Home parish: St. Philip, Crossingville, PA

Sister Mary DePaul Sabella, SSJ, was born in Crossingville, Pennsylvania, on August 29, 1927, the daughter of Joseph and Caroline Galovich Sabella. She grew up in a happy, Christian home where faith was an important part of family life. Although there was no Catholic school in her community, religious instruction during the summer and weekly classes helped strengthen the faith she learned at home. Sisters from three different religious communities came to teach the children, helping to nurture in Sister Mary DePaul a love for her faith that would remain with her throughout her life.

Her family also had a special devotion to St. Joseph. As Sister Mary DePaul recalls, “St. Joseph kind of took over our family.” Her father was named Joseph, as was one of her brothers, and her mother taught the children to pray to St. Joseph. This family devotion became one of the influences that eventually led her to consider religious life.

Sister Mary DePaul attended Crossingville Grade School and received a religious education certificate from the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart in 1952. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on August 15, 1945, from her home parish of St. Philip in Crossingville, and professed her final vows in 1950.

Looking back on her vocation, Sister Mary DePaul credits her family and the faith community of her childhood as important influences. She remembers her pastors, Monsignor Kelly and Father William Smith, as positive influences in her life, but when asked what most shaped her vocation, she points back to her home. “They were both influences,” she recalls, “but mostly, it was my home.”

Throughout her many years of ministry, Sister Mary DePaul found numerous ways to serve children, families, parish communities, and those in need of care. She ministered as a housemother at St. Joseph Home for Children and later served on the support staff at the Motherhouse. Religious education became an important part of her ministry, and she spent many years teaching children and young people at catechetical centers and parishes throughout northwestern Pennsylvania.

Her religious education ministries included Houtzdale Catechetical Center in Houtzdale, Mercer County Catholic Center in Mercer, Our Lady of Peace in Erie, St. Francis Catechetical Center in Bradford, St. Agatha and St. Brigid in Meadville, and St. Patrick in Erie. Through these ministries, she shared the faith she had received as a child and helped pass it on to new generations.

Sister Mary DePaul’s ministry eventually expanded into pastoral care and parish ministry. She served as a pastoral minister at St. Michael and St. Ann parishes in Erie and later at Immaculate Conception Parish. She also ministered in pastoral care at Saint Mary’s Home of Erie, bringing her presence, compassion, and care to those entrusted to her.

Throughout her life, Sister Mary DePaul has found joy in serving others in whatever way she was needed. Her ministries have taken her from caring for children to teaching religious education, accompanying parish communities, and offering pastoral care to the elderly. Each ministry has provided another opportunity to live out the faith and vocation that were nurtured in her home as a young girl.

Today, Sister Mary DePaul resides at the Sisters of St. Joseph Community Living Center, where she continues to bring joy and beauty to those around her. She is often seen tending to the plants and flowers throughout the building, sharing another of the simple gifts that have become part of her daily life.

From the happy Christian home where her vocation first began to the many communities and ministries she has served, Sister Mary DePaul’s life reflects a quiet and faithful response to God’s call. Her devotion to St. Joseph, her love of faith formation, and her care for others have remained threads connecting the many chapters of her life as a Sister of St. Joseph.