Sister Constance Ward, a Sister of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill who served for 35 years in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Worship, died Oct. 24, 2022. She was 97 years old.

She died at her order’s St. Joseph Villa in Philadelphia, where she relocated after leaving the archdiocese in 2012.

“She was a most faithful employee, and was of great service to several of our former archbishops, former and present priests, deacons and laity,” said Father Michael King, pastor of Jesus the Good Shepherd Parish in Owings, Maryland, who previously headed the Office of Worship. “She had a delightful personality… Many today in the archdiocese owe her a big debt of gratitude on many levels.  May she rest in peace awaiting the final resurrection.”

Sister Constance worked as an administrative assistant in the Office for Worship from 1977 until 2012. During that time, she lived at the St. Francis de Sales Convent on Rhode Island Avenue in Washington, D.C. and then at Holy Family Convent in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland.

“She knew everything, and her institutional knowledge helped me immensely,” said Father Mark Knestout, another former director of the Office of Worship who now serves as attaché and priest collaborator with the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York City. “She really ran that office which freed up the directors to do their work.”

As part of her work in the Office of Worship, Sister Constance organized daily Mass in the St. Ursula Chapel at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Hyattsville, Maryland. She served as sacristan of the chapel and organist at every Mass. She was also responsible for preparing for the weekly televised Masses (formerly called the TV Mass for Shut-Ins.)

Father Knestout described Sister Constance’s work in the chapel as “sacristan/musician/everything.”

During her tenure in the Archdiocese of Washington, Sister Constance was honored several times. In 1991, she was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal, conferred by the pope on laity and clergy who have provided distinguished service to the Catholic Church.

In 2011, she was among the first recipients of the archdiocesan Manifesting the Kingdom Award. The Manifesting the Kingdom Award was instituted by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, then-archbishop of Washington, to honor people in the archdiocese who reflect Christ to the community.

Father Walter Tappe, now the pastor of St. Hugh of Grenoble Parish in Greenbelt, Maryland, worked with Sister Constance in the Office of Worship for 10 years.

“She was a great advocate for the Liturgy. She was utterly reliable and generous to a fault,” Father Tappe said. “She was aptly named Constance because she was constant in her devotion to the Church, constant in giving up her time to help others and constant in her work in the Office of Worship.”

Constance Ward was born in Philadelphia on Dec. 13, 1924, the only child of Charles W. and Kathryn (Rock) Ward. She attended St. Athanasius School and Little Flower High School in Philadelphia prior to entering the Sisters of St. Joseph order on Sept. 12, 1944, taking the religious name of Sister Charles Catharine. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia.

“Sister had a great love for the Archdiocese of Washington and for the proper implementation of the reformed liturgical rites following the Second Vatican Council. She herself was an organist and cherished liturgical music,” Father King recalled. “She was also ever humble in her service to the Archdiocese of Washington.”

“She was a great friend, a wonderful woman and very devoted to Our Lord and the Church,” Father Knestotut said. “I will always remember her as a woman of great faith and devotion and love of the Church.”

Sister Constance is survived by two cousins, Joseph Rock and Michael Rock.

Father Tappe will celebrate a Funeral Mass for Sister Constance on Friday, Oct.28, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. at St Joseph Villa. The services will be private, but will be live streamed from the Saint Joseph Villa website, www.stjosephvilla.org.

“Everybody knew her because she reached out to everyone. She was respectful of all people.” Father Tappe said. “She was a wonderful woman.”