Mary Ann Joseph Tarahan was the third daughter of Mary and Thomas Tarahan to enter the Sisters of Mercy in Newfoundland.
In early 1863 Sister M. Xavier Bernard, who had succeeded Sister M. Francis Creedon as superior of Mercy Convent, received a request from the parish priest of Burin for sisters for his parish. Father Michael Berney, the zealous Irish priest who had established St. Patrick’s Parish in Burin in 1833, was anxious to ensure a solid education for the children of Burin. Sister M. Francis Xavier Bernard was open to his proposal but was keenly aware of the shortage of sisters at Mercy Convent due to two recent foundations – St. Michael’s Belvedere in 1859 and Brigus in 1861. However, Father Berney’s persistent entreaties led to a positive response and on March 19,1863 Mary Ann Tarahan was accepted as a postulant for the Burin mission.
Mary Ann entered the novitiate on June 6, receiving the name Sister Mary Xavier. A month later she became part of the founding community of St. Anne’s Convent in Burin. With her were Sister M. Liguori, superior, newly professed Sister M. Charles McKenna and postulant, Mary McAuliffe.
Sister M. Xavier was professed in Burin on August 22, 1867, and remained there until September of 1871 when she was transferred to St. Lawrence as a member of its founding community. With her in the new community were Sister M. Rose Murphy, Sister M. Stanislaus Taylor and postulant Mary Burfitt. The sisters’ early years in St. Lawrence were filled with hardship. Indeed, they shared the lot of the people, most of whom were suffering from extreme poverty and deprivation. The sisters’ first school was in a fish shed and their home for the first five years was in the priest’s residence. Although the new Sacred Heart Convent was opened in 1876, it was far from being a finished product and for many years the sisters lived under very meager and primitive circumstances. However, they remained undaunted and continued their ministry in the school and community with great vigor and trust in God’s providence.
In 1877 Sister M. Xavier replaced Sister M. Rose as superior of Sacred Heart Convent. She remained in St. Lawrence until her death on March 2, 1902, teaching in the school and visiting the sick and needy of the community. She is buried in the sisters’ cemetery in St. Lawrence. Her two sisters, Sister M. Baptist and Sister M. Clare had both died some thirty years before her death.
