Mary Jane was a Carmelite nun and musician. She was educated at the Mount Aloysius Academy, Cresson, Pa., the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Seton Hill College in Greensburg, Columbia University, the Julliard School of Music in N.Y. City, and the Sorbonne, France. She became a lay teacher at a college operated by the Sisters of Charity in Greensburg, Pa. Mary Jane soon developed a throat ailment that rendered her speechless. She was diagnosed with a concealed goiter, and her condition deteriorated after an unsuccessful operation. She made a private vow to serve God the rest of her life if she recovered. A second operation performed by a Cleveland thyroid specialist was a success, although a silver tube had to be implanted in her throat.
Mary Jane entered the Sisters of Charity at Seton Hall in 1898 and was professed on Dec. 25, 1900. On December 25, 1928, she entered a convent of Discalced Carmelites in Altoona, Pa., and became Sister Cecilia of the Blessed Sacrament, professing on January 10, 1930. She abandoned music (including hymns) and never saw her family again. Her religious mother supported her decision, but her brother Charlie did not. Nevertheless, Charlie did provide for the construction of the Monastery of St. Theresa Liseaux just outside of Loretto, where the order agreed to relocate. She is buried in the cloistered cemetery there. Sr. Cecilia suffered from adynamic ileus (bowel obstruction) which led to her death by diverticulitis, contributed by senility and arteriosclerosis.