2023 Jubiliarian
As a chaplain at Pittsburgh hospitals for 20 years, Sister Nora (Brendan) Egan was a quiet, attentive presence in rooms often filled with unbearable pain and loss.
“I never walk into a room alone and I never walk out alone,” Sister Nora said of providing spiritual support and crisis intervention to patients, families, and staff. “Only with God’s presence is it possible for me to be present to others.”
She recalls the overwhelming grief of a young couple who tragically lost both of their children before birth and the faithfulness of a critically ill patient whom she helped receive baptism, communion, and confirmation in the intensive care unit.
Sister Nora moved into chaplaincy in 1992 after nine years in parish ministry and 23 years in education. She ministered at Children’s Hospital and, later, Magee Women’s Hospital where she was credited with transforming Pastoral Care Services and playing an integral role in providing holistic and dignified care.
She received a “Manifesting the Kingdom” award from the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 2013 for “showing the light of Christ” through exceptional service to the Church.
“Wherever our journeys take us is where God is,” Sister Nora once said of her ministries.
Send a note to Sister Nora or make a donation in her honor.