Catholic Saskatoon News (with files from St. Mary Parish and Sr. Teresita Kambeitz, OSU)
Sr. Emiline Pena, SGM, Fr. Luke Van Tram, and Sr. Carol Borreson cut the cake during a farewell celebration at St. Mary Parish in Saskatoon July 20. (Facebook)
A celebration was held at St. Mary Parish in Saskatoon on July 20, 2025 to express thanksgiving and bid farewell to the last two “Grey Nuns” (Sisters of Charity of Montreal) to live and serve in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon.
Sr. Carol Borreson, SGM, has served in the diocese for over 25 years, most notably as St. Mary Parish Nurse, caring for, accompanying, and serving parishioners and countless others in the surrounding neighbourhoood during moments of illness, sorrow and joy.
Sr. Emiline Pena, SGM, recently retired as the last Grey Nun at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, where she served in various capacities during three assignments, totalling some 15 years of service in the community.
The two beloved consecrated women are retiring to Edmonton, AB.
St. Mary parishioners were also saying goodbye to Fr. Luke Van Tram, who was headed to a new assignment in the Catholic Diocese of Calgary as of July 31, after several years of service at the Saskatoon parish on Avenue O South, first as a seminarian, then as a transitional deacon, and finally as a newly-ordained diocesan priest.
During the July 20 Sunday Eucharist and at a program that followed in the hall, St. Mary pastor Fr. Kevin McGee (who also serves as Vicar-General for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon) and parishioners expressed profound gratitude to all three special guests for their presence, their witness, and their service at St. Mary Parish and beyond.
“Their departure is a very great loss for St. Mary’s, yet our hearts are filled with gratitude for the love, care, and service they have poured into this parish. May Our Lord bless them abundantly as they continue their journeys of serving God and His people wherever He calls them. We keep them in our prayers, entrusting them to the loving care of Our Blessed Mother.” – St. Mary Parish Facebook post
During the program held in the parish hall, Sr. Carol Borreson expressed her thanks to the parish. “I will hold you in prayer with much gratitude for each member of the community here – for how you have helped me in my own faith life, and for that sense of family and community that we have experienced living here in Saskatoon and with members of St. Mary Parish,” she said. “Certainly, we will be united in prayer.”
“All good things come to an end – and this has been one good thing that has happened to me,” said Sr. Emiline Pena. “I thank each one of you for being part of my life and for having given me the opportunity to be present, including at very vulnerable moments at the. hospital.”
With the departure of Sr. Emiline Pena, SGM, and Sr. Carol Borreson, SGM, (l-r), there are no longer Sisters of Charity of Montreal (“Grey Nuns”) serving in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. Their many contributions and historic impact was recognized during a celebration July 20 at St. Mary Parish. (Facebook)
History of the Grey Nuns and St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon:
RELATED – St. Paul’s Hospital bids farewell to last Grey Nun on staff – LINK
RELATED – History of St. Paul’s Hospital – LINK
St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon has its roots in 18th-century Montreal when the young widow Marguerite d’Youville began caring for the sick and homeless in her area. Other compassionate women joined her, eventually becoming the “Grey Nuns of Montreal,” who set up and operated hospitals across Canada. In 1907 two Grey Nuns — Sr. Julia Guay and Sr. Alma Phaneuf — travelled from St. Boniface, Manitoba to raise funds, stopping in Saskatoon, which was experiencing a typhoid epidemic. Oblate priests who were struggling to care for the sick convinced them to stay.
“Despite severe hardships, no running water, no heating, and primitive lighting the sisters pressed on. They melted snow to wash bedding, treated patients with devotion, and welcomed everyone regardless of faith, race, or financial ability. By the end of their first summer, they had treated over 100 patients, mostly suffering from typhoid, pneumonia, and fractures.” – Sr. Teresita Kambeitz, OSU
The house of local physician Dr. Willoughby (situated at what is now the entrance to the hospital visitor’s parking lot), served as the first St. Paul’s Hospital building in 1907. Five years later, a permanent hospital was built under the leadership of the Grey Nuns.
“In 1909, the St. Paul’s School of Nursing opened under Sister Marie-du-Saint-Sacrament. Over nearly 60 years, it graduated more than 2,000 nurses, many of whom carried the Grey Nuns’ legacy across the globe. Their motto, In Minimis Perfectio (‘I shall be perfect even in little things’), was a guiding light for generations of caregivers.” – Sr. Teresita Kambeitz, OSU
In 1999, the Grey Nuns transferred ownership of the now-much-expanded St. Paul’s Hospital to the Saskatchewan Catholic Health Corporation to Emmanuel Health, which is owned by the Catholic bishops of Saskatchewan and which governs 12 publicly funded non-profit Catholic Health Care facilities across the province.
“In those nine decades, 276 Sisters had served at the hospital, dedicating over 1,375 cumulative years of service. Their legacy continues not only in the bricks and mortar of the hospital but in the countless lives they touched and in the enduring spirit of compassionate care.” – Sr Teresita Kambeitz, OSU
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