Sister Mary Patricia Fallon, OSB comes from a large Irish family. Her parents came over from Ireland in the early 1900’s. Sister’s childhood years were greatly influenced by her family’s friendship and respect for the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She recalls: ,“I can’t remember a time that I didn’t want to be a religious when I grew up”.

A transfer to Our Lady of Lourdes high school in Chicago introduced Sister Patricia to the Benedictines. She struggled with the decision of which religious community to join, but after a visit to Lisle, she entered at the age of seventeen. She was anxious to learn the Czech language as that was the predominant cultural background at Sacred Heart Monastery and was spoken by the Sisters in community. Sister Patricia embraced this challenge and the rest of the community enjoyed participating in her education. Ultimately, the Czech language was dropped and the community moved to communicating in English.

Sister Patricia is a lifelong educator. She taught elementary grades in Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas and then moved to secondary education at Sacred Heart Academy. She ultimately took on the role of principal as several Chicago schools. Now, in her ‘semi-retirement’ years, Sister Patricia serves as Administrative Assistant to the principal at St. Joan of Arc in Lisle.

Sister Patricia has served on a variety of local boards and enjoys her work with the Lisle Heritage Society. At the monastery, she serves as Secretary of the Monastic Council. Her hobbies include walking and reading. She loves the Old and New Testament and is a fan of authors Henri Nouwen, Fulton J. Sheen, Belva Plain and Rosamunde Pilcher.

Sister Patricia looks forward to the day that she can move back into a permanent room in the renovated monastery and participate daily in community life. As one of twelve siblings, Sister Patricia is enormously proud of her large and loving family: 32 nieces and nephews, 79 great and 13 great-grand nieces and nephews.