Yvonne speaking with a visitor at the Mind Body Spirit expo at the RDS 2002.
Yvonne with Paul Harris and Monsignor Tom Fehily.
My Dear Friends in Meditation,
It is with deep regret that we have to tell you the sad news of the death of Father Main's Sister, YVONNE FITZGERALD.
She died very peacefully on Thursday, 24th July at 6pm in St Vincent's Private Hospital. Her funeral Mass took place in Booterstown Church on Monday, 28th at 11am and she was buried in Deans Grange cemetery immediately after the Mass.
It is only two weeks ago that she asked me to find her John Main's book on Dying ("Death: The Inner Journey"). When I took it into her last week she was still full of that unique Spirit which reached out to everyone in every circumstance. Indeed, when she was informed that her illness was terminal, she just accepted it and continued her work in planning the annual Week for Meditators in Kerry to which she was quite determined to go. She was unable to do so but she kept directing it from her hospital bed. That Spirit never faltered to the last minute and it was very hard for her friends to take it seriously that she was dying. We shall all greatly miss that cheerful, supportive Spirit.
May she now enjoy Eternal Life with her brother, Father John.
MARANATHA.
Yours sincerely,
Monsignor Tom Fehily
Yvonne Fitzgerald, sister of John Main, died peacefully in Dublin July 24th at the age of 79. She leaves two children, Eric and Richard, six grandchildren, a sister Diane, a brother David (Ian), and eighteen nieces and nephews. A funeral service attended by a great number of family and Irish meditators was held at her Booterstown parish church on July 28th.
Twice widowed, Yvonne played a leading role in bringing John Main's teaching to Ireland where there are now over 125 Christian Meditation groups. She also pioneered a summer holiday program for meditators at a convent in Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry. Her outgoing, positive and friendly nature endeared her through the years to countless Irish meditators as well as visitors from many countries to her summer holiday program that included regular periods of meditation. This work will be carried on by her nephew William. Another nephew David Main was commissioned by Yvonne shortly before her death to make a documentary film on the life of John Main which is now in progress.
In the book "John Main by Those Who Knew Him" Yvonne commented humorously on growing up with her brother Douglas (John Main). She recalls: "a few times as young children Douglas would celebrate mass with an altar on top of a chest of drawers. I was encouraged to be an altar girl but was frequently dismissed because I either started to laugh or rang the bell at the wrong time".
In 1939 the Main family found themselves in London at the beginning of World War 2. Yvonne reminisced about these days: "When the war broke out (1939) Douglas was thirteen and he and I were fire watchers. We were both issued with helmets (tin hats). As soon as an air raid siren would sound the two of us would put on our hats and madly dash out of doors. Mother would say 'Come back here immediately'. We were both convinced that with the protection of our tin hats absolutely nothing could happen to us. At that time we did not realize the dangers of war. My memory of those days is sleeping under the dining-room table during the air raids and the innumerable' Let's have a cup of tea'.
Yvonne did not begin to meditate until after the death of John Main in 1982. She pointed out in the book, "The Heart of Silence:Contemplative Prayer by Those Who Practise it", that Fr. John did talk to her once about meditation but she replied at the time "I don't think that's for me". What eventually led Yvonne to meditation was coming to Montreal with her sister Diane for the funeral of their brother. According to Yvonne it was one of the great emotional and spiritual experiences of her lifetime. The two sisters were totally overcome by the goodness and kindness of everyone at the Montreal Benedictine Priory and amazed at the outpouring of love and affection for their brother John Main. At that point Yvonne realized that Christian Meditation was indeed to be her spiritual path. A few months later in Dublin Laurence Freeman suggested she start a group in her own home and this was the beginning of a very fruitful apostolate in Ireland to share her brother's teaching with as many people as possible.
John Main once said "we were very happy in our home life and as well as brothers and sisters we were all great friends". In fact it was in the heart of the family that John Main and Yvonne first experienced the warmth of human love, a love that would give both of them such psychological stability and communication skills in their later lives. Perhaps this loving bond between brother and sister and their desire to share the gift of meditation can best be summed up in Cardinal Newman's well known prayer.
God has created me to do some definite service,
he has committed some work to me, which he has not
committed to another.
I have my mission....I am a link in a chain,
a bond of connection between persons.
He has not created me for naught.
I shall do good. I shall do his work.
Paul T. Harris
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