Carmela Marcigliano, known to us as Sr. Paul Miriam of Jesus, was born in Brooklyn on May 31, 1927, to Antonio and Anna Marcigliano. Both her parents were Italian immigrants. She was the fifth of five children and was baptized at St. Rocco’s in Brooklyn.
Her mother died when she was a couple of weeks old and her father died when she was three years old. Fortunately, her aunts and uncles raised the children. She stayed close to her family and greatly enjoyed her visits home and phone contact with her cousins, nephews, and nieces.
Sr. Paul Miriam learned to work hard pretty young. In one of her letters she said, “we went to work early as the money was needed for the family. She attended Commercial High School at night. She worked as a typist in a freight company for 16 years before entering the community. She was active in her parish and served as assistant Scout leader.
She was introduced to the Missionary Servants by her confessor, Fr. James Sullivan of Our Lady of the Angels Brooklyn. In 1959, Carmela wrote to Mother Mary Sebastian asking for information about the community. This she followed up with visits with the sisters at. St. Anselm’s. Fr. Sullivan highly recommended Carmela to Mother Mary Sebastian as with her “piety, generosity and Christlike gentleness and charity he believed she’d be a fine religious.”
She entered at age 32 in 1960 and received the name of Sr. Paul Miriam of the Annunciation upon entering the Novitiate. She professed First vows in 1961 and Perpetual Vows in 1967.
In her first few missions in parishes in Mahoningtown, PA; Camden, MS and Opelika, AL her ministry was a combination of Religious Education, Kindergarten and Home Visiting. She was reluctant to leave the parish as she felt that the people were abandoned and many of the children did not know God.
She spent several months at the Motherhouse in 1970 -71 helping in Fund Development and in the Infirmary. Paul Miriam had struggled with school and had a hard time in the juniorate with classes. However, one day when Sr. James Cecilia (the Custodian at Holy Name of Jesus Hospital) was at the Motherhouse, she asked Sr. Humilita, “who was that little sister?” and soon Paul Miriam was on her way to Gadsden, AL to begin a new chapter of her story. So, at age 45 she studied Nursing at Holy Name of Jesus Medical College and received her RN in 1975.
As there was an immediate need for a nurse at the Motherhouse Infirmary, she was missioned there for three years. From there she was assigned to Holy Name of Jesus Hospital as a nurse. She served mainly in the Nursing Services Office assisting the Nursing Supervisor with all sorts of responsibilities.
The year of her Silver Jubilee in 1986, she gladly took up an offer to spend three months taking courses at Washington Theological Union which she truly enjoyed. She continued at the hospital until our departure from the hospital in the summer of 1991.
After leaving the hospital she was able to take another three-month semester at WTU. She loved learning more about her faith.
She requested to come to the Motherhouse and work at the Fund Development Office as she believed she could best serve the community through her clerical skills. So, in 1992 she was assigned to live in Emmaus Missionary Cenacle and to ministry in the Fund Development Office.
Many times, over the next several years her letters to the General Custodian and General Council contained requests for time to pray and time to study. She longed for the opportunity to read more of Fr. Joachim’s Benson’s writings on Fr. Judge and she wanted time for prayer and meditation. She was torn between the desire for time to study and her commitment to her ministry in the Fund Development Office. So instead of going out of town Fr. Ralph Frisch, ST made her copies of Fr. Joachim’s notebooks and she took one day a week for her studies and worked the rest of the week.
In 2002 Paul Miriam moved to being part time in the ministry of prayer. In 2004 she moved to full time ministry of prayer with some volunteering.
When Sr. Paul Miriam was convinced of something she stood by her convictions and would speak up to voice her beliefs. There were a few times where she found she could not agree to some of the decisions made in Chapters. She even had the courage to write to the General Custodian and voice her disagreement.
When Sr. Paul Miriam was asked to move to the Motherhouse from Annunciation Cenacle because of her declining health, she did not want to do this. But some part of her knew she needed to move, and she said yes. She continued to lose the ability to be independent and had to depend on others for more and more care. In October 2020 she moved to Mother Boniface Missionary Cenacle at Wesley Enhanced Living. It was another exceedingly difficult change to accept.
Sr. Paul Miriam paid close attention to Church documents and the talks and writings of the Pope. She was devoted to many saints, but her favorite was St. John Henry Newman. She was very happy when he was canonized.
Sr. Paul Miriam requested to change her mystery in 2003. Although she loved everything about the mystery of the Annunciation, when she came to realize that it was possible have the Holy Name of Jesus as her mystery and as part of her name she had to ask. She requested this change, and her request was granted by Sr. Barbara DeMoranville, General Custodian in February 2003.
Knowing Sr. Paul Miriam through the years and having the privilege of reading her files most of the Cenacle virtues were quite evident in her life. But the virtue of piety was outstanding.
Throughout her years in various places and ministries she frequently mentioned the goal of being the presence of Jesus to the children, or to the patients and nurses or to the donors and staff. Certainly, her constant desire to spend more time in prayer and meditation throughout her life speaks of her great love for the Lord.
Now that she is with her Lord Jesus, we ask Sr. Paul Miriam to continue to pray for us as she did all her life. May she rest in peace.
