BLUFFTON — Sister Mary Gilbert Deluhy, SSCM, has long been known for her smiling face.
In June, she celebrated her 60th Jubilee as a vowed religious at the motherhouse of the Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Danville, Pa.
Prior to her departure for Danville, Sister Mary Gilbert was honored with a celebratory tea on May 21 at St. Gregory the Great Church in Bluffton. The parishioners offered congratulations for her 60 years as a religious, thanked her for her loving service, and wished her well in her new adventure.
“She has given us a great example of faithful perseverance to God’s call and joyful service to his people,” said Father Andrew Trapp, parochial vicar. “In her time here, Sister found that God gave her a gift for ministering to those who were sick or homebound. She brightens the day of all that she visits with her cheerful personality and contagious smile, and she takes great joy in bringing Jesus to them in Holy Communion.”
Sister Mary Gilbert spent a total of six years serving in the diocese.
For the past three years, she has focused on visiting elderly and homebound parishioners. As both an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and as a long-time religious educator, she brought Communion to people in their homes and provided a weekly Bible study for residents of Carolina House, an assisted living community, and Riverside at Belfair, an independent senior community. She also spent three years in the early 1970s as a teacher at Blessed Sacrament School in Charleston.
While in Bluffton, Sister Mary Gilbert helped establish her community’s presence there and in the Hilton Head area.
“My time in Bluffton was a most heavenly experience because of the God-loving people of St. Gregory the Great parish,” she said. “It was a blessing to be in the ministry I was in and to be of service to those people.”
Sister Mary Gilbert is leaving the Diocese of Charleston in August to begin another phase of service for her religious community. She said she will serve as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, lead Bible study and other activities.
She also will serve as a receptionist at Maria Hall in Danville, Pa., a licensed assisted living facility and hospice home which houses members of three religious communities.
Since making her vows in 1948, Sister Mary Gilbert has served in numerous locations in the mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states, and in the South. She taught in Catholic elementary and high schools and served as a director of religious education and as an RCIA director for more than 20 years.