THE Month's Mind Mass for a Poor Clare nun who lived at the former Poor Clare Monastery in North Belfast before it closed a decade ago will take place this weekend.
Sr Paschal McMeel, who for 55 years was a sister and abbess at the Poor Clare monastery on the Cliftonville Road until its closure in 2012 died in Carlow on May 8.
Her Month's Mind Mass will be celebrated in the Sacred Heart Church on the Oldpark Road at 12 noon on Saturday (June 4). The Celebrant will be Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown.
Born Ita McMeel, she worked as a secretary at Stormont and for BMW before she joined the Poor Clares at the age of 25 in 1955.
The Poor Clare Sisters were based on Cliftonville Road, but in the years leading up to its closure, numbers had declined to just five nuns – two Irish sisters in their 80s and three Filipinas.
The North Belfast monastery closed in 2012 after 90 years.
Sr Paschal was much-loved and respected in Belfast and beyond. Blessed with a wonderful personality, she made numerous friends throughout her life taking all their worries and anxieties to the Lord in prayer.
