Sister Mariella Hathorn, OSB papers
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of personal papers and biographical information. Biographical information includes photographs (a highlight being one in which she is wearing her Mrs. Claus costume), a personal data sheet, nearest of kin, community obituaries, transfer, jubilee, and funeral materials, prayer cards, and ministry lists.
Personal papers include obediences, correspondence, photocopied news articles, and a series of materials related to her time as a Sister in the St. Joseph's Monastery community in Pennsylvania. Another series of materials, likely compiled during her time as Prioress of St. Joesph's Monastery, consists of several mailing lists of the Benedictines of America for the Conference of Prioresses, as well as pre-chapter meeting materials from the Federation of Saint Scholastica. Finally, a series of materials from her role as Director of the Infirmary at St. Joesph's Court gives insight into the activites and daily life of Sisters in the infirmary.
Dates
- Creation: c.1910-2021
Creator
- Hathorn, Mariella, 1939-2021 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Sisters' papers are restricted for 50 years after the Sister's death. Photographs, previously published, and widely distributed materials are unrestricted.
Biographical / Historical
Sister Mariella Hathorn, OSB was born Carol Rose on March 1st, 1939 in St. Mary's, Pennsylvania. After graduating from St. Mary's high school in Pennsylvania, she entered the community of Benedictines at St. Joseph's Monastery (also known as the Benedictine Sisters of Elk County). She made her final profession on August 18th, 1962.
Sister Mariella served as an elementary teacher for over 28 years in various schools in Pennsylvania, including St. Mary's, Sacred Heart School, and St. Joseph's. In 1969, she became the principal and teacher at St. Joseph School, where she taught and supervised for 18 years.
In 1987, Sister was elected Prioress of the St. Joseph Monastery community. She led the community for 8 years, after being re-elected in 1991. Sister took a sabbatical year from 1995-1996, in which she served in the Development Office of the Saint Scholastica Monastery, Chicago. After this, she extended her stay in Chicago, working as a part-time staff person at St. Nick's parish in Evanston, and as a pastoral minister at St. Joseph's Court Infirmary. Following the completion of the three-year "testing" period, Sister formally transferred to the St. Scholastica Monastery Chicago community on October 24th, 1998.
As a Benedictine Sister in Chicago, Sister Mariella served as the director and pastoral minister of the St. Joseph's Court Infirmary, supervising the nursing staff for 10 years and coordinating group activites for the Sisters. In 2007, she became Sub-Prioress. She served in this role for three years before returning to her work as director of the Infirmary up until 2020. She was known and loved for her annual portrayal of Mrs. Claus at Christmas-time.
Sister died on February 7th, 2021 and is buried at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Extent
.26 Linear Feet (1 hanging file and 1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Metadata Rights Declarations
- License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Creative Commons license.
- Title
- A Guide to Sister Mariella Hathorn, OSB papers
- Author
- Clara Finkelstein
- Date
- 2025-10-21
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Materials related to Sister Marielle Hathorn, OSB can be found within the St. Joseph Monastery Collection at the Monastic Congregation of Saint Scholastica archive
Repository Details
Part of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago Archives Repository
Archives
Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
7430 N. Ridge Blvd.
Chicago Illinois 60645 United States
(773) 764-2413 ext. 203
archives@osbchicago.org