Sr. Aurelie Michaud Celebrates 80th Jubilee

Sr. Therese “Aurelie” Michaud, DW

Sr. Aurelie de a Croix

February 2, 1940, 80 years professed

Sr. Aurelie was born on October 4, 1921, to Emile and Agnes Picard Michaud and made her first profession in Ottawa, Canada on February 2, 1940. Celebrating 80 years of religious life, she is recognized as the Doyenne of the US Province and the most senior citizen of St. Agatha, Maine. Upon reflecting on her years of service, Sister states that “What I have found most satisfying is that I have always been able and willing to respond to what I’ve been asked to do. It is part of my life. I’ve never said no.”

Sister Aurelie’s legacy can be considered “A Ministry of Hope.” In her words, “A new call invites us to live that baptismal consecration in a special manner and to express it in all its plenitude. Captivated by the love of Christ Wisdom and in response to that call, we give ourselves to Christ in the Congregation of the Daughters of Wisdom.” Sr. Aurelie has resided for the past two years at Ridgewood Estates in Madawaska, ME, where she remains a vibrant member of the community, leading the daily rosary and serving as a lector at Mass.

Before that, in 2008, Sr. Aurelie returned to her hometown of St. Agatha, Maine, to be closer to family. With this move, Sr. Aurelie committed her life to fellowship and prayer. Previously, for three years, she was the house sister in Lewiston, Maine and a volunteer at Wisdom Center, working with disadvantaged women and youth. Formerly, Sister was the coordinator for the elderly sisters in Bristol, CT, followed by Terryville, CT, while finding time for regular spiritual renewal sessions in Litchfield, CT. During the next seven years, she was called to be a member of an intercommunity shelter for the homeless in Uniondale, New York. At the same time, she was also a volunteer at a newly opened AIDS shelter, where she and her team assisted in guiding some of these people to their heavenly home. 

Sister spent four years in West Virginia at a children’s clinic in Appalachia and, before that, three years as the contact person in St. Agatha, Maine, ministering to patients as a visiting nurse, while also engaged in parish work. She was a nurse to our elderly and retired sisters at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Sound Beach, New York for four years, after spending 20 years working as a nurse at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson and St. Charles Clinic in Brooklyn, New York. During the first ten years of her ministries, Sr. Aurelie was a teacher for the children at Maryhaven Center of Hope in Port Jefferson, New York.

Asked what she is best known for amongst her Sisters, Sr. Aurelie notes that is wasn’t until after retirement, when she had free time to write, that she became known for her correspondences to her dear Sisters, to which they enjoy reading and responding.

Please join us in congratulating Sr. Aurelie Michaud, our “letter-writing Sister,” on 80 years of profession!

Below, Sister Aurelie was honored with an 80th Jubilee celebration, attended by her Sisters, family and local officials, who also recognized her as St. Agatha’s most senior citizen.

(L-R) Sr. Jacqueline Ayotte, Sr. Rachel Morency, Sr. Aurelie Michaud, Sr. Rachel Lajoie and Sr. Joan Ayotte.

Sister Aurelie and her cousins. (L-R) Standing: Jean Paul Michaud, James Michaud, Therese Dumais, Patricia Dow, Claudette and Joel Cyr and Robert Michaud. Seated: Gilbert Roy, Normand and Dorilda Daigle, Sr. Aurelie Michaud and Carlene Pelletier.

Sr. Aurelie receives a Proclamation acknowledging her as the eldest citizen of St. Agatha, Maine. (L-R) Peter Michaud (first cousin), Fr. James Albert, Normand and Dorilda Daigle (brother-in-law and sister), Sr. Aurelie Michaud. Aubrie Michaud, Town Manager, is reading the Proclamation.

Click here to read the article, “Celebrating An Extraordinary Life” written by Lois Czerniak, editor of the Harvest Magazine for the Portland Diocese, Portland, Maine.

Therese Ouellette and the Historical Society Board present Sr. Aurelie with a Certificate and Golden Cane for being the senior Citizen of St. Agatha, Maine.