The Calvary Hospital
Calvary Hospital in Bronx, New York, Bronx Times
Photo Collage of Sister Amata with a patient
Sister Amata last ministered at the Calvary Hospital in Bronx, New York. The Calvary Hospital was originally founded by a group of widows in New York City, and was eventually administered by numerous Dominican organizations. In 1958, the Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor were asked to administer the hospital and send Sisters to help with it's patients. Among those Sisters was Sister Amata Galligan, who whole heartedly took to her new mission.
Sister Amata's spent 15 years at the Calvary hospital, spanning the entire time that her congregation administered it. Her primary task at the hospital was to comfort the terminally ill and give last rites. She was known to be almost too devoted to her mission, spending incredible amounts of time by her patients' bedsides and comforting them in their final moments. To the patients she cared for she was a beacon of light. There are numerous stories of dying patients, old and nearly empty, brightening up just seeing her face when she entered the room. It was at the Calvary Hospital that Sister Amata truly lived up to the meaning of her name.
Sister Amata was also known for her handmade Ragetty Ann dolls made from yarn. One can assume started making dolls to provide another means of comfort to her patients. Her dolls became so popular with patients that the hospital began selling them as a way to support the hospital's Sunshine fund. Over the course of her time at the Calvary Hospital, Sister Amata made hundreds of these dolls, all done by hand. She would continue to make them up until 1972, when she suffered a heart attack at the age of 79.
Portrait from a newspaper of Sister Amata making her dolls
Photograph of Sister Amata at the Calvary Hospital