Mass of Remembrance for missing nun set in East Northport

St. Anthony of Padua Church in East Northport is holding a Mass of Remembrance on Monday to honor Sister Eileen Christie, who went missing in July while visiting Austria.

The service will begin at 7 p.m. at St. Anthony, 20 Cheshire Place.

Family members have said that Sister Eileen, a 72-year-old retired St. Anthony’s High School teacher, has not been heard from since she sent a July 6 email describing plans to buy food at a supermarket in the town of Hallstatt.

The nun, with the Sisters of St. Joseph in Brentwood, traveled to Europe for the summer, about a year after retiring from 25 years of teaching theology at St. Anthony’s High School.

Sister Eileen’s nephew, Bill Freda of Valley Stream, has said that the nun’s clothing, passport, credit cards and tablet were found in her room at the hostel where she was staying and had frequented on three previous trips to Hallstatt.

Freda has told Newsday that leading up to Sister Eileen’s disappearance, he had been in regular contact with his aunt since she left in June with plans to visit Croatia, Austria and eventually Italy.

He has said that Sister Eileen is a seasoned solo traveler, and that her disappearance is “baffling” and “depressing” for family members, who have held out hope for an explanation.