30 January 2012 Sister Cincy Joseph, MSJ, a Medical Sister of
St. Joseph, visits with Daisy Choorakattu, a cancer patient in
the pain and palliative care center at St. George’s Hospital.
Daisy and her family have been forced to sell their home to pay
for her treatment, a last resort option for Kerala’s poor.
(photo: Peter Lemieux) Countless cancer patients around the
world seek solace and intercession from a special patron, the
seventh-century abbess St. Aldegonde (sometimes called
Aldegunais), whose feast is 30 January. Aldegonde herself
reportedly died from cancer at the age of 54. Today, those
battling this disease find a more earthly kind of help from
modern-day religious, like the Medical Sisters of St. Joseph
working in Kerala. These sisters work to provide care and
comfort, often under difficult circumstances. We told their
story in the September 2011 issue of ONE: With limited
resources, the sisters do what they can. These days, the
hospital mostly cares for terminally ill cancer patients. Sister
Cinc