In the deep peace of Monastery of Pius XII in Fatima the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary are rarely seen behind the grille as they devote their contemplative lives to prayer and meditation.
On February 5, however, the convent was buzzing with excitement and merriment as the Sisters came forth to celebrate with joy the 100 birthday of their sister Diane Roche OP, together with her family and friends. The celebrations began with a Mass of Thanksgiving concelebrated in their chapel by seven priests from the adjoining Dominican Priory.
Sr Diane was born Bridget Agatha Roche on February 5, 1925, near Enniscorthy Co. Wexford, second youngest of the seven children of Edmund and Sarah Roche. In the early 1930s, the five girls in the family, Anna Maria (Nano), Irene, May, Sarah and Breda (as Bridget was known) cycled from their farm to secondary school in Loreto Convent, Enniscorthy. Three of the sisters, Irene, May and Breda, entered religious life. Irene became Sr Camilla IBVM. She was appointed principal of several Loreto schools and opened the first Loreto- sponsored community school in Milford, Co. Donegal. May became Sr Mary Dolores of the Presentation Order and taught in the Presentation primary school in Enniscorthy.
Breda took a secretarial course and worked in a number of posts including a period as secretary to the chief psychiatrist in St Otteran’s Hospital, Enniscorthy. She followed her sister Irene to the Loreto novitiate in Rathfarnham, but discovered that she was drawn to a contemplative life rather than a teaching career and left the novitiate after a year. She continued to hear the call to life as a contemplative nun. In 1952 she learned that the Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary, founded in the nineteenth century by the French Dominican priest Fr Damien Marie Saintourens, were seeking vocations. She joined the Order as a novice, serving her novitiate in Glasgow and Rome, and became Sister Diane OP. She took the name of St Diana del Andalo, a thirteenth century Italian Dominican nun who established a convent in Bologna with the blessing of St Dominic.
1954 was declared the Marian Year by Pius XII to commemorate the centenary of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception revealed by the Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes in 1854. In June of the Marian Year, Sr Diane, OP became a founder member of the Dominican Convent of the Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary at the Monastery of Pius XII in Fatima.
On February 5, Sr Diane celebrated her 100 birthday and the seventy first anniversary of her arrival in Fatima. The concelebrated Mass ended with the hymn ‘Hail Glorious St Patrick’, at Sr Diane’s request. The nuns were joined by several of her Irish nieces, nephews, Irish and Portuguese friends. At the lunch party Sr Kathleen IBVM (a friend of Sr Diane’s late sister, Sr Camilla IBVM) sang several Irish songs, including Sr Diane’s favourite, ‘Boolavogue’.
The Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary in Fatima are an international community devoting themselves to a life of contemplation. They pray for the intentions of anybody who asks them, and depend largely on donations from the faithful. Until recently, Sr Diane, who is proficient in Portuguese, earned funds for her community by translating theological and religious works from Portuguese into English. She frequently contributed to the ‘Friends of Fatima’ newsletter produced by her community. The Sisters have a guesthouse where pilgrims may stay for whatever payment they can afford. They are delighted to receive Irish visitors, who are treated to the scones and Barry’s tea with which Sr Diane’s and Sr Angla’s Irish friends keep the community supplied.
When Sr Diana entered the convent at Fatima, she did so in the belief that she would never visit her home near Enniscorthy again. After Vatican II in 1963, the rules for contemplative orders were relaxed and Sr Diana was allowed several visits home, visits which gave great happiness to her and her circle. She last visited Ireland in 2014, an occasion for a memorable gathering, including her siblings Sr Camilla, Sarah McNamara and William Roche. Sr Diana regularly sends beautiful handwritten letters to her relatives and friends in Ireland.
In the Prayers of the Faithful at the Mass of Thanksgiving for her 100 birthday Sr Diane’s friends gave thanks to God for her vocation and her gift of contemplation and asked God to give to others the fruit of contemplation, especially in the Holy Rosary.
Sr Diane on her 100 birthday could truly say with St Paul that she has ‘finished the race and kept the faith. Now there is in store for her the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award her on that day—and not only to her, but also to all who have longed for his appearing’. (2. Timothy 4, 7-8)
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The sisters pray regularly for vocations. The Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary can be contacted through their web page at fatimadominicans.com
