Sister Bernadette Phillipp, CDP
March 4, 1929 – August 16, 2025
Sister Bernadette (formerly Mary Cabrini) Phillipp, CDP, entered eternal life August 16, 2025, at the age of 96 in Regan Hall, San Antonio, Texas. Sister Denise Demel was at her side. She was born March 4, 1929, in La Feria, Texas to Albert Joseph and Sophie Teresa (Zimmerer) Phillipp.
She was taught by CDP’s at Providence Academy, in Alexandria, Louisiana. She was sure she would marry and have many children until she attended her high school senior retreat. There she heard “At one time or another, everyone thinks she has a religious vocation.” She had relatives who were CDP’s and she began to discern. She visited Our Lady of the Lake Convent in San Antonio, Texas, and was impressed. The happy, smiling Sisters made her feel accepted and welcomed. She entered the convent on September 8, 1946, and professed first vows on June 22, 1949. She began her lifelong wellness focused ministry in 1949.
Sister Bernadette served as a school nurse, then as a medical technologist for 26 and attended college within those years. Her passion for wholistic wellness led her to assist in the realm of physical therapy. She enjoyed it but personally, she was searching for a deeper prayer and meditative life. She looked at different methods and was led to parapsychology and body-mind pathways, and alternative healing methods, i.e. transcendental meditation. Providence provided an opportunity for her to find the deeper understanding she desired.
In 2002, her most memorable experience began in India. She accepted the invitation from the Art of Living Foundation to journey to the East. She felt this was an opportunity to follow in her founder’s footsteps! There she learned to go deep inside her inner energy. She learned to integrate ministry with meditative practices. One of her greatest awakenings came when she served the poor in the slum areas and rural villages of India. There she offered them food, healthcare and education with the team whom she worked with. The experience of living simply and witnessing joy in those with so little profoundly changed her. In turn, she uplifted individuals by educating them in the science of breath and how to use it as a tool to uplift them from depression and hopelessness. This, along with her team’s presence and service in planting trees, cleaning up streets, and addressing this latter need with the authorities for the area, empowered the people to take responsibility for their feelings, circumstances, and surroundings.
She shared her acquired experiential learnings in her annual Christmas letters to family and friends. There is no separation between the spiritual and the secular world. God is present everywhere – on buses, streets, homes, office buildings and more. This makes our one and only God personal and demonstrates that we are all one!
She described India as a place of great diversity. She observed that each state spoke a different language, with some differences in food and dress. She shared that God’s love for diversity was evident in nature, through the different flowers, plants, trees, animals and seasons. This is what made India so rich in culture, language, art, dress. She enjoyed the beauty! May her observations and acquired peace be examples that our world needs to embrace diversity and work toward peace.
Sister Bernadette is survived by her siblings, Sister Mary Ann Phillipp, CDP, Francis Phillipp, Steve (Mary Anne) Phillipp, Rita Schreiber, and Bro. Albert Phillipp, FMS, numerous nieces and nephews, cousins, and her Sisters of Divine Providence. She was preceded in death by her parents Albert Joseph and Sophie Teresa (Zimmerer) Phillipp and siblings Lawrence (Evelyn) Phillipp, Bro. Paul Urban Phillipp, FMS, Donnie Phillip, and sister-in-law Mildred Phillipp and brother-in-law Don Schreiber.
The Rosary is Sunday, August 31st, at 4:30 p.m.; Wake, at 6:00 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial is Monday, September 1st, at 11:00 a.m. All services will be in Annunciation Chapel at Our Lady of the Lake Convent Center.