Sister Rose Anthony Mathews works a jigsaw puzzle, one of her many hobbies, in her apartment at Benedictine Living Community at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville. In July, she celebrated 70 years as an Adorer of the Blood of Christ (David Wilhelm photo).
“If you only write one sentence about me,” said Sister Rose Anthony Mathews, ASC, “say, ‘Life has been a gift from God — my life, my family, my friends, all the people I encountered — all have been a gift.’”
Sister Rose Anthony recently celebrated her 70th jubilee as an Adorer of the Blood of Christ.
“It’s interesting to see how God orchestrates things,” she said. “I think all of life is a series of connections. The sooner we come to realize how connected we are, how much life comes from being connected, the better we are, so we can better be the hands and feet of Christ.”
Sister Rose Anthony, 88, made her first profession on July 1, 1954, and her final vows on July 1, 1959.
She was born in Prairie du Rocher, one of four children in the family of Arthur and Rose Mathews. The family lived on a farm with lots of animals. The levees were not built yet, so the farm was often flooded.
The family attended St. Joseph Catholic Church and School in Prairie du Rocher. They were taught by Adorers of the Blood of Christ.
Sister Rose Anthony said her parents died one day apart when she was 12 years old. The children stayed in Prairie du Rocher with other family members and spent the summers in O’Fallon with an uncle.
When she entered the congregation, she took the name Rose in honor of her mother.
“I wanted my mother’s name. My mom was the person who enabled me to always try to be a good girl,” Sister Rose Anthony said. “Mom was a very religious person. On Saturdays, she made us all go to confession and reminded us of things we needed to confess. In the evening, we had to pray the rosary. Then she would tell us about a saint or read something to us.”
Sister Rose Anthony said her mom would tell them to pray and tell God what they wanted.
“But she said to always add, ‘But God, if that’s what you want.’ To do the will of God. That impressed me as a child,” she said.
Sister Rose Anthony said she remembers being interested in being a teacher at a young age.
“My dad’s oldest sister was a teacher, a professional person, who lived with my grandparents and helped care for them,” she said. “She had lots of books, and I loved to read. I thought, ‘I want to be a teacher, and I’ll have lots of books, and I can just read and read and read.’ Then as I got a little older, I realized I could be a sister and be a teacher.”
She entered the postulancy for the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, located in Ruma, when she was a junior in high school.
“I played procrastination with God about going to Ruma to be a sister,” she recalled.
Sister Rose Anthony’s sister, who was one year younger, decided to attend Ruma for high school, so Sister Rose Anthony entered as well. Her sister didn’t continue after high school and now lives in the Washington, D.C., area and has three children.
“Her job was to get me there (to enter the Adorers),” Sister Rose Anthony said.
“Jesus was always there to be of aid to whoever needed something,” she said. “That’s sort of the way I looked at my life. In different ministries, I was always to be there for other people, and I loved it. ‘Service of the dear neighbor.’ St. Maria de Mattias, our foundress, always talked about us being here for the dear neighbor.”
Sister Rose Anthony served as an elementary teacher and principal at St. Jerome in St. Louis, Holy Family in Cahokia and St. Patrick in Ruma, and as a high school teacher at Mater Dei in Breese.
She moved into parish work as director of religious education and pastoral associate at Sacred Heart Parish in Sedalia, Mo.; St. Mary in Centralia; Immaculate Conception in Columbia; and St. Bruno in Pinckneyville.
She spent time conducting research in southern Illinois to determine areas of greatest need and took on the role of ombudsman and money manager for senior citizens. She spent a year in Tanzania teaching English to young women entering the ASC community. She also served as a provincial councilor.
Sister Rose Anthony said she frequently connects with former students. One day while visiting patients at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Belleville, she met a former eighth-grade student from Holy Family. Her name tag only said Rose, but the patient said, “Sister Rose, Sister Rose Anthony?”
“Living in southern Illinois, it’s like a small town, and people are here for each other,” Sister Rose Anthony said. “It’s a gift, if you stop to think about it. I always feel like I don’t deserve any of this, yet God has gifted me so it behooves me to be of service to my dear neighbor, however I can do that.”
Sister Rose Anthony currently resides at the Benedictine Living Community at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, where she assists with distributing sisters’ monthly budgets. She also enjoys prayer, reading, needlework, jigsaw puzzles and writing,
“If I ever write a book, I will call it. ‘Memoirs of a Ramblin’ Rose,’” she said.
One of Sister Rose Anthony’s former students from Holy Family in Cahokia Heights wrote an essay in college about her favorite Catholic grade school nun and shared it with Sister Rose Anthony. It included insightful descriptions and many memories. The essay ended with, “When I think back to my fourth-grade days with Sister Rose Anthony, I smile and wonder whose life is she touching now.”
