Ancille (Mary Louise) Vertin, OSB
March 16, 1924 – May 13, 2009
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Monday, May 18, 2009, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, MN, for Sister Ancille Vertin, who died on May 13, 2009, at St. Cloud Hospital, St. Cloud, MN. Burial was in the monastery cemetery.
Ancille (Mary Louise), the youngest of Joseph and Wilhelmina (Jansen) Vertin’s six children, was born in Breckenridge, MN. She entered Saint Benedict’s Monastery in 1944, made her first monastic profession on July 11, 1946, and her perpetual profession on July 11, 1949. She celebrated her golden jubilee in 1996 and her sixtieth anniversary in 2006.
Sister Ancille attended St. Mary’s Grade School and Breckenridge High School, Breckenridge, MN. After a BA degree in music from the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, MN, she earned an MME degree in music education from the University of Minnesota; she attended additional summer sessions, including a piano pedagogy workshop in Innsbruck, Austria. Music was Sister Ancille’s ministry from 1946–2004.
She began her teaching career at Saint Benedict’s High School and the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, while also serving as organist at St. Joseph Parish Church, St. Joseph, MN. She served as organist, taught private piano lessons and school music at Melrose, MN; Pierz, MN; St. Anthony and St. Peter in St. Cloud, MN; Sauk Rapids, MN; Wadena, MN; New Munich, MN; and Greenwald-Meire Grove, MN. She was coordinator of the Music Center in St. Cloud including five schools: Cathedral of St. Mary, St. Peter St. Paul, St. John Cantius and Holy Spirit. Then followed three years at St. Francis Music Studio in St. Cloud, MN. Sister Ancille also enjoyed volunteering as a musician at the St. Cloud Reformatory.
Prayer was a significant ministry for Sr. Ancille. She cared deeply for the incarcerated and each evening held them as a special intentions while praying the rosary. She played the organ at the jubilee Mass at Saint Scholastica Monastery, St. Cloud, MN, on May 6, 2009, only a week before she died.
Tribute prepared by Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, MN.