Sr. Mary Luella Veile MM – China, Hong Kong, Taiwan

Sister Mary Luella was born on December 17, 1904 in Quincy, Illinois. She was baptized Matilda and grew up with her parents, six brothers and one sister.

After education at Notre Dame Academy, Luella lived at home until she was 28, engaged in housekeeping, cooking and sewing, all skills that later enhanced the lives of many Maryknoll Sisters and Priests. At that time, she was active in parish works at St. Francis Church where she was Vice President of Our Lady’s Sodality, a member of the Catholic Womens’ Union and of the Third Order of St. Francis. Sister Luella entered Maryknoll in New York on December 7, 1932; made her First Profession on June 30, 1935 at Maryknoll and her Final Vows on the same date in 1938 in Kaying, China.

When Sister Luella went to China in 1935, she first arrived in Hong Kong and in a few days, went to the Tung Shek Language School to Study Hakka for a year. Luella became fluent in Hakka and also learned some Mandarin. After language study, she went to Kaying, where Bishop Ford was initiating a new mission approach wherein the Sisters would engage in evangelization, live in two-Sister houses and travel daily, often by foot, into the mountains and villages to share their faith with women and children. With young and old, Sister Luella had a knack for creating favorable situations that led to friendships and openings to the grace of God.

Once the Sisters visited a large village to become acquainted with the women and tell them about a Catechumenate soon to open. Luella spoke to a particular woman and a few weeks later the woman came to the Sisters’ house. As the story goes, Luella was delighted. “You came”, she said and the woman replied, “You invited me.” Such was Luella’s approach. In China, Sister Luella was given the Chinese surname of Li, meaning advantageous, pleasing, and favorable.

That era of the apostolate in which Luella was active was fruitful. Many people were baptized and remained faithful even through the later persecution in China. Luella was in Kaying 16 years, including the later difficult period when the Japanese invaded China, the Communists took control of the country and fighting against the Nationalists was strong. Luella and other Sisters were under house arrest for 10 months before they were expelled to Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, Sister Luella worked with refugees from China for several years until she was assigned to Taiwan in 1954. Luella was in the missions of Miaoli, Towfen and Tahu of Taiwan, engaged in social pastoral work, religious education among women and girls, home visiting, kindergarten supervision, group work and follow-up catechetical instructions with adults. During this time, the Maryknoll Sisters in Taiwan remember that Luella moved without effort from children to teenagers to adults and was an excellent teacher.

The Maryknoll Sisters with whom she lived and worked and the people of China and Taiwan found Sister Luella easy to approach because of her willingness to listen, to be of service, her wisdom, humility and understanding. The Sisters found her a comfortable person to live with, one who displayed a sense of humor and seldom was seen to be nervous or tense, except sometimes at the end of the month when she was trying to balance petty cash. Once when she made pralines a Sister said to her that they were so good that what she would like for Christmas was a praline the size of a dinner dish. That Christmas each Sister in the house received a praline as large as a dinner dish.

Before leaving Taiwan in 1978 because of poor health, Luella had formed a prayer group of 7 Christian “grandmas” who met regularly with her to pray the Rosary, deepen their understanding of catechesis and enjoy conversation over a cup of tea. After Luella returned to the United States, the 7 women continued to meet. Six of the women lived to a venerable age and, despite family opposition, remained Catholics and requested Catholic funerals, which were given all of them. Many of the Sisters in Taiwan felt that it was through Luella’s prayers and suffering that such a grace was granted to these women.

Clearly, Sister Luella was a loved member in community, a great blessing, especially in isolated areas and in two-Sister Communities. Mother Mary Josep, Foundress of Maryknoll Sisters had said: “If we have His simplicity which attracts souls and His gentleness, which knows neither subterfuge nor hypocrisy then, truly we are reflecting the love of Christ.” Throughout her life Luella often expressed her longing to bring Christ to the people, to reflect the love of Christ knowing that the work of grace remains with the power of the Holy Spirit. She was a person of simplicity, gentleness and reflected the love of Christ, a love that animated her whole life.

In 1982, Luella was bedridden and later unable to move on her own, nor to communicate. Even with the gradual crippling of her body, Sister Luella had a twinkle in her eye and a lovely smile. When she was able to say the Office, she kept in her book a small card with a painting of a bird perched on a tree and a verse from a Chinese proverb: “Keep a green bough in your heart and a singing bird will come.” On January 23rd, 1994, at 89 years, and due to respiratory failure, Luella quietly and peacefully gave up this life on earth.