Sister Percylee Hart, RSM



This story was originally published in August 2005.

I was born the only girl of four children.  My three brothers were great to grow up with, and their love and support of me and my life as a Sister of Mercy have been a special blessing.  A deep faith in God, a positive outlook on life, and unbounded charity were special gifts that my father possessed and nurtured in me.  My mother’s sense of worth as a woman, her zest for life, and her resilience during twenty-four years of illness modeled for me the “how” to live one’s life.

My attraction to religious life began at age four.  A vacant lot separated our home from the convent of the Sisters of St. Francis (Syracuse, NY), who taught in our parish, St. Joseph, in East Camden, New Jersey. Often I could be found with my face pressed against the screen door of the convent chapel, attempting to chant along with the Sisters as they prayed together.  During my elementary school years, the Sisters’ witness of their vocation nurtured my vocation.  In particular, Sister Xavier, superior and principal, whose name I bore for 17 years of religious life, and Sister Petronella, my eighth grade teacher, had a profound impact on my life.

I first met the Sisters of Mercy when I enrolled in Camden Catholic High School in Camden, NJ.  They were forward-thinking women whose embodiment of the charism of Catherine McAuley was most evident in their works of mercy.  Through interaction with the Sisters of Mercy, I came to the realization that although I loved the Franciscan Sisters, I was called to be a Sister of Mercy.  As God would have it, Helen Hofmann, the first woman who sought my counsel regarding her call to be a vowed religious, entered the Syracuse Franciscans!  The next three women who sought my counsel, Janice Edwards, Linda Mascavage, and Lisa Gambacorto, entered our Mercy community.

My journey as a Sister of Mercy has been awesome!  My Mercy companions have been a precious gift, especially my band members, the Sisters with whom I have lived and worked, and my dear friend Sister Regina Smith.  Over the years I taught on the elementary level for four years in St. Mary’s in Bordentown and four years in St. Mary’s in Alpha.  I taught chemistry at Holy Spirit High School in Absecon for eight years, and in 1970, I became principal of Red Bank Catholic High School in Red Bank, NJ and served in that position for ten years.  For the last twenty-five years, I have been principal of Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, NJ.

“My greatest joy has been to provide an environment in which the students, faculty, and staff can respond to the challenge I hold out to them, that is, ‘to become all that God calls you to be.’”

Over the years I have welcomed the opportunity to serve on our regional community’s task forces, committees, Chapters, and assemblies.  Since the Institute’s founding, I have participated in four Chapters either as a delegate or alternate.  Being a delegate for Institute leadership was truly a transformative experience in my life.  Serving as a member of our Institute’s Mid-Atlantic Community Governance Task Force has been a rewarding experience, as we work on our task to design a governance system that will optimize our members’ fullness of life as women religious in the twenty-first century. 

I don’t know what’s next in God’s plan for my life, but I do know that I am filled with gratitude for all that has been, and I look forward to all that will be!

If you would like to talk further with Sister Percylee about her life and ministry, you may contact her at: phart@unioncatholic.org