St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens commemorated the 50^th anniversary of the arrival of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday, May 13, with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Eugene Marino, S.S.J. followed by a dinner.

The weekend of celebration was the highlight of events that began in January and also included a golden anniversary ball on Saturday night given by St. Mary’s Auxiliary.

Of the 65 sisters who have served at St. Mary’s during the past 50 years, 30 returned for the golden jubilee celebration. Sister Mary Sara Wehner, one of the four pioneer sisters, has remained continuously at St. Mary’s since her arrival.

Before the Mass, Archbishop Marino toured the hospital and met briefly with the local press. In the homily Father Richard Kieran, administrator of Christ the King Cathedral, reminisced about his association with the hospital while he was pastor of St. Joseph’s parish where the Mass was celebrated. Father Kieran noted that St. Mary’s not only serves those who come to the hospital but takes health care services to persons living in a 12-county area through home health care services.

Father John Fallon, pastor of St. Joseph’s, welcomed the archbishop at the close of the liturgy. E.J. Fechtel, Jr., hospital administrator and Sister Mary Antonette, MS.C., director of nursing, were lectors, during the Mass.

At the dinner following the Mass, provincial superior, Sister Mary Anne Bigos, president of the hospital board, noted the joy and excitement resulting from Bishop Gerald P. O’Hara’s invitation for the sisters to come to Athens to reopen St. Mary’s in 1938.

“One of the sisters who was in the eighth grade at the time remembers her teacher pulling down the map of the United States and showing her students the location of Athens and saying, ‘This is where our sisters are going to open a hospital.’

“St. Mary’s began as a small hospital, and like most beginnings it had its share of hardships,” recalled Sister Mary Anne. “But God was good to us and St. Mary’s has grown and prospered.” Sister Mary Anne noted that while the sisters have accomplished much over these past 50 years their most immeasurable gift to the people of Athens was the charism of making God’s love present.

The presence of the sisters’ charism was echoed by national and local leaders on Sunday at the 50^th anniversary assembly held at the hospital.

In a mailgram, President Reagan wrote that “countless residents of the Athens area have found expert professional care. Love, solace and healing for body, mind and soul have always been your aims – a tradition exemplified so well today by your utmost reverence for the dignity and worth of every patient and your safeguarding of human life from the moment of conception until natural death.”

In the assembly’s keynote address, editor of “Nursing Management” Leah Curtin, R.N., recalled how St. Mary’s had changed people’s lives over the last 50 years and called for a public ethos of service throughout all health care. Other local dignitaries paid tribute to the service and health care provided by the hospital through the work of the sisters.

The celebration concluded with the dedication of a newly planted Ginko tree to honor the continuous service of Sister Sara to St. Mary’s with special tribute by Sister Mary Antonette.

The weekend celebration ended Hospital Week. The preceding Wednesday employees were treated to an annual Hospital Week free meal and presented with anniversary T-shirts and coasters.

The anniversary, according to administrator Fechtel, was a time to recognize the history and progress of the hospital and to extend thanks to the sisters and others instrumental in its development while reflecting on the hospital’s mission and role in Athens and northeast Georgia.