Browne, Sister Caroleen Marie, SC, Interview
Item
Text
Sisters of Charity -‐ Halifax
Oral history interview of Sister Caroleen Marie Browne
Interviewed by Sister Theresa Corcoran at Mount Saint Vincent, Wellesley Hills,
Massachusetts on November 28 2005.
Transcribed by Mary Flynn, Congregational Archivist in 2020.
Note: Sister Caroleen Marie was supplied a questionnaire to prepare for the oral
history. When she reads a question out loud, it’s indicated by quotation marks.
Any additions in brackets are added by the transcriber for context.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 0:01
-‐conversation between Sister Caroleen Marie Brown, and Sister Teresa Corcoran
taped at Mount Saint Vincent, Wellesley Hills, November 3, 2005.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 0:08
I won't forget it's there. I'll turn my head that way.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 0:10
Okay.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 0:12
This is Sister Caroleen Browne. I entered the community in 1941, was professed in
1943 and have spent 43 years in teaching. All aspects of all grades from 5 to 12.
No, from 5 to 12 plus.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 0:51
Which ones did you like best?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 0:54
I liked Seton Hall [Patchogue, New York] best. The spirit there was... well it kept us
going. And it was not just the spirit of the teachers, it was the spirit of the
youngsters, too. "What was the importance of your mission ministry for you?"
Well, it brought some of those students closer to God, help them be a little bit
more like good human beings. That would be the kind of thing that I would be
looking for. I would give you a ministry, stimulate your growth. Physical growth,
eating. [both Sisters laugh].
Sister Theresa Corcoran 1:56
Some places fed better than others, right?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 1:59
Yes. In order to keep teaching well, I felt I had to read more and that did stimulate
my growth. "What has been the impact of personal events on your life?"
Sister Theresa Corcoran 2:32
Personal events could be almost anything. Family events, community events.
Maybe there aren't any that you want to mention. What about the local or
national or world events?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 2:48
Well, personal events, during the 1980s almost everyone in my family died and I
had to take care of all the post-‐death problems.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 3:08
Almost all these people, your brother?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 3:10
My brother, my two aunts, an uncle, cousin. People who-‐ we were close, my aunt,
especially. In the impact of Church events, well, I think Vatican II was a very
important point in my life as well as in the life of the church. And I am very
distressed to find that there are some people nowadays who are trying to
downplay Vatican II, because, to me, it was, it was the Holy Spirit speaking to John
XXIII. "Has your image of God changed over the years?" Well yes. Not that I had
much of an image of him. But it has changed. I won't go into the detail. [both
laugh]
Sister Theresa Corcoran 4:21
The details. Okay.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 4:24
"What have been your greatest disappointments?"
Sister Theresa Corcoran 4:31
You may not have many.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 4:33
No, I don't think I had too many disappointments, really.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 4:36
-‐both things happened, were there different ways instead of coping with them?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 4:42
Oh yes, well during the, during the '80s, 1980s I just kept going along. Moving
along. That's the way-‐
Sister Theresa Corcoran 4:54
That's the way you've always-‐
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 4:56
Yes. "How have certain restrictions affected you?"
Sister Theresa Corcoran 5:08
I think by that we mean the restrictions we used to have in the community. Did
they affect you very much?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 5:19
Not terribly much. I didn't... I minded them. But I think we all minded them to
certain extent. "Are there any other points or comments you wish to make?" No,
except that I had a very happy life. A very contented life. And I've made a lot of
good friends and I think that's one of the great things about religious life. We do
make friends and good ones. And we shall-‐ we shall continue.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 6:15
What about when you moved from let's say New York to Halifax and back?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 6:22
-‐when I moved to Halifax? That wasn't too bad a move at all. That wasn't too
difficult. When I moved back here, well that's a little more difficult because this is
more of an... old kind of, that always goes. An old kind of structured living.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 7:04
More structured?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 7:04
Yes. The little green thing? I should-‐ [noises in the background as Sister Theresa
moves the recorder]
Sister Theresa Corcoran 7:25
Okay. I'll put that on top of the table.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 7:33
[laughs] I'm sorry. Hope it doesn't spoil anything.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 7:37
The... you mentioned the impact of church events in Vatican II. What about the
position of women, did that ever enter into your-‐
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 7:52
Oh yes, that that bothers me very much. And the fact that, I heard on EWTN the
other day a big long talk about-‐ by two priests taking turns about how men are
being left out because our Lord is a feminine-‐ attitude of our Lord are being
emphasized. But I say, who emphasizes that? Women, who are they? I think they
do.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 8:33
What do they mean by that, I wonder?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 8:35
They.. that kindness and relationships are so important, are being made
important and they, I guess they find them too feminine. I was ready to throw
something at them. [both laugh] I mean, after all, who has done the greater part
of the work in the church for years and years and years? It hasn't been the men.
And nobody should be-‐ no, no women are trying to push a feminine Christ on
them. They can make Christ whom they please. That has-‐ that bothered me a little
bit.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 9:36
Your work didn't bring you into situations where you would have found that
frustrating or would it have?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 9:42
No. Any, any work I did, mostly, the most contact I had with priests was through
First Communion classes and things like that and we went out to the, to the... the
church. Some of the priests were very nice to us and some of them who kind of
brushed us off. But... when we were-‐ from Seton Hall, there was a group of us
that went.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 10:26
Oh right, yeah.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 10:27
And taught Sunday school or Tuesday school or whatever school it would be.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 10:41
So that was probably the only kind of parish work that you really did?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 10:45
Yes. I never did anything more than that.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 10:58
So as a young person who were some of the people that you would have some...
look up to?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 11:03
Looked up to? Well, Miriam Constance, Frances de Chantal. Now, Frances de
Chantal had a... very, she had a lot of people who didn't like her at all because she
was very exact. And she was, but we were in St. Peter's at the time, we had just
come out of the novitiate and some of the older Sisters are using us -‐ were using
us to do their work. They were very successful for quite a long time before, before
somebody, Sister Frances de Chantal found out and then the thing was, there was
a list on the bulletin board of who was to go to take care of confessions every
Saturday afternoon. They had confessions, one Saturday for the parochial school
boys, one for the parochial school girls, one for the public school boys, one for the
public school girls. And we were assigned. Everybody in the house was on the list.
Well one Saturday, one Sunday, Sister Frances de Chantal called me and said,
"where were you yesterday afternoon?" I said, "I was at church, confession." And
she said, "but it's not your turn." I said, "No, but we're-‐ most, most Saturdays they
asked Margaret McGaughey and myself to go over because they, they're going
home to visit their parents." [laughs] Yeah, so she said, "you don't have to go
anymore. Anymore when they ask you, you just say no." And heard that she got a
hold of all of them, without us knowing it, you know. Because nobody ever asked
us again. [both Sisters laugh] I can see how they didn't like her because-‐ but she
was good, she was good to us, she was trying to be fair to us. Peter Claver, I
admired her very much.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 11:03
Were you teaching with her or was she principal?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 13:41
No, she wasn't principal. I was teaching with her. And, she... she would always
say, "every youngster had good in him. You have to look for the good."
Sister Theresa Corcoran 14:10
Sometimes you'd look out at-‐
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 14:12
Yes, but she, she always looked for the good in every single youngster she taught.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 14:18
Now was this at Patchogue?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 14:20
Seton Hall, yes. And she always looked really good and she always found it and
they would do anything under the sun for her because they thought, they trusted
her entirely. Completely. So I learned a lot from her, from being with her.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 14:58
-‐just as a colleague, really.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 14:59
Yes.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 15:09
Are there any people that you still keep in contact with in New York or in Halifax?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 15:16
Well, I keep writing back to Walsh House [Halifax, Nova Scotia]. I admire
Margaret very much. Margaret Molloy. And...
Sister Theresa Corcoran 15:41
Of course a lot of those people that we knew in those days have gone too.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 15:44
Yeah. That's true. The ones who, in the, had in the earlier days, they're not,
they're not around anymore.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 16:18
Do you have any other comments you want like to make?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 16:18
I'm grateful for everything that was, that's ever been done for me.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 16:24
Of course you've done a lot of things yourself for people.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 16:26
I try to do something. [both laugh] I thank you for all you did.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 16:40
I didn't do too much, you were doing more for me.
Oral history interview of Sister Caroleen Marie Browne
Interviewed by Sister Theresa Corcoran at Mount Saint Vincent, Wellesley Hills,
Massachusetts on November 28 2005.
Transcribed by Mary Flynn, Congregational Archivist in 2020.
Note: Sister Caroleen Marie was supplied a questionnaire to prepare for the oral
history. When she reads a question out loud, it’s indicated by quotation marks.
Any additions in brackets are added by the transcriber for context.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 0:01
-‐conversation between Sister Caroleen Marie Brown, and Sister Teresa Corcoran
taped at Mount Saint Vincent, Wellesley Hills, November 3, 2005.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 0:08
I won't forget it's there. I'll turn my head that way.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 0:10
Okay.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 0:12
This is Sister Caroleen Browne. I entered the community in 1941, was professed in
1943 and have spent 43 years in teaching. All aspects of all grades from 5 to 12.
No, from 5 to 12 plus.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 0:51
Which ones did you like best?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 0:54
I liked Seton Hall [Patchogue, New York] best. The spirit there was... well it kept us
going. And it was not just the spirit of the teachers, it was the spirit of the
youngsters, too. "What was the importance of your mission ministry for you?"
Well, it brought some of those students closer to God, help them be a little bit
more like good human beings. That would be the kind of thing that I would be
looking for. I would give you a ministry, stimulate your growth. Physical growth,
eating. [both Sisters laugh].
Sister Theresa Corcoran 1:56
Some places fed better than others, right?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 1:59
Yes. In order to keep teaching well, I felt I had to read more and that did stimulate
my growth. "What has been the impact of personal events on your life?"
Sister Theresa Corcoran 2:32
Personal events could be almost anything. Family events, community events.
Maybe there aren't any that you want to mention. What about the local or
national or world events?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 2:48
Well, personal events, during the 1980s almost everyone in my family died and I
had to take care of all the post-‐death problems.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 3:08
Almost all these people, your brother?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 3:10
My brother, my two aunts, an uncle, cousin. People who-‐ we were close, my aunt,
especially. In the impact of Church events, well, I think Vatican II was a very
important point in my life as well as in the life of the church. And I am very
distressed to find that there are some people nowadays who are trying to
downplay Vatican II, because, to me, it was, it was the Holy Spirit speaking to John
XXIII. "Has your image of God changed over the years?" Well yes. Not that I had
much of an image of him. But it has changed. I won't go into the detail. [both
laugh]
Sister Theresa Corcoran 4:21
The details. Okay.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 4:24
"What have been your greatest disappointments?"
Sister Theresa Corcoran 4:31
You may not have many.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 4:33
No, I don't think I had too many disappointments, really.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 4:36
-‐both things happened, were there different ways instead of coping with them?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 4:42
Oh yes, well during the, during the '80s, 1980s I just kept going along. Moving
along. That's the way-‐
Sister Theresa Corcoran 4:54
That's the way you've always-‐
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 4:56
Yes. "How have certain restrictions affected you?"
Sister Theresa Corcoran 5:08
I think by that we mean the restrictions we used to have in the community. Did
they affect you very much?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 5:19
Not terribly much. I didn't... I minded them. But I think we all minded them to
certain extent. "Are there any other points or comments you wish to make?" No,
except that I had a very happy life. A very contented life. And I've made a lot of
good friends and I think that's one of the great things about religious life. We do
make friends and good ones. And we shall-‐ we shall continue.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 6:15
What about when you moved from let's say New York to Halifax and back?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 6:22
-‐when I moved to Halifax? That wasn't too bad a move at all. That wasn't too
difficult. When I moved back here, well that's a little more difficult because this is
more of an... old kind of, that always goes. An old kind of structured living.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 7:04
More structured?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 7:04
Yes. The little green thing? I should-‐ [noises in the background as Sister Theresa
moves the recorder]
Sister Theresa Corcoran 7:25
Okay. I'll put that on top of the table.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 7:33
[laughs] I'm sorry. Hope it doesn't spoil anything.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 7:37
The... you mentioned the impact of church events in Vatican II. What about the
position of women, did that ever enter into your-‐
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 7:52
Oh yes, that that bothers me very much. And the fact that, I heard on EWTN the
other day a big long talk about-‐ by two priests taking turns about how men are
being left out because our Lord is a feminine-‐ attitude of our Lord are being
emphasized. But I say, who emphasizes that? Women, who are they? I think they
do.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 8:33
What do they mean by that, I wonder?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 8:35
They.. that kindness and relationships are so important, are being made
important and they, I guess they find them too feminine. I was ready to throw
something at them. [both laugh] I mean, after all, who has done the greater part
of the work in the church for years and years and years? It hasn't been the men.
And nobody should be-‐ no, no women are trying to push a feminine Christ on
them. They can make Christ whom they please. That has-‐ that bothered me a little
bit.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 9:36
Your work didn't bring you into situations where you would have found that
frustrating or would it have?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 9:42
No. Any, any work I did, mostly, the most contact I had with priests was through
First Communion classes and things like that and we went out to the, to the... the
church. Some of the priests were very nice to us and some of them who kind of
brushed us off. But... when we were-‐ from Seton Hall, there was a group of us
that went.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 10:26
Oh right, yeah.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 10:27
And taught Sunday school or Tuesday school or whatever school it would be.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 10:41
So that was probably the only kind of parish work that you really did?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 10:45
Yes. I never did anything more than that.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 10:58
So as a young person who were some of the people that you would have some...
look up to?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 11:03
Looked up to? Well, Miriam Constance, Frances de Chantal. Now, Frances de
Chantal had a... very, she had a lot of people who didn't like her at all because she
was very exact. And she was, but we were in St. Peter's at the time, we had just
come out of the novitiate and some of the older Sisters are using us -‐ were using
us to do their work. They were very successful for quite a long time before, before
somebody, Sister Frances de Chantal found out and then the thing was, there was
a list on the bulletin board of who was to go to take care of confessions every
Saturday afternoon. They had confessions, one Saturday for the parochial school
boys, one for the parochial school girls, one for the public school boys, one for the
public school girls. And we were assigned. Everybody in the house was on the list.
Well one Saturday, one Sunday, Sister Frances de Chantal called me and said,
"where were you yesterday afternoon?" I said, "I was at church, confession." And
she said, "but it's not your turn." I said, "No, but we're-‐ most, most Saturdays they
asked Margaret McGaughey and myself to go over because they, they're going
home to visit their parents." [laughs] Yeah, so she said, "you don't have to go
anymore. Anymore when they ask you, you just say no." And heard that she got a
hold of all of them, without us knowing it, you know. Because nobody ever asked
us again. [both Sisters laugh] I can see how they didn't like her because-‐ but she
was good, she was good to us, she was trying to be fair to us. Peter Claver, I
admired her very much.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 11:03
Were you teaching with her or was she principal?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 13:41
No, she wasn't principal. I was teaching with her. And, she... she would always
say, "every youngster had good in him. You have to look for the good."
Sister Theresa Corcoran 14:10
Sometimes you'd look out at-‐
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 14:12
Yes, but she, she always looked for the good in every single youngster she taught.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 14:18
Now was this at Patchogue?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 14:20
Seton Hall, yes. And she always looked really good and she always found it and
they would do anything under the sun for her because they thought, they trusted
her entirely. Completely. So I learned a lot from her, from being with her.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 14:58
-‐just as a colleague, really.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 14:59
Yes.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 15:09
Are there any people that you still keep in contact with in New York or in Halifax?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 15:16
Well, I keep writing back to Walsh House [Halifax, Nova Scotia]. I admire
Margaret very much. Margaret Molloy. And...
Sister Theresa Corcoran 15:41
Of course a lot of those people that we knew in those days have gone too.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 15:44
Yeah. That's true. The ones who, in the, had in the earlier days, they're not,
they're not around anymore.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 16:18
Do you have any other comments you want like to make?
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 16:18
I'm grateful for everything that was, that's ever been done for me.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 16:24
Of course you've done a lot of things yourself for people.
S. Caroleen Marie Browne 16:26
I try to do something. [both laugh] I thank you for all you did.
Sister Theresa Corcoran 16:40
I didn't do too much, you were doing more for me.
Dublin Core
Title
Browne, Sister Caroleen Marie, SC, Interview
Subject
Sisters of Charity of Halifax; Teaching; Browne, Sister Caroleen Marie, SC
Description
Sister Caroleen Marie Browne (1923-2007) describes her life as a Sister of Charity - Halifax, including her entrance to the community in 1941, her 43 years missioned as a teacher of grades 5 to 12, family, and Sisters she admired.
Creator
Browne, Sister Caroleen Marie, SC; Corcoran, Sister Theresa, SC
Source
Sisters of Charity - Halifax Congregational Archives
Date
11/28/2005
Contributor
Flynn, Mary (Transcriber)
Rights
Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights, reproduction, and use requests or more information, please contact the Sisters of Charity – Halifax Congregational Archivist.
Format
00:17:03
Audio/mp3
Audio/cassette
Application/pdf
Audio/mp3
Audio/cassette
Application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Oral History
Identifier
SCHalifax_Browne
Coverage
1941-2005
Collection
Citation
Browne, Sister Caroleen Marie, SC; Corcoran, Sister Theresa, SC, “Browne, Sister Caroleen Marie, SC, Interview,” Sisters of Charity Federation Archives, accessed April 16, 2024, https://www.scfederationarchives.org/items/show/98.
Comments