Sr. Berthe Viens, CSC

Sister Berthe Viens (Sister Mary Philip), a Sister of Holy Cross, died peacefully at Elliot Hospital on November 20, 2025. Her last residence was the Holy Cross Health Center in Manchester, NH.

Born in Georgia, Vermont to Phillipe and Amanda (Loiselle) Viens on February 16, 1927, Sister Berthe entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Holy Cross in 1943 and pronounced her final vows in 1950. Her entire life was consecrated to the service of God and of her brothers and sisters… whatever it was that that service entailed. Seventy-one years of very active ministry saw her at work first as an elementary school teacher in several New England States and then as a nurse’s aide at the Holy Cross Congregation’s infirmary in St. Laurent, Quebec. There followed a shorter stay as nurse’s aide at a hospital in Haiti and then, for many more years, in the same ministry at St. George Manor and the Holy Cross Health Center in Manchester.

Sr. Berthe was predeceased by her parents and nine siblings. She is very much alive in the memories of Holy Cross companions, as well as of former students and co-workers as a lively, energetic, prayerful, and helpful woman who was simply about the business of serving God and her brothers and sisters… in every simple, down-to-earth, here-and-now way that she could. We are grateful.

The wake for Sister Berthe Viens is scheduled for Wednesday, December 3, 2025 beginning at 2:00 p.m. with a Celebration of Life prayer at 3:00 p.m. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m. Thursday, December 4. Both services will take place in the chapel of St. George Manor at 357 Island Pond Road in Manchester, NH.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Sisters of Holy Cross Development Office and mailed to 365 Island Pond Road, Manchester, NH 03109.

Lambert Funeral Home and Crematory, Manchester, NH is assisting with arrangements.