Extraordinary moments of faith
People
When Joan Creer walks into Oaklands Calvary residential aged care home she is instantly greeted with words of welcome and warm smiles from staff and residents.
For the past five years the Brighton parishioner has been a regular visitor to the home through her voluntary role of distributing Communion to people too frail or sick to attend Mass.
Her passion for this ministry was obvious when she offered to address the St Joseph’s Church congregation at Sunday Mass in a bid to encourage others to take it up.
Her moving account of her insights into what she described as a “uniquely rewarding and enriching experience” prompted several parishioners to approach her after Mass.
“Nursing homes are lively communities of residents, carers, professionals, administrators and volunteers – wonderful, determined, inspiring, vital, funny treasures waiting to be found,” she told the congregation.
“In writing this, I’ve realised that over a few years I’ve become part of the fabric of life at Calvary Oaklands. I’m often referred to as ‘the Communion lady’, and this anonymous recognition has its own special significance.”
Joan said she had formed friendships and alliances with carers and had seen “many loving moments of infinitely patient and affectionate care and relationship”.
“Then there are the shrewd psychologists masquerading as cleaning staff who can generate laughter as they work and have given me some valuable heads up concerning the residents whose rooms they clean and who have taken me under their wings as well,” she said.
“And I’m deeply moved, inspired and uplifted by the extraordinary faith, spontaneous prayer and gratitude of the residents I visit.”
Joan spoke about one such resident, Loreta Capilitan, who turned 98 last month but is “vitally alive and fitter than I am”.
Joan wears a gold pyx (small container for the Communion host) around her neck and takes a small cross and candle with her when she visits Loreta and the other communicants.
Loreta with her daughter Virginia
She said Loreta always embraces and kisses the tiny cross and exclaims ‘Hello Lord…thank you for visiting me!’.
As Joan packs up, Loreta kisses the cross goodbye with the words ‘thank you Lord, come again’.
Originally from the Philippines, Loreta has been at Oaklands Calvary for 10 years and her daughter Virginia, a parishioner at Hallett Cove, said receiving Holy Communion was very important to her mother. While Loreta communicates mainly in Tagalog, when Joan gives her the prayer sheet, she reads it out loud in English.
“Then there is a dear lady who has now gone to God but was increasingly confused, she was the widow of a bookmaker,” Joan said.
“After reverently receiving Communion one day she immediately thrust the racing guide into my hands and asked ‘What’s the second horse in the third race?’ I’ve learned to be ready for absolutely anything.”
Born in country Victoria, Joan taught history and English at Mater Christi School in Belgrave and volunteered at St John’s parish, Ferntree Gully, as a catechist to government school children. This included preparing her own children for their initiation sacraments.
She became “hooked” on liturgy and went on to complete two thirds of a theology degree.
“I was Liturgy coordinator working with a great team of girls at Mater Christi, and what with raising four children and teaching, the study became too much,” she explained.
“But it was profoundly significant for me both personally and professionally.”
After retiring in 2006 she worked in parish liturgy and took Communion to the sick in her parish and to hospital patients in Melbourne. Her husband Graham died in 2014 and with her children spread around country Victoria, Tasmania and Adelaide, she made the move to SA in April 2020, just days before the Victoria-SA border closed due to COVID. She had to fly from her daughter’s place in Tasmania and leave her car and all her “worldly goods” behind indefinitely.
Moving into a retirement village at Hove, Joan began worshipping at Brighton parish and quickly put her hand up for taking Communion to the sick and elderly.
With her own mobility issues, the 79-year-old grandmother of 10 is limited in how often she can volunteer and is helping coordinator Margie Gallagher to establish a roster.
“It might only be a couple of hours once or twice a month, whatever is possible,” she said, adding that training and support was available.
Brighton parish recently lost one of its most dedicated volunteers in Graham Spurling, former managing director of Mitsubishi, who told his family that taking Communion to aged care residents was “the best job in the world”.
Joan couldn’t agree more. “It’s incredibly rewarding, it’s the best,” she said.
Jump to next article
