VOCATIONS: Sr Elizabeth Vagg: Giving hope through service and education
By Catherine Sheehan
Sr Elizabeth Vagg PBVM said it was becoming more familiar with Scripture and meeting “Christ as a person” that eventually led her as a young woman to become a religious sister.
Having been a Presentation Sister for 62 years now, she said the most rewarding aspect had been using her gifts to help others, support them in practical ways, and “give them hope”.
“Sometimes we are not aware of our influence, but occasionally, we are given a glimpse and that can be encouraging,” Sr Elizabeth said.
She was born in Hobart during the Second World War, the eldest of five children. The family lived in Hobart until Elizabeth was seven years old, when they relocated to Moonah.
“The post-war years were difficult for many people,” Sr Elizabeth said. “We lived a simple life. My parents worked hard and were resourceful.”
When she was in grade 9, she had thoughts of becoming a doctor but decided on a different path.
“As I became more familiar with the Scriptures, I came to meet Christ as a person and my prayer life started to develop.
“By this time, I was attending a daily lunch-time Mass at the Cathedral and by the following year I believed God was calling me to religious life.”
At the age of 17 she entered the Presentation Sisters’ Novitiate in Melbourne in 1961.
She chose the Presentation Sisters because she felt drawn to an active rather than contemplative life, and to being able to help others in a practical way.
She made her First Profession at the Church of the Apostles in Launceston on 21 December 1963, and her Final Profession at the Sisters’ chapel in St Mary’s College in Hobart on 23 December 1968.
Over the years, Sr Elizabeth has taught in a number of schools including: Sacred Heart College Launceston, St Mary’s College Hobart, and Star of the Sea in George Town. She has been Chaplain at the Australian Maritime College and the University of Tasmania in Launceston for the past 40 years.
She has also served on school boards has been involved with many educational bodies. She is currently a member of the Catholic Identity and Evangelisation Standing Committee, and is the Tasmanian representative on the Australian Bishops Commission for Christian Unity and Inter-religious Dialogue.
As this year marks 250 years since the founding of the Presentation Sisters and 160 years since the first Sisters first arrived in Australia, Sr Elizabeth said she continues to be amazed by the achievements of their foundress, Nano Nagle.
“My thoughts through this year have focussed on Nano Nagle—her courage and determination to make a difference in the lives of Irish Catholics more than 250 years ago and still today in 24 countries across the world.
“The fact that despite being a woman living under Penal Laws, she was able to establish schools, make a difference in the lives of a depressed people, bring an order of Nuns from Fance to teach well-to-do families, and establish another Order, the Presentation Sisters, to continue her work—Surely that is the miracle that should lead to her Canonisation.”
Sr Elizabeth said when it comes to discerning a vocation it was important to have times of “quiet reflection” in order to “hear the call of God”.
“We have to be able to discern what God is asking us to do and how we can respond; and then we have to have the courage to act.”