Southern Nebraska Register
Sister Helen E. Vigil M.S., 87, of Waverly, died March 27.
A funeral Mass was celebrated April 3 at St. Patrick Church in Lincoln with Bishop James Conley officiating and priests of the Diocese of Lincoln concelebrating. Burial followed at Good Shepherd Cemetery at the Marian Sisters’ Marycrest motherhouse in Waverly.
Sister Helen was born in San Luis, Colo., and entered the Marian Sisters of the Diocese of Lincoln in 1960. She made her first profession in 1962 and her final profession of vows Dec. 29, 1968.
Sister Helen worked as a medicine aid and then delivered the mail at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln for more than 40 years. In her retirement at Marycrest Motherhouse, she spent numerous hours in the sewing room mending and making habits and tending to other communal sewing needs.
Sister Helen was known for her devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially in the title of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and the recitation of the daily Rosary, as well as her infectious laugh.
Sister Helen exhibited great trust and faith in answering God’s call to the Marian Sisters. She was known to quip, “I found my vocation in a trash basket!” When she served on the nursing staff in Durango, Colo., as a laywoman, she found an issue of the Southern Nebraska Register newspaper of the Diocese of Lincoln in the trash. She picked up the paper, and inside, she found an ad for the Marian Sisters. She decided to write and ask about entering the community. She was accepted as a postulant and entered without having met the Sisters in person prior to her arrival in Lincoln.
