Physical Therapy from Suffolk Community College. When she left Maria Regina, Noel used that training as a physical therapist in St. Joseph Convent until 2023.

During all those many years, she sang.  Noel became the person who provided the music and singing at all congregational events. Without any formal training, she wrote and recorded music. She published an album of hymns called Be Still. Her singing was her experience of prayer.

Sister Noel became the music minister on the international retreats led by Rev, Jim McNamara. For 15 years she worked on retreats in Isreal, Italy, Germany, Ireland, France and Greece. In Rome, she sang for Pope John Paul II in his private chapel.

Noel feels that being a religious has made her a whole person. She has always wanted to bring the love of Christ to people through her singing which is basic to her life. She has tried to touch people’s lives positively through her nursing and physical therapy. And she has sung to and for them. Singing has always been part of her life, her ministry, and her prayer.
“I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being”. 
Psalm 104:33