MARLBOROUGH- Sr. Henryka (Marian) Bernat, CGS, a Contemplative Sister of the Good Shepherd died Friday February 27, 2009 at St. Patrick's Manor in Framingham after an illness. She was 90 years of age and had been a Contemplative Sister of the Good Shepherd for 54 years.

A native of Niagara Falls, New York, she was the daughter of the late Lawrence and Eve (Mrsygut) Bernat. She was educated in Poland. In 1954, she enter the Contemplative Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Peekskill, New York a community with a lifestyle where the Sisters spent hours in prayer and in activities suite to the cloistered life. She professed her First Vows on July 22, 1957. Sister Henryka was assigned to the Altar Bread and Sewing Departments. From 1959 to 1998, Sister was missioned to communities in Morristown, New Jersey, Marlborough, Garrison, New York and Dix Hills, New York where she worked in the Altar Bread and Sewing Departments. In 1998, due to failing health she was missioner to Good Shepherd Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Sister Henryka was pre-deceased by her two sisters Mrs. Eva Biatek of New Jersey and Mrs. Genevieve Baranowski of New Jersey. She is survived by her nieces Joanne Radecki and Barbara Lawn both of New Jersey.

Visiting hours at Good Shepherd Center, 406 Hemenway Street, Marlborough will be held Wednesday March 4th from 4-8 p.m. There will be a prayer service at 7:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday March 5th at 10:00 a.m. in the Good Shepherd Center Chapel, 406 Hemenway Street, Marlborough. Burial will follow in Mount Benedict Cemetery. Expressions of sympathy in Sister Henryka's memory may be made to the Good Shepherd Retirement Fund. 406 Hemenway Street, Marlborough, MA 01752. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Fitzgerald & Collins Funeral Home (www.SFCFH.com), 378 Lincoln Street, Marlborough. Sisters of the Good Shepherd, a worldwide Congregation, were founded in France by Sr. Mary Euphrasia in 1935. They came to Boston in 1867, to Marlborough in 1964 and Harwich in 1993.