Presentation Sisters worldwide mark 250 years
By Catherine Sheehan
On Christmas Eve this year, it will be 250 years since the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary were founded with an act of civil disobedience in County Cork, Ireland, in 1775.
This anniversary is a significant milestone for the apostolic congregation and an opportunity to reflect on the astounding legacy of the Presentation Sisters around the world, and here in Tasmania.
“On Christmas Eve we will be joining in the prayer service that will start in Ireland and be celebrated in all the countries where we minister as the sun rises there,” said Sr Majella Kelly PBVM, who has been a Presentation sister for 70 years.
“Throughout the world, the Presentation Sisters have made a difference to the lives of thousands of people,” said Sr Elizabeth Vagg PBVM, a professed Sister of 62 years.
“Not only have they enabled people to know and experience God’s loving care for them through education in their Faith, but on the human level, their personal development has been fostered, they have found employment, supported their families and made significant contributions to society.”
The Sisters played a vital role in building up the early Catholic community in Tasmania. They educated children and served the poor in the penal colonies of Van Diemen’s Land, and other parts of Australia. These courageous and faith-filled Sisters ventured by ship from the other side of the world to serve with love and generosity in the harsh environment of colonial Australia.
The Presentation Sisters were founded by Nano Nagle who defied the British authorities in Ireland by setting up illegal schools to educate the poor.
Nano was born into a wealthy Catholic family in Ballygriffin, Cork, in 1718. At the time, Catholics in Ireland were severely oppressed by British Penal Laws which prohibited them from receiving an education, practising their faith, entering politics, or having a professional career. Nano and her siblings attended clandestine schools known as “hedge schools” because they were conducted secretly behind hedges and in fields. The teachers risked their lives by holding such classes.
Nano received further education in France before returning to Ireland in 1745 after the death of her father. Soon after, her mother and her sister also passed away. This chain of tragic events led Nano to reconsider her priorities in life. She had witnessed the terrible suffering of the oppressed, poverty-stricken Catholics in Ireland and decided to do something about it.
Acting against the Penal Laws and using her own funds, Nano founded several schools in Cork to educate poor children. The authorities turned a blind eye to her schools because they were so successful. Her schooling system not only taught the basics, but also practical skills to equip students to enter a trade or profession.
She also cared for the poor, disadvantaged, the sick, and the elderly of her city. She educated the children of prostitutes and visited prisoners in goal.
In order to ensure that her work of educating and caring for the disadvantaged continued, Nano founded her own congregation on Christmas Day in 1775, which eventually became the Presentation Sisters. The congregation spread around the world, establishing foundations in many countries.
Nano died in 1784 at the age of 65. Her final words were: “Love one another as you have hitherto done.”
“She saw a need and did something about it,” said Sr Pat Kingsley PBVM, who made her final vows as a Presentation Sister in 1949 and recently celebrated her 100th birthday. “She realised the people weren’t being educated, not only in schools but in their faith, the faith was the main thing.”
Sr Elizabeth said she was inspired by Nano’s “efforts to seek and respond to God’s will in her life, her courage in the face of difficulties and opposition, and her selfless generosity and tireless efforts for those in need”.
In 1866 the first foundation of the Presentation Sisters in Australia was established in Hobart, Tasmania. This was in response to Bishop Murphy’s request for religious sisters from Ireland to teach Catholic children in Tasmania. The Catholic population at the time was largely illiterate.
On 31October 1866, four Presentation Sisters and five postulants from Fermoy in Ireland arrived by boat in Hobart. They were: Mother Xavier Murphy (Bishop Murphy’s sister), Sister Mary Regis Murphy, Sister Ignatius Murphy, Sister Stanislaus O’Brien, Ellen Beechinor, Kate Russell, Ellen Keller, and Eliza Cronin.
The Presentation Sisters went on to establish numerous schools around Tasmania including St Mary’s College in Hobart, St Finn Barr’s Invermay, St Joseph’s Queenstown, Corpus Christi Bellerive, St Cuthbert’s Lindisfarne, St Anthony’s Riverside, and Star of the Sea in George Town.
“The schools that were started by the Sisters still operate and flourish today, in the capable hands of dedicated lay staff,” Sr Elizabeth said.
“Had the Presentation Sisters not come to Tasmania, it would have been difficult for families to pass on the Catholic faith to the next generation.”