Sr. Mary Bruno Bardou
In Memoriam
1926-2010
Sister Mary Bruno was born Victorine Bardou at Louvigné du Désert in the Department of Ille et Vilaine, France, on July 11, 1926. Some years later, following the death of their mother at the retirement home at Précigné, Victorine’s brother, Roger, went to live in Fougères. Victorine remained much attached to her family; she took great pleasure in spending her vacations at Fougères with all her relatives. When illness kept Bruno at the Solitude, the family came to spend the day with her; it was a time of much shared joy.
As a child, Victorine was educated by the Augustinians of Fougères. She spoke often of them and loved to tell stories about her experiences as a child. She kept up a correspondence with these sisters for many years. “From the time I was eight years old, I had the desire to be a religious and I had thought of joining the Medical Sisters of Fougères. Illness allowed me to meet the Marianites at Précigné. This was a great grace,” she confided to her sisters.
Her preferred image was that of a little bird in the hands of the Father: “I will never forget you; I have carved you on the palm of my hand!” (Isaiah 49) And she added her thought – “I thank God each day from the depths of my heart.”
It was on March 6, 1951, that Victorine entered the postulancy of the Marianites of Holy Cross at the Solitude du Sauveur in Le Mans. In October of that same year, she began her novitiate under the name of Sister Mary Bruno. She made temporary profession on October 24, 1952 and pronounced her perpetual vows September 15, 1956.
On November 7, 1952, Sister was named supervisor of the little children at the Préventorium at Précigné. She lived through the many transformations of the works into the Eugene Plaisant Medical Center, and during several of those years, she was responsible for a section of the youngest children.
Probably the most marked period of her ministry was the time when she was an aide at the Préventorium school. Sister Bruno taught reading to many small children who loved her dearly. She was also responsible for teaching catechism in the kindergarten and gave herself totally to this work.
From 1981 until 1983 at the Préventorium, Bruno helped in teaching catechism to severely handicapped children. Those who witnessed or heard of that time of her life recall her gaiety, her kindness and her patience with the little ones.
Illness forced Sister to take a time of convalescence at Notre Dame de Gazonfier in Le Mans. There she rendered service in the linen room, with the elderly residents, on the floors, and in the dining room. Her joyous availability was welcomed everywhere. In the afternoons, she would accompany Sr. Eileen Loughran to Maison Frere André for a time of service and pleasure. During her trips there, she visited folks in the neighborhood who were isolated or alone and spent a little time with them.
In February, 1997, with all her community, Bruno crossed rue de la Solitude to live at the new community house, Notre Dame de la Solitude. It was then and there that she began her time of retirement which she enjoyed until 2010.
During these years, she prayed a lot in this place so dear to the Marianites. Bruno had a great devotion to Notre Dame de la Solitude whose praises she had sung with much fervor ever since her novitiate. No longer able to walk, the last months of her life were spent in allowing herself to be “driven” or led in peace and in prayer. She kept her good humor and would have fits of giggles with the one who accompanied her. She loved to play games with the sisters in the community room and one day she expressed her desire to do some “coloring”. She prepared album pages in advance and offered them happily to visitors.
Following a few days at the city hospital, Sister Bruno died at Notre Dame de la Solitude on May 17, 2010, at the age of 84 and in the fifty-eighth year of her religious life. At her funeral Mass, the celebrant, Fr. Pascal Garçon, CSC, remarked how all the flowers surrounding her signified beyond words the great affection of her family. The fervor of prayer during the celebration reflected also Bruno’s own prayer: “I put my hand into the hand of the Father.” Thus was fructified the grain which fell into the ground and died, going to meet the Lord, our life and our hope.
Sister Bruno’s body reposes in the community cemetery in Le Mans, France.
May her soul rest in the peace and the joy of the Lord.