From Staff Reports
In recognition of the devotion and service of religious women within the Diocese of Dallas, the diocese will host its Jubilee Celebration Oct. 5 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Holy Family of Nazareth Catholic Church in Irving. Bishop Edward J. Burns and Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly will concelebrate the commemorative Mass, which will honor women who have served the Church through their religious vocations for 25, 60, or 70 years. The Mass will be followed by a reception and dinner at the parish hall. The Jubilee Celebration will recognize five religious women from the Diocese of Dallas: Sister Dorothy Eggering, SSND; Sister Elizabeth Anne Swartz, SSND; Sister Eileen Nguyen, CMR; Sister Suni Varghese, DSH; and Sister Manjula Tigga, DSH.
Read the bios to learn more about the honorees.
Sister Dorothy Eggering, SSND
Celebrating 70 Years
Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1934, Sister Dorothy Eggering, SSND, heard a call to the religious vocation early in her life. She began considering the vocation while still a student, first at St. Michael Elementary then at Rosati-Kain High School, both of which were staffed by School Sisters of Notre Dame. Following her high school graduation in 1951, she entered the convent.
Sister Eggering professed her first vows in 1954 with the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Two years later, she earned her bachelor’s degree in natural science and mathematics from the former Notre Dame College in St. Louis and began teaching at St. Joseph School in Conway, Arkansas. She went on to teach at St. Mary of the Pines in Chatawa, Mississippi; Redemptorist Senior High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Immaculate Conception School in Marrero, Louisiana; and Thomas K. Gorman High School in Tyler, Texas. The sister continued her education by earning a master’s in chemistry from University of Notre Dame in 1965, a master’s in theology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio Texas in 1979, and a master’s degree in counseling from Capella University. She also completed a program in spiritual formation and spiritual direction.
From 1980-92, Sister Eggering served in pastoral ministry at St. Michael Catholic Church in Bedford before serving as pastoral administrator at Good Shepherd Parish in Colleyville 1992-2007. She worked for the Diocese of Dallas as a liturgy office assistant 2009-16. Currently, Sister Dorothy provides spiritual direction and spiritual direction training in Bedford.
“I am so grateful that God chose this life for me as a School Sister of Notre Dame,” Sister Eggering said, “and patiently directed and guided me all these many years.”
Sister Elizabeth Anne Swartz, SSND
Celebrating 60 Years
Sister Elizabeth Anne Swartz, SSND, joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Baltimore Province, on Sept. 8, 1962, and professed on July 25, 1964. She commenced her first mission as a sister at St. Patrick Church in Cumberland, Massachusetts, where she taught first and fourth grade classes. Sister Swartz continued to serve in education by teaching fourth grade students at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and sixth grade students in the Coolidge Public Schools. During her time in the public education system, she became an official member of the Dallas Province. She then taught middle school math and religion at St. Elizabeth of Hungary before serving as principal of Holy Rosary School in San Antonio and then principal of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glendale, Arizona. She taught at St. Agnes School in Phoenix then traveled to San Antonio to serve as associate superintendent and then superintendent of the Diocese of El Paso. For 20 years, she took on the role of superintendent of the Diocese of San Angelo.
Besides teaching, Sister Swartz has supported the communities she has encountered by working as a school librarian in two schools, assistant coordinator for a federal program that employed teenagers as tutors, and a basketball and softball coach, among other roles. She has overseen building projects, school openings and closings, and the growth and distribution of scholarship funds.
After 51 years of service in formal education, Sister Swartz retired; but she continues to contribute through her volunteer work with immigrants who needed assistance with transportation, food, and other resources.
“All my experiences have enriched me and made me better for the next phase of my life,” Sister Swartz said. “I have dedicated my life to the mission of Jesus Christ and serving His people.”
Sister Eileen Nguyen, CMR
Celebrating 25 Years
Sister Eileen Nguyen, CMR, knew she wanted to join the Congregation of Mary Queen when she spotted a brochure for the order one Sunday after Mass while she was still a young girl. She asked her mother if she could join, and her mother replied, “If God calls you!”
Following this call from God, Sister Nguyen left home on her nineteenth birthday, August 11, to join the religious community.
“I believe my vocation is Mother Mary’s birthday gift to me,” she said. “She knew I was struggling with my faith, with my life, so she guided me to her convent to help me to know her son better.”
She has since served as a nun for 25 years and as a nurse for 20 years; and she says she sees her religious life as a blessing.
“I see that by being faithful to God’s call, I can bring God’s blessings and healing to all the lives I touch,” she said. “I love my faith and vocation. I love my family. I love my community and our Catholic Church. Above all else, I love our Lord Jesus.”
She celebrated her silver jubilee of religious profession on June 8, 2024.
“May God continue to bless our Church and our diocese with many holy and faithful vocations to glorify Him and save souls,” Sister Nguyen said. “May God bless us and protect us all!”
Sister Manjula Tigga, DSH
Celebrating 25 Years
The daughter of Mary Talisa and Joseph Tigga, Sister Manjula Tigga, DHS, grew up in a loving Catholic household with her six siblings. As a young child, she first felt the call to consecrated life during the felicitation of a newly ordained priest. She said that on that occasion, she felt a desire to become like the newly ordained priest she was celebrating. She asked her mother why she hadn’t been created as a boy so that she could become a priest. Sister Tigga recalled her mother responding, “God Loves you as a daughter, so created you a girl.” Upon meeting religious sisters, Sister Tigga realized that she wanted to live a life like theirs—she discovered her calling.
Although Sister Tigga faced several difficulties in her life before joining the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, including the loss of her beloved mother in the fifth grade, she recalled being steeped in Catholic spaces even early in her life. Because of the dedication to Catholic education of her father, a school principal, Sister Tigga attended high school at an Ursuline convent and higher secondary school at Holy Cross convent.
Sister Tigga’s early desire to become the spouse of Christ remained strong and consistent, and this desire eventually led her to join the DSH community. Currently, she serves as an elementary teacher at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School in Dallas.
Sister Suni Varghese, DSH
Celebrating 25 Years
The second of four children, Sister Suni Varghese, DSH, was raised in a faithful Catholic home; and as early as the second grade, she knew she wanted to be a nun. She had witnessed the beauty of consecrated life through her cousin, who was a nun, through a priest relative, and through other nuns she had grown up seeing in the neighborhood. She recalled that, as a young girl, her only prayer was that she would be a nun and a missionary someday.
“I believe Jesus began to fashion my heart to enter religious life long before I was aware,” she said. “I was so passionate to become a nun.”
She recalled nuns from various orders coming to visit young girls at the school and church when she was a child. She would collect the flyers from the nuns and write on them “Sr. Suni Varghese,” dreaming of the day when she could join the holy sisters.
Sister Varghese entered the convent in 1994, shortly after 10th grade. She professed her first vows on Dec. 8, 1999, and said her final vows as a sister in the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 30, 2006.
After serving in India for 11 years, she moved to Texas in 2011 where she became a part of the community at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Dallas. She has taught in the school’s early childhood program for the past 13 years.
“When I turn back to my religious life, I am treasuring it as a journey in love with Jesus,” she said. “Each moment has been grace-filled and drawn me closer to the Sacred Heart of our eucharistic Lord, even at times when I did not realize it until later. How blessed I am and grateful for all that He has done for me, for calling me to be set apart for Him, to be at the service of the Church and His Gospel.”
