Reverend Mother Mary Kilian Schoeller

Fifth Superior General
July 16, 1920 – January 25, 1931

Reverend Mother Mary Kilian was born Christina Schoeller in New Jersey—probably in Newark or Trenton—on January 28, 1864. She entered the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia Motherhouse, Glen Riddle (Aston), on October 4, 1879. Exactly a year later, in Our Lady of Angels Chapel, she was invested as Sister Kilian. She professed two years after that.

At the time she professed, Sister Kilian was teaching at St. Mary School in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, near Allentown. Beginning in 1884, she accepted assignments in St. Peter School in Wilmington, Delaware, and then in a small country school in Fullerton, Maryland. As Sister M. Jeanette Clare, OSF,[1] notes, “Thus, in a relatively short time, Sister Kilian had a fairly wide knowledge of the necessary hardship and sacrifices attendant upon both country and city schools of that era” (54). Sister Adele Francis Gorman, OSF,[2] notes that, in addition, “Sister Kilian was an accomplished musician” (205).

In 1887, Sister Kilian Schoeller joined Sister Stanislaus Bittenbender in the mission that reopened St. Joseph Academy in Pendleton, Oregon. Sixteen years later, she succeeded Mother Stanislaus as superior there, and in 1909, she followed Mother Stanislaus as western provincial. As Sister Jeanette Clare explains, Mother Kilian continued to follow the path set by Mother Stanislaus: “Upon Mother Stanislaus’ sudden death, Mother Kilian was elected on July 16, 1920, to fill the responsible and delicate post of superior general. She was re-elected on July 7, 1929” (Clare 55).

Mother Kilian emulated Mother Agnes Bucher in leading extensive expansion of the missions and service of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. In her ten and a half years as superior general, Mother Kilian opened 24 new missions, including 16 schools in the East and three in the West. Also among the missions she founded were two children’s homes; St. Michael Home for the Aged, in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania; and St. Francis Hospital, in Wilmington, Delaware—a mission that had first been considered as early as 1877 (Clare 57). Bishop John J. Monaghan dedicated the hospital building on October 16, 1924.

Reflecting her devotion to education, Mother Kilian oversaw the 1928 founding of the House of Studies for sisters who were students at the Catholic University of America. In 1930—the 75th anniversary of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia—Mother Kilian watched over the erection of a school on the motherhouse property in Aston. Honoring her love of music, as well, she raised money to install a pipe organ in Our Lady of Angels Chapel (Gorman 207).[3] And adding to the comfort of life at the motherhouse under Mother Kilian’s administration, electricity replaced gas lighting (Gorman 207).

During her second term as superior general, Mother Kilian Schoeller suffered several bouts of ill health. She passed away on January 25, 1931, and was buried in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery six days later. Bishop Patrick Joseph McCormick, rector of the Catholic University, wrote in her honor, “We shall always venerate Mother Kilian’s memory as one of the strong supporters and friends of our College” (Clare 55).

Sources:

[1] Sr. M. Jeanette Clare, OSF, The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania 1855-1955 (Philadelphia: William T. Cooke, 1955).

[2] Sr. Adele Francis Gorman, OSF, Celebrating the Journey . . . , History of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia 1855-1970, Vol. II, ed. Sr. Emily Ann Herbes, OSF (Aston: Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, 2005). On pages 203-26, this work provides an extensive history of Mother Kilian Schoeller’s leadership years.

[3] The current pipe organ in Our Lady of Angels Chapel was installed in 1961 (https://pipeorgandatabase.org/organ/37690).