'We ask for your prayers': 13 nuns at Michigan convent who died from COVID-19 memorialized

Thirteen nuns at a Michigan convent died from the coronavirus in the last three months, including one sister who had appeared to recover from the disease earlier but later relapsed.

"Some of our Sisters who have had COVID-19 are struggling to recover from a variety of effects, including continuing weakness, respiratory issues and more," Sister Mary Moore said. "We ask for your prayers as we support them in their recovery."

The loss was reported Monday in the Global Sisters Report, a project of the National Catholic Reporter, in a touching tribute with a photo of a small memorial in the gardens outside the Felician Sisters' convent.

In the photograph, a modest metal plaque on a larger stone memorializes the women who died and their work, with the inscription: "Eternal Rest give to them, O Lord ... Let Your light shine upon them."

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In early May, the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported seven Catholic sisters at the Livonia, Michigan, convent who died had tested positive for the coronavirus. The Felicians helped found a hospital, St. Mary Mercy Livonia, and other care facilities in the city.

The Global Sisters Report said the nuns who died included, "a librarian. A director of religious education. A secretary in the Vatican Secretariat of State. The author of a 586-page history of the congregation."

"One was an organist," the report added. "One helped her second-grade class write and perform a commercial for Campbell's Soup. One was a nurse and led nursing students' mission trips to Haiti."

Twelve sisters died between Good Friday on April 10 and May 10, and the 13th on June 27.

Nineteen other sisters have died from coronavirus elsewhere in the United States, the report said, including a sister in Lodi, New Jersey; six sisters from a convent outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and three Maryknoll Sisters in Ossining, N.Y.

Follow Frank Witsil on Twitter: @fwitsil

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 13 nuns in same Michigan convent die from COVID-19