Sr. Emmanuel Bebout, OP

March 3, 1910 – January 7, 2001

I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I shall live.
Psalm 23

When, early Sunday morning, January 7, 2001, our Sister Emmanuel Bebout died peacefully in Mohun Health Care Center, she closed her eyes on a life that had been a bit unusual. Every sister, of course, has a history, and at the death of a sister we often recall the events that made her and her life unique.

Anna Laura Bebout was the daughter of John and Philomena Bebout of Newark, Ohio, and she entered the novitiate from St. Francis de Sales Parish in 1930. She received the name Sister Corinne when she pronounced her vows in 1931. For the next thirteen years her teaching ministry took her to the Pittsburgh area, to Somerset and Lancaster, Ohio and to Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

In 1944 Sister felt again the call she had considered years ago, the call to the contemplative life. After discussing this with Mother Stephanie, and then receiving permission from Rome, she was accepted at the Dominican Monastery of the Holy Name in Cincinnati. Leaving St. Mary’s, she said, was like leaving home for the second time. One sister recalled how Sr. Corinne weeping as she left to travel to Cincinnati. When she was formally received there two years later, she was given the name Sister Emmanuel, and she was delighted to see Mother Stephanie present at the ceremony.

After thirty-five years with the cloistered Dominicans, she asked to return to St. Mary’s. She was happily welcomed by the sisters and served the community until her health forced her to retire to Mohun in 1992. Sr. Emmanuel was always very independent by nature, so the stroke she suffered a few years ago, always a frustrating experience for the victim, was especially so for her.

Someone has said that death is not a putting out of the light - but rather an extinguishing of the lamp - because the Dawn has come! For Sr. Emmanuel certainly it is dawn of a real life of contemplation, an eternity in the presence of God’s love.

Memorial gifts in Sister Emmanuel's honor may be sent to Dominican Sisters, St. Mary of the Springs, 2320 Airport Drive, Columbus, OH 43219.

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