Ursuline Sister Elaine Burke Celebrates 75 Years of Religious Life

Sister Elaine Burke (94), an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph who served in Hancock County, is celebrating a jubilee of religious life this year. For 75 years, she has dedicated herself to faithful service. She served as a principal and a teacher at Immaculate Conception School, in Hawesville, and was co-director of religious education at the parish from 1975-1980.

Along with Sister Elaine, eleven other Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, in Maple Mount, KY, are celebrating an anniversary of religious life this year.

Dan Heckel, Director of Mission Advancement and Communications at Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, described Sister Elaine as, “a joyful, energetic woman who loves to mix her deep spirituality with a penchant for fun.”

Sister Elaine is originally from Louisville. She said she has very fond memories of teaching in Hawesville. Since that time, she has had opportunities to see the students she taught in Hancock County from time to time, and talk with them, and really enjoys that.

“They were wonderful,” she said, “I love those people, and those children. Talk about intelligence! We had some very bright students there. I’ll never forget it.”

Sister Elaine earned a bachelor’s in history at Brescia College in 1965, and a master’s in religious education at The Catholic University of America in 1971. She taught at St. Benedict School in Nebraska City, Nebraska from 1952-1957. Then she served from 1957-1964 as principal, teacher, organist, and choir director at St. Paul School in Louisville. She was a principal and teacher at Holy Trinity School in Fredericktown, Kentucky from 1964-1968, and served as Supervisor of Religious Education for the Diocese of Owensboro from 1968-1973. From 1973-1975, she was Director of Religious Education at St. Stephen Cathedral in Owensboro, and Religion Teacher at Cathedral School. She was Director of Religious Education and Parish Minister at St. Martin of Tours in Flaherty, KY from 1980-1983, at St. Mary Parish in Bloomfield, NM from 1983-1988, and at St. Teresa Parish in Grants, NM from 1988-1991. From 1991-2007, she was Associate Director of the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center, where she also served as a team member for Catholic Engaged Encounter from 1998-2009, for the Spiritual Direction Training Program from 2004-2018, and as a spiritual advisor for Cursillo from 2002-2015. From 2005-2009, she was a coordinator of the spiritual component of the ministry formation program at Brescia University, and served as a spiritual presence in the Department of Theology from 2010-2015. Since 2020, she has been binding quilts for the Mount Quilt Club. She has also volunteered at the Owensboro River Park Center since 1992.

“I belong to the Cursillo, and many at Immaculate Conception Parish belong to the Cursillo Movement of the Diocese,” Sister Elaine said. “It’s a movement where they deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ. Many in Hancock County still belong to that movement, have been with it for some time, and serve in leadership. I still have had contact with them quite a bit.”

Sister Elaine is currently living in Saint Joseph Villa, the nursing home at Mount Saint Joseph. She is doing much better now, but has been very ill for many months, and was diagnosed with C. Difficile infection (C. Diff.) in fall of last year. She can move around without a walker now, and has gotten back into doing some of the things she loves to do.

“I had a very bad case of C. Diff.,” she said. “I don’t need full-time help or anything like that now. I did at first; I could not walk, or eat. I could not do anything. It started in October or November. I was sick before that, but we had no idea that’s what it was. The nurses who were here when I came home from the hospital just were amazed. They call me their ‘Miracle Sister‘ because they cannot believe that I came through all this…I’m back to binding quilts, and other things. I can’t complain.”

Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph is located at 8001 Cummings Road in Maple Mount, KY. Learn more by visiting the website at: ursulinesmsj.org. Like and follow Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph on Facebook, X, and Instagram, to stay updated.