The Catholic Patriotic Minute #29: Mother Angeline McCrory
Catholics For Catholics Special Edition | January 19th, 2026
Mother Angeline Teresa McCrory: Defender of Human Dignity
On January 21, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm honor the anniversary of Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa’s birth and death. Her life was dedicated to cherishing human life from the cradle to the grave. Her commitment to caring for the elderly began in her childhood.
Bridget Teresa McCrory was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, on January 21, 1893. She grew up on a family farm. From an early age, she was close to her grandfather and observed her mother taking care of him as he grew older. This piece of her childhood instilled in her an affinity for the elderly.
Since her father was searching for more job opportunities, seven-year-old Bridget and her family moved to Mossend, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. She lived near Holy Family Catholic Church there and often made visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Bridget also assisted her parish priest, Father Dean Francis Cronin, by arranging flowers to adorn the church for feast days. For Bridget, placing these flowers by the altar and tabernacle was a way to praise God.
With the advice of Father Cronin, Bridget began considering religious life at a young age. Starting at the age of twelve, Bridget attended Elmwood Convent School, where French became her favorite subject, a language that would come in handy soon after.
When a French congregation–The Little Sisters of the Poor–visited the McCrorys’ home, Bridget was drawn to their mission of serving those who were poor and aged. Even after Bridget’s father died due to an accident from his steel mill work and her mother was left alone with five children, Bridget’s mother approved of her daughter’s desire to leave for France and begin her novitiate. Before nineteen-year-old Bridget left, Father Cronin asked her to choose a book from his library as a gift. She selected a biography of her patroness Saint Teresa of Avila.
Mother Angeline Teresa would later recount the cause of becoming a Little Sister of the Poor “[a] desire to help older people, the desire was so strong that I left my family: parents, brothers and sister in Scotland to enter a Novitiate in France to study this work and dedicate my life to it. Love for this work is stronger than my love for country or family. Of course my motive is supernatural. The aged are just as precious in the eyes of God as any other age group and in them I saw a group of people who needed service.”
The vocation of the priesthood also inspired Mother Angeline to become a religious. She wrote that she always prayed for the souls of priests, “that they may reach the height of sanctity to which their vocation calls them. I entered religion chiefly with the intention of sacrificing myself for Priests, realizing how God must delight in the soul of a Priest, and its immense influence over the salvation of other souls. I have always kept this object of my religious life in view, and I feel confident I can help my brother Priests, especially by my prayers and penances for their intentions.”
On September 8, 1913, Mother Angeline adopted her name because of her deep devotion to the Holy Angels. Two years later, on the feast of Saint Joseph, she made her Profession of Vows. She also had a special devotion to this saint, who cared for the Son and Mother of God. Mother Angeline would often give his name to numerous sisters later on.
Amidst the First World War, Mother Angeline sailed for Brooklyn and served there for eight years. Witnesses of her life repeat the sentiment that she fell in love with the American people. In 1926, Mother Angeline was named the Superior of Our Lady’s Home in New York City, in the Bronx.
For the next two years, she tried to figure out how to care for American seniors with the French customs of which the Little Sisters of the Poor approved. She hoped to bring more comfort and independence to the elderly as they approached their end. She brought her struggles to prayer, asking for the intercession of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. One day, a priest brought her a bouquet of roses and Mother took these roses as a sign from Saint Thérèse.
With a dispensation from Rome and the assent of Cardinal Hayes, Mother Angeline with six other sisters left, and in 1929 she founded what would later become the Carmelite Sisters of the Aged and Infirm. Even though the Great Depression began the same year as their new religious community, financial and logistical struggles did not stop Mother Angeline’s work because of her prayer. She went straight to the Infant of Prague with her intentions. She often blessed her sisters with the prayer, “May the Infant King find a throne in your heart where he may reign in peace.”
They established homes for the elderly that made their care more homelike and comforting, rather than impersonal and simply conventional. The sisters cultivated a community for the seniors. Mother Angeline emphasized to the sisters that kindness was more significant than efficiency. She famously said, “If you fail, let it be on the side of kindness. Be kinder than kindness itself to the old people.” Seeing Christ in each of the elderly was the cornerstone of Mother Angeline and the sisters’work. They would pray, “May I see Thee, O God, today and every day, in the person of the elderly and sick, and while caring for them, minister unto Thee.”
In a century when abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide where debated across the nation, the Carmelite Sisters were strongly opposed to all three. By the time of her death, the Carmelite Sisters had established 59 homes for the elderly in America, Scotland, and Ireland, and they had grown from seven sisters to 350.
After her death on January 21, 1984, nearly 70 witnesses of her life provided their accounts. On June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI declared Mother Angeline to be Venerable. The decree stated,
“the Servant of God, Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory, was a diligent woman, devoted to religion, remarkable for faith and full of charity. Extremely attentive to the needs of society, she was filled with faith even in adverse and hostile situations and she rendered credible witness to the defense of human life. She was a Sister totally on fire with the love of God and most kind toward the needy in whom she always saw the image of Christ.” Those, who seek her intercession, pray,
Almighty and Eternal Father, we thank you for the inspiration you gave to your daughter, Mother M. Angeline Teresa, to establish the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, and to provide loving care for countless elderly men and women with compassion and a respect for their dignity and a regard for life in all its stages. In particular, moved by her example of prayerful trust in your mercy, we ask you through her intercession for this special intention (pause to add your petitions for healing, etc.) If it be your gracious will, grant that the virtues of Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa may be recognized and provide a lasting example for your people. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
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