Day of realization: Cardinal blesses St. Monica Manor

By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer

When 107-year-old Rose Fecca of St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish retired for the evening on Nov. 5 at St. Monica Manor in South Philadelphia, she could rest assured she was sleeping in a Catholic facility.
Earlier that day, Cardinal Justin Rigali blessed, and dedicated as a Catholic nursing home, the 180-bed facility at 2509 S. Fourth St.
“This is a wonderful day of realization, joy and commitment,” the Cardinal said. “What a great achievement it is to have this … newly refurbished center, St. Monica Manor, as a service to our elderly people.”
St. Monica Manor’s mission is, especially, to care for the elderly, “who are at a particular moment in their lives when they still can enjoy so much peace, so much consolation, so much encouragement,” he said. “We thank God for all that has been accomplished. … This has added so much to our community.”
On Sept. 1, the Archdiocese’s Catholic Health Care Services acquired the facility, formerly Methodist Hospital Nursing Center, from the Jefferson Health System.
“Someone once said, ‘Never think that God’s delays are God’s denials,’” said Father Joseph A. Tracy, Secretary for Catholic Human Services, which oversees Catholic Health Care Services. “The word ‘patient’ certainly describes the waiting that characterized the search for a place where long-term Catholic nursing care might take fruit in Philadelphia-South,” Father Tracy said. “What seemed like one insurmountable obstacle after another are now finally removed with this dedication.”
The Health Care Services corporation that was established to acquire the facility, and the facility itself, are named St. Monica Manor to honor the memory of two individuals connected with St. Monica Parish, who made the acquisition possible. The bequests of the late Msgr. Aloysius F. Farrell, a former pastor of St. Monica’s, and his aunt, Mary Townsend, provided trust funds to assist the elderly.
Approximately 60 percent of the current residents in the facility are Catholic, and about 80 percent are from the neighborhoods of South Philadelphia.
Nicholas LaRosa, 90, of St. Paul Parish, a resident of the nursing home for six years, said he is pleased the facility is now Catholic. With all its recreational activities — from bingo to poetry hour — LaRosa said he is never bored there.
“It’s nice,” he said. “The people are good to me.”
Diane Zalewski, 68, of St. Casimir Parish, and Elizabeth Rota, 76, of Epiphany of Our Lord Parish, were among the residents who selected the style of the crucifixes that were hung at the newly Catholic nursing home by the Cardinal and two assisting bishops: Auxiliary Bishop Joseph R. Cistone, vicar general, and Retired Auxiliary Bishop Louis A. DeSimone, who is a former pastor of St. Monica Parish.
Zalewski moved to the nursing home nearly two years ago; Rota will celebrate three years there next April. Both women said they appreciated the presence of the Cardinal, his assisting bishops, and other clergy at the dedication and blessing.
St. Monica Manor offers both long-term skilled nursing care and short-term rehabilitative care. It employs about 200 workers under administrator Jeffrey Cox.
When it opened in 1982, the facility was an independent nursing home under the name Walt Whitman Convalescent Center. In 1990, it became Methodist Hospital Nursing Center. It continued under that name when it was acquired by Jefferson Health Systems in 1996.
As the oldest resident of St. Monica Manor, the 107-year-old Fecca summed up the dedication, and the refreshments at the reception that followed.
“Marvelous. Magnificent,” she said. “I loved the shrimp.”

CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine can be reached at (215) 587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org