Marist Celebrations in Sydney

Marist Sisters in Australia gathered at Hunter Hill on the June long weekend to reflect and to celebrate. On Saturday morning Mrs Margery Jackman led us in a reflection on Option for the Poor. In the afternoon Sr Ruth gave us guidance on how to assist someone who has had a fall to ensure the safety of the helper and the one who has fallen then Sr Kate updated us on some financial matters.

It was with great joy that we gathered in the chapel at Marist Sisters’ College Woolwich on Sunday to celebrate our Jubilarians: Sr Catherine Lacey – Golden Jubilee, Srs Clare Francis and Marie Patricia Toomey, Platinum Jubilee.

Marist Father Paul Mahoney celebrated the Eucharist during which our Jubilarians renewed their vows. This was followed by afternoon tea in Marian House.

Golden Jubilee of Sr Jane Frances sm

Easter holidays saw the Marist Sisters of Aotearoa-New Zealand gathered for three days of assembly in Mt. Albert which concluded with the celebration of Sr Jane Frances O’Carroll’s golden jubilee of profession. Mass was celebrated in our recently renovated chapel by Bishop Patrick Dunn, for whom Jane works.

Marist Study Day to Mark Bi-Centenary

The Marist Family in Auckland gathered at Good Shepherd College June 5th for a very stimulating  seminar day of Marist Studies. The day began with a paper from Fr Alois Greiler sm titled The Marist Charism in a Trinitarian Key in which he developed the role of the Spirit in Mary and the charism of the Society of Mary. Fr Justin Taylor sm then developed some ideas of the the Work of Mary’ in the context of the historical trends taking place in the 18/19th centuries. This was followed by a description by Br. Edward Clisby fms of his recently printed book Far Distant Shores (unfortunately delayed somewhere on the route to us),with particular reference to the development of the early Brothers in New Zealand and Oceania.
The afternoon began with a presentation by Br Romuald Gibson  fms on the rise and fall of the four  Marist congregations and the implications of the present phase of religious life so valuable to the Church of our times. After this we heard  from Sr Gemma Wilson sm about the early days of the Marist Sisters. The afternoon concluded with Sr Patricia Leamy smsm’s paper on the significance of collaboration between the branches since the inception of the Society of Mary and in particular for her own branch. Copies of the various talks will appear in the Marist messenger and eventually in Forum Novum.

Sr Antonia Avey sm

Sr Antonia Avey sm was called to eternal life on Saturday 29th April 2017.

Eternal Rest grant to her, OLord.
May perpetual Light Shine upon her.
May she rest in Peace.
Amen.

We extend our prayerful sympathy to the Marist Sisters in New Zealand and to Sr Antonia’s family. At Antonia’s funeral Sr Francine delivered the following eulogy.

“When I heard last Saturday morning that Antonia had gone to her real home, these lines (with a slight gender change) came to mind – lines from the poem ‘Requiem’ by Robert Louis Stephenson:

Here she lies where she longed to be:
Home is the sailor, home from sea
And the hunter home from the hill

Antonia had a great desire and longing to be with God which in the latter years of her life she expressed often. I will talk about this later.

In “Sr Antonia’s Story” where she writes about her life, and in special detail her 23 years as a missionary in Fiji, she speaks of a happy and united family life with an open door to anyone who cared to call.  This characterised Toni’s attitude towards anyone who called at our door during the 10 years I lived with her in Linden and Tawa. It was in her family that her vocation was fostered. She would often accompany her Dad to daily Mass. She said his deep love of the sacramental presence of the Lord rubbed off on her.

Antonia did her primary schooling in Taihape and the convent school in Frankton with the Sisters of the Mission continuing at Sacred Heart in Hamilton.  Her final year was spent as a boarder in Mt Albert with the intention of getting to know the sisters before travelling to Sydney.  She thoroughly enjoyed that year but admits to ‘not studying terribly hard’ and she writes “At the back of my mind I thought that if I didn’t study too well they might not want to have me in the convent.  What generosity!  However I was gradually coming round to the truth that Jesus was calling me and I would answer the call.”

This she did in 1940 on the S.S.Mariposa with Sr Margarita at the tender age of 17 years.  They both got very sick on the boat and she tells the story of them and I quote, ‘feeling so seedy the second  night we couldn’t face going down to our cabin. We staggered down to get a couple of cabin blankets, came back to the deck, made ourselves as comfortable as we could on deck chairs, draped ourselves in the cabin blankets and there we stayed. A couple of times someone came along the deck saying, “Would those with cabin blankets on the deck please return them to the cabins.” Neither of us moved. We thought that if they wanted them back in the cabin they could take them themselves. We weren’t going down again. We awoke next morning to the sound of swishing water with sailors washing the deck.”

The novitiate at that time was in Woolwich, a beautiful spot which overlooked the Lane Cove River in Sydney. Her time there was short-lived as a submarine was spotted in Sydney Harbour and the Woolwich community, the Novitiate and boarding school of 50-60 boarders had to move to Mittagong, a safer place in the country. The hardships during this time were a very good preparation for her time as a missionary in Fiji. This move fulfilled her greatest desire which was to be a missionary.

She travelled to Fiji and spent the next 23 years there as a primary school teacher in different schools. 13 years were spent on a remote island in the Yasawas which was the highlight of her time in Fiji. Travelling on the village boats to reach the island took 8 hours and Antonia was very fearful to begin with but after a couple of trips with the Fijian crews, she lost all her fear because of their prowess at handling the boats. She had many stories to tell of her time there.

Antonia returned to NZ in 1967 where she taught at Mt Albert. She completed her teacher training at Loreto Hall and then taught at both Mt Albert and Herne Bay with several years in Melbourne. Subsequent years were spent in remedial teaching and pastoral work in 7 different parishes throughout the North Island. Her work in Linden, Tawa was mostly with refugees who benefited greatly by Antonia’s teaching skills. One of them who came from Cambodia, wanted to set up a hairdressing business and Antonia spent a lot of time taking him around and showing him what that would entail.  He changed his mind but did manage to set up a hairdressing business in his garage later.  A young Somali girl was another of Antonia’s pupils and she took infinite pains with her.  She came to live in a bedsit opposite our house in Linden where she received a lot of mentoring and instruction. Another Chinese gentleman with his wife went to see her several times at Marian Rest Home as it was called then when she moved North and they still ask after her 10 years later.

In 2007 Antonia moved from Tawa to MacKillop Care and we were told what a wonderful difference she made there, greeting newcomers and visitors with a cheerful smile and a kind word as well as making a great contribution to the life of the residents with her astuteness, sense of humour and prowess at rummykub in the early days and scrabble later. Prue, the Manager, said she was one of life’s special ladies, everyone loved her and she was a joy to have every day.  She would walk around humming and singing, often telling someone how nice she looked and that if the admired item of clothing was left around, she’d take it and put in her wardrobe. Gemma recounts that in probably the last game of scrabble she ever played, she beat her by getting TWO words of 7 letters thus receiving two bonuses! This is spite of being in a lot of pain!   Prior to her illness, she was a dab hand at cryptic crosswords, crochet and knitting.

Antonia has lived in 15 convents in Fiji, Australia and New Zealand touching the lives of countless numbers of people and many, many children. She was a woman of deep faith, prayer and compassion, totally committed to living out her vocation as a Marist Sister.  It was a great hardship for her to live out of her own community in the last 10 years but she did so in a spirit of acceptance and courage.  I have already mentioned  that Antonia often expressed a longing for Heaven and in St Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians he wrote “We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.”     This longing for Heaven, this homesickness for heaven is something Antonia bore within herself daily. She remembered that Jesus said  “There are many rooms in my Father’s house, if there were not I should have told you I am going now to prepare a place for you and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me so that where I am you may be too. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

On April 29th in the 74th year of her Marist life, God called Antonia home.

Sr Rita Raikuna sm

Sr Rita Raikuna sm was called to eternal life on Saturday 8th April 2017.

Eternal Rest grant to her, OLord.
May perpetual Light Shine upon her.
May she rest in Peace.
Amen.

We extend our prayerful sympathy to the Marist Sisters in Fiji and to Sr Rita’s family. The following eulogy was delivered at her funeral.

Sr Rita or simply Rita as she was known to us, her Sisters, was a joyful person, full of life and always quick to pass a comment and bring laughter to any group she was part of.   She brought warmth and joy to any group.  She was a live-wire.

Rita was born on the 16th September 1948 and was the third child of Mr Nemani Raikuna (a Police Officer) and Mrs Luisa Raikuna (a Teacher).   She attended a few primary schools, as a result of her parents’ postings.  These schools included Marist Convent School Levuka, St Anne’s Primary School Suva and Wairiki Catholic Mission School.   Rita received her secondary education at Loreto High School in Levuka.  This was her first introduction to the Marist Sisters.   After completing High school, she was successfully accepted into Corpus Christi Teachers College, from where she graduated in 1969.

Her first teaching post was Bemana Primary School in Sigatoka in 1970.   There, she thoroughly enjoyed her single life as a teacher.   Her weekends included expeditions across the river for shopping and dances in the mission hall in the parish compound. She always had us in stitches of laughter as she retold those real life stories of her four years in Bemana.

1975 saw her teaching in Mount St Mary’s in Nadi and it was then she decided to become a Marist Sister.   The following year she became a postulant and was transferred to teach at Marist Convent School, Lami  so as to be under the guidance of Sr. Eamon.

She was received as a novice on the 14th December 1976 in Merrylands, Australia where our novitiate was at that time and made her first profession there on the 18th December 1977.   After profession she came back home to Fiji and taught in our schools namely – St Thomas Primary, Marist Convent Lami, Marist Convent Levuka, Convent School Vatukoula, and Nasomolevu Catholic School in Yasawa.

In 1989 she was asked to be missioned to The Gambia in West Africa.  She once said that it was with mixed feelings of appreciation, apprehension and a little excitement that she responded to the call.   Appreciation – as she felt privileged to be chosen; apprehension – the fear of going into the unknown; and excitement – to find out what was out there.   She fitted in easily and was well accepted by the people of Farafenni in The Gambia.   She loved her work and was happy. She loved the people and was at home with them.

Then in 1995 she was asked to return home, to be the Novice Directress.   Her response was and I quote, “I was struck dumb and numb the whole evening.”  If you know Rita, you cannot imagine her being struck dumb or numb.  But in her simplicity and humility she responded to the call, her words being and again I quote, “Through my vow of obedience, I acknowledge my shortcomings and weaknesses and will do what the Lord wills in my life.”

She packed up, said her good byes and returned home.

Back here in Fiji she was involved in Formation until she was elected a Regional Councillor and went to live in New Zealand.   During that period she attended our General Chapter in Rome and was elected to be a General Councillor, which meant living and working in Rome for a term of seven years. During her time there, she brought much joy and laughter to the community as well as those who visited the community.

It was towards the end of her seven years term she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.  This was coupled with rheumatism. Both conditions progressed quickly and caused her a lot of pain which began to cripple her.

Her inability to do certain activities was a big cross; at times almost too heavy to carry.   In spite of her suffering and pain, the spark of her lively spirit never faded and they carried her to the end.

She was a woman, a Sister, gifted with many gifts, bright, outgoing (a real extravert) popular with youth.  She was conscientious and efficient.  In leadership role, she cared for the development of her staff and Sisters, and the spiritual growth of the children in the schools.  She had a genuine concern for others and this was manifested in her involvement in pastoral ministry and parish activities.   Most importantly she was faithful to her hour of prayer in the mornings before 6.30am Mass.   Rita radiated joy, was generous and sensitive in contributing to the communal work load.

Thank you, Rita, for your example of simplicity, joy and faithfulness to our Marist way of living.   I can hear you echoing the advice of Sr. Mary Christopher, “When responsibility clashes with pleasure, pleasure must go and responsibility take precedence.”  Thank you Rita!

In the Footsteps of Fr Colin

Three Marist Sisters from the Asia-Pacific Region are currently in Rome – Srs Lorraine Campbell (ANZ), Noelene Simmons (Aus) and Lilibeth Cajes (Ph) as members of the Marist Sisters Finance Committee. They took time to visit the Basilica of Santa Sabina. This is one of the Basilicas visited by Fr Jean Claude Colin, the Founder of the Marist Sisters, during his final visit to Rome.

Celebrating 90 Years of Marist Primary Mt Albert, New Zealand

On 7th February, 1927, Marist Primary opened its doors for the first group of students in the parish school.  Mother Bernard and Sr. Austin the two pioneer Marist Sisters had arrived on 24th January to make the Marist sisters foundation, some 70 years since the arrival of Bishop Pompallier and the priests and brothers of the Society of Mary.

 

Ninety years later the school opening was marked by the celebration of Mass, a birthday cake and a replica of the photo of the infant class in 1927.  The Marist Sisters were present to support the school and to celebrate with the staff, students and families.  Sr Lorraine gave a reflection linking the house patrons – Pompallier, Chavoin, Bernard and Austin to the gospel of the day that called on all to be united to the vine – Jesus, the vine of our ancestors in the faith, the church community, and to each other.  (Jn 15: 1-4)

Marist Sister from New Zealand Attends ACRATH Conference

Attending the ACRATH conference in Sydney recently was Sr Margaret Vaney from New Zealand. The theme of the conference was End the Scourge of Human Trafficking Now. Conference participants were given presentation on the presence of slavery in supply chains and how we can use our consumer power to bring about change. Margaret is a member of ANZRATH (Aotearoa-New Zealand Religious Against Trafficking in Humans). During the conference she spoke on the work ANZRATH is doing in New Zealand.

Sr Kathleen Daly sm

Sr Kathleen Daly sm was called to eternal life Saturday 28th January 2017.

Eternal Rest Grant to her O Lord.
May perpetual light shine upon her.
May she rest in peace.Amen

At her funeral on Thursday 2nd February eulogies were delivered by Sr Julie Brand on behalf of the Marist Sisters and her cousin Jenny Menzies on behalf of Kathleen’s family.

Eulogy on behalf of the Marist Sisters:
Kathleen was always focussed on the goal ahead.  She was purposeful and knew her own mind.  And so it was that last Friday (27th January) she walked into the Office at St. Joseph’s and said she wished to go to Hospital, asking when the paramedics would arrive to take her.  This surprised us all, as Kathleen did not relish Hospital visits.  Only minutes after being placed in the Ambulance, Kathleen began to slip away.  Less than twenty four hours later, she had surrendered quietly and peacefully to our God, whom she had loved and served so faithfully throughout her life.

Kathleen was born in Sydney on 10th August 1926.  She was the third of five children born to Michael and Kathleen Daly – Gerald and Nola being the eldest, and Marie and Monica the youngest.  After the death of her parents, Kathleen and her siblings went to live with her aunt, uncle and five cousins.   The bonds they formed as a large family unit remained very strong and Kathleen would always delight in family gatherings and celebrations.  Kathleen attended St. Thomas’s Primary School, Lewisham, and Bethlehem College, Ashfield, before undertaking a Commercial course at St. Patrick’s Business College.  She then worked as a stenographer in a Government Department in Macquarie Street, Sydney.  Kathleen was actively involved in Parish life and when she was 19 years old she thought of becoming a Religious Sister.  It was while in the Confessional at St. Patrick’s, Church Hill, that a Marist Priest encouraged her, saying “What are you waiting for?” He suggested that she meet the Marist Sisters at Merrylands.  Kathleen said later, “I knew the day I went to Merrylands to ask to join the Marist Sisters, even though I had never known or met a Marist Sister, that I was led there by Divine Providence for Mary’s intention”.  Read more…

Eulogy on behalf of the Family:
Sr. Kathleen,
Sr.  Gonzaga,
Dickie, named by her father ‘his little dickie bird’.
Dickie was the name that came to be affectionally known and used by all her family.

Dickie was born 10th August, 1926 in Tempe. She was the third in line in her family. She had an older brother, Gerald, who has passed away, and three sisters, who are still alive today – her older sister Noelene (Nola) and two younger sisters, Marie and Monica. Dickie’s parents were Michael & Kathleen Daly. Michael was born in County Clare, Ireland, and Kathleen was born in Australia. After they married they lived in Tempe and later moved to Summer Hill.

When Dickie was a young teenager her life and that of her siblings was to change dramatically when sadly her father died and a couple of years later their mother also passed away. However, out of sadness came that unique Irish Catholic spirit of generosity. Her mother’s sister, Alice, and her husband, Uncle Jack Connell, were about to offer an extraordinary gift of love. Aunty Alice and Uncle Jack also had 5 children – Kathleen, Molly (who became a nursing sister with the Little Company of Mary), Eileen, Kevin and Jack. Kevin & Eileen are still with us today.

So with this large family already in place, Aunty Alice and Uncle Jack took the five Daly children into their small Dulwich Hill home. What a magnificent charitable act, suddenly raising 10 children! The stories I’ve heard over the years are of a house full of laughter, joy, love. In one small kitchen on any weekend Uncle Jack loved listening to the races on the radio, Aunty Alice always cooking something in the oven and 8 wonderful women chatting and laughing in the kitchen, and many long hours playing hopscotch or rounders with the boys. Read more…