pathways, OCTOBER 2007
History is not made by those who try to foresee what is inevitable so that they can jump on the cart of fate in good time, but by those who are prepared to take the ultimate risk of defeat
(A Cause of Trouble, Margaret O'Sullivan)
Sr Josephine Cannell RSC returned home to Tasmania after almost 70 years of Religious life, anticipating a relaxed retirement.
Instead, she found herself writing the story of the Sisters of Charity in Tasmania, covering all of the 160 years (and counting) of their ministry in the island State.
To the Beckoning Shores was launched by Archbishop Adrian Doyle at a festive dinner which celebrated the Sisters' commitment to Tasmania through education, health and social welfare.
Sr Josephine (
pictured left), who celebrated those 70 years of profession earlier this year, now contemplates her deferred retirement, satisfied in the knowledge that this latest project has been well received by an appreciative reading public.
She was an ideal person to ask to take on the job.
White-haired and quietly spoken, she belies her 90-something age tag. Her mind and her recall are sharp and accurate. And she was able to bring personal, local knowledge to the book, adding interest and details to otherwise scare historical records.
Sr Josephine was born in New Norfolk, in the Derwent Valley. When the family moved to Hobart, she attended the Sisters of Charity St Joseph's School. She entered in 1934 and became a teacher. All her ministry has been either in or near Melbourne and Sydney, although she did spend one year in the early 1970's at Taroona, the suburb of Hobart where she now lives.
It was a powerpoint presentation to the staff of the RSC's Mount Carmel College (Sandy Bay, Hobart) about the history of the congregation and the college that initially presented the idea of "writing it up" - and then came planning for the 160th celebrations. With a similar, if somewhat smaller pubication to her credit, how could she say "no"?
Archbishop Doyle, in launching To the Beckoning Shores, said that it had all the drama, conflict, struggle and emotion of a modern reality television show.
"The difference is that this book tells a story that is real," he said.
But for all the turmoil, it also was a story full of wonderful people, of great achievements and of happiness.
This story was celebrated by a weekend of events which began on the Friday, with assemblies at two of the schools associated with the Sisters of Charity - Mount Carmel College and St Aloysius School (Kingston).
"The charism of the
Sisters of Charity is strong and vibrant and underpins a culture in our school which does not just reside in books and mottos but is celebrated and lived every day," the Mount Carmel College Principal, Mrs Laurie Wolfe said.
On Saturday morning
, a moving prayer ceremony was held at the Female Factory in South Hobart, a place where 15,000 young women and children - more than half the women transported to Australia - were sent between 1827 and 1857 after being convicted of petty crimes in famine- and poverty-stricken Ireland.
They were offered care and hope by Mother Mary John Cahill (left), Sr Mary France de Sales O'Brien and Sr Mary Xavier Williams (right) after their arrival in 1847.
The Sisters had come to Tasmania in response to pleas from Bishop Willson. Existing tensions in Sydney had escalated into a crisis so that three of the original band of five pioneer missionaries felt impelled to leave the Sydney Archdiocese.
They set sail aboard the Louisa and arrived in Hobart where they were warmly welcomed by Bishop Willson and the Catholics of his diocese. On July 2, the sisters moved into the residence next to St Joseph's Church where they were to remain for more than a century. The ministry of the Congregation in Tasmania was blessed in having the warm support of Bishop Willson and his vicar Father Hall, and it prospered accordingly.
The Sisters of today presented framed letters to be displayed in the Matron's Cottage at the Female Factory. These were
a letter from Vicar General Rev. Fr William Hall to Governor William T. Denison, asking permission for the Sisters to visit the Convict Female Factory, the Queen's Orphanage and the Gaol;
a letter recording the Governor's permission provided that the Sisters did not interfere with the work of the women, and
an extract from a letter from Mother Cahill to Mary Aikenhead telling her of the work of the Sisters in Hobart in making daily visits to instruct female convicts at the Cascades.
The Female Factory Historic Site Project Manager, Ms Shirley McCarron, said the role of the Sisters in helping the prisoners could not be underestimated.
"The environment at the factory site was cold, damp, dark and overcrowded and poor diet resulted in many diseases and death," she said.
Archbishop Doyle was the principal celebrant at the Mass at St Joseph's Church that evening before the dinner.
In her welcome, the Congregational Leader, Sr Elizabeth Dodds RSC, from Sydney said that more than 40 Sisters were in Hobart for the celebrations.
"It is a true pilgrimage for us," she said, "in the journeying, in the remembering, in the thanksgiving and in the celebrating.
"In pilgrimage, our steps are thoughtful and reflective so that we come to know and appreciate who we are more deeply."
Sr Elizabeth acknowledged the celebration of 160 years as a summit.
"However, from the summit you see so much more - so much more to be achieved, so many more people at the margins, so much need for the love of Christ.
"Let this Eucharist then become the nourishing source for our future ministries and partnerships."
The Mass booklet contained the names of the more than 200 Sisters of Charity who had ministered in Tasmania, in education, health and welfare, over the 160 years.
The church was filled with people from all walks of life, including the Governor of Tasmania, His Excellency, the Honourable William Cox, the Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Rob Valentine, and Mrs Rosalie Robertson, from Perth Western Australia, a direct descendant of Sister Mary Xavier Williams, a founding Sister and the first woman Religious professed in Australia.
On Sunday, at Cornelian Bay on the banks of the Derwent River, the Sisters gathered again to pray at the gravesite of the pioneer Sisters, Margaret Cahill, Catherine O'Brien and Eliza Williams.
The Mass celebrated by Archbishop Doyle in the Wellington Chapel was a simple but powerful liturgy, which underlined the strength these women draw from a faith which is so firmly rooted in the Eucharist and in Catholic tradition.
Today, Sisters of Charity live and minister in Hobart and Devonport in education, welfare and pastoral activities.
presentation: Congregational Leader Sr Elizabeth Dodds RSC (right) presents the letters to the Female Factory Historic Site Project Manager Shirley McCarron
cemetery: Rosalie Robertson, from Perth, Western Australia, at the Cornelian Bay grave of her great, great, great grand Aunt, Sister Mary Xavier Williams
photographs: the Sisters of Charity; Sr Josephine: Jillian Smith, Hobart
I am standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me
I am stronger for their courage; I am wiser for their words.
I am lifted by their longing for a fair and brighter future
I am grateful for this vision, for their toiling on this earth ...
I will stand a little taller; I will work a little longer
And my shoulder will be there to hold the ones who follow me.
(from the prayer service at the Female Factory)
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