Congregation of Our Lady of Mercy in New Zealand - UC Research ...

COHGl".?.EGATION OF OUR I,ADY OP LillHCY
IN
NEW ZEAL.AJifJJ
Codeword:
Aphis.

1.
Preface
Sisters of Eercy in our different dioceses have
often expressed regret that, so far, no one has
written a historical sketch of the Order of roy
in New Zealand. Time is steadily stealing from our
midst those who were privileged to enjoy personal
acquaintance with the first religious wonen - the
Auckland Sisters of Uercy of 1850 - to cone to this
country. So, v1'11ile there yet remain ·with us, five of
the original band who in 1873 founded the~- first
Convent of I~rcy in the South Island, I have
attenpted to break the ice, however feebly, and thus
free the current for more competent explorers.
Owing to the lack of a central authority for the
Order, the collecting of sources and other data has
entailed :'luch :1ore research than one rr1igllt infer fror:t
the size of the WOl"k. A considerable a.rnount of detail
was necessa:r'y but I have endeavoured to so use it as
not to lose si~ht of the vivifyin~ spi t o~ nercy,
which enbraces even the least works of the Order.
pro;2pt an d. sene:;;ous response to :1any appeals
and loans of useful naterials I owe abundant thad:s
to ~Irs.S.R.Goulter, Fairlie; I

2
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
page
1. PREFACE.
L~.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
7. CHAPTER 1 •
1 L~. CHAPTER 11.
ORIGIN AND SPIIUT OF' THE OHDER OP W~RCY.
THE COMING AND EARLY ACTIVITIES OP THE
SISTERS OF' UERCY.
27. CHAPTI~R 111 •
MOTHER CECILIA L~EER:
AUCKLAND POUNDATIONS.
St. Uary's, Ponsonby, 1850;. St. Patrick's,
Auckland, 1850; St. John's, Parnell, 1862;
St. Joseph's, Onehunga, 1864; St. Cecilia's,
Otahuhu, 1866; St. hlar·y's, Coromandel, 1882;
st. Joseph's Orphanage, Talcapuna, 1894; St.
Leo's, Devenport, 1896; St. Catherine's,
'waihi, 1902; Te Aroha, Our Lady of J.Jourdes,
1903; Holy Cross, Epsom, '1921; r~,;t. Carmel,
Milford, 1922; . St. Bride's Avondale, 1923;
Star of the Sea Orphanage, Bowick, 1925;
Monte Cecilia College, Hillsborough Rd.,
Onehunga, 1926; St. 1-.Iary' s, Pawarene§a, 1927;
Holy Cross, Henderson, 1932.
Mater Misericordiae Hospital, 1900.
39. CHAPTER 1V.
WELLINGTON ARCHDIOCESE.
Guildford Terrace, Thorndon, 1851; St.
Joseph's, Upper Butt, 1852; St. Philomena's,
1873; Blenheim, 1885; Ne·wton, 1890; Seatoun,
1909; Kilbirnj.e, 1912; Picton, 1914;
Nai Nai: the Beaut.: .. lll, 1916- '17; Ha.taitai
and Holy Cross. ·1930; Other Foundations, 1936;
An Amalgamation - Reefton, 1881, Westport, 1894.
54. CHAPTER V.
HOICITIKA:
"All Saints," Greymouth, 1882; St. Joseph's,
Lyttelton, .1890; St. MaT·y's Christchm.•ch,
18:J4; "Villa L1aria," Riccarton, 1918;
Loreto College, 1929; Convent of Mercy,
Tirnaru, 1936.

Page
71. OHAPrER V1.
79· OHA-',TEH V11.
-·-------
DUNEDIN DIOCESE.
Gore, 1897; St. Philomena's College 1897-
1904; Liosgiel, 1898; St. Vincent's Orphanage,
1898; Winton, 1898; \'!rey' s Bush, 1899
Alexandra, 1912; Riverton, 1~:13; Nightcaps,
1916; I;Iornington, 1919; \,Vaveley Boys'
Or;)hanage, 1920; Mater Misericordiae
Hospital 1936.
CONCT.USION.
3

BIBLIOGRAPHY.
4
1. PUBLICATIONS.
1. RELIGIOUS WORKS CONSULTED.
Cardinal Patrick Francis Jvloran:
J.J. Wilson:
A New Orleans Sister of Mercy:
Sister M. Josephene Gately:
M.G. Thither:
History of the Catholic
Church in Australasia.
(Oceanic Publishin~ Cor:Jpany,
Sydney 1895.)
11
Memoirs of Early Days. 11
(The New Zealand Tablet
Publishing Co. Ltd.,
Dunedin, 1910.)
"In the Path of the Pioneer
(New Zealand Tablet Publish
ing Co. Dunedin, 1921.)
11
Leaves from the Annals of
the Sisters of Mercy. 11 Vols
1 and 11.
(P.O'Shea, New York. 1883)
11
The Sisters of L~ercy. rr
Maci;lillan. Co., Nevr York,
1931. )
Thesis - Roman Catholic
Educational Activity in the
Province of Otago, N. Z.
(Canterbury College 1934.)
2. NON-~~L~GIOUS '.'IOR!CS CONSULTED.
CYclopedia of New Zealand.~
Timaru Public Library, )
Cambridge History of the
British Empire.
Horsley:
Rusden:
Hight ana Bamford:
Vol. 1. ~ellington
Vol. 11. Auckland.
Vol. 111.Canterbury. (1903)
Vol. V. Nelson, I~arlborough,
and Westland.
Vol. V11., part 11 n.z. ·
(cru~b. Press. London, 1933.)
11
The Romance of N. z."
('.r.c. and E.G. Jacli:.London,
1908. )
1
'History of N.Z.," Vol. 11.
(Melville, lilullen and Slade,
Melbourne, 1882.
11
'l'he Constitutional History
and Law of Nevr Zealand. 11
(Whi tcornbe & Tombs, Ch. Ch.
1914. )

Shrimp ton and Mulgan:
Scholefield:
Reeves.
3. OFFICIAL DOCU!i!EWrG.
"Maori and Pakeha."
(Whi tcombe & Tombs,
Christchurch, 1921.)
"New Zealand Affairs."
\L. Il. Isi tt, Christchurch,
1929.)
"The Long White Cloud."
(Horace Marshall & Son,
London, 1898.)
5
Australian Catholic Directory, 1938.
Year Book by I.larist Fathers, 1927 and 1928. New Zealand
and A11stralia.
The New Zealand Police Gazette, 16th June, 1897.
4. NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS.
New Zealand Tablet.
(Dunedin. )
Zealandia.
(Auckland. )
hlarist Messenger.
(Wellington. )
Westport News.
The Universe.
(London. )
English Catholic Times.
(London. )
The Catholic Press.
(Australia. )
N. Z. Catholic Schools Journal:
23rd February 1938.
30th.March 1938.
23rd November 1938.
30th Noveliilier 1938.
18th November 1837.
5th March 1938.
12th I.·larch 1938.
28th July 1938.
20th October 1938.
8th December 1938.
1st December 1931.
1st September' 1934.
1st October . 1934.
1st November 1934.
Centennial Nur:1ber,
March 1938.
11-tth December 1931.
2nd Septenilier 1938.
11th December 1937·
3rd December 1931 .
Centenary Number,
1838 - 1939.

6
5. PHAf,:PHLJ:TS.
Bishop Cleary:
Rev. W.
LocJcington S.J.
Rev. J. Ryan s. J. !1!. A.
Litt. D.
Teacher's Bulletin:
Ur. Paul Kavanagh
1 1 . Ul:J:PUBLI smm. SOUlWES ._
1. Annals.
/mnals of the Lytt ton
Convent:
Annals of the Hokitika
Convent:
11
Seventy Fifth Anniversary
of the landing in New
Zealand of the Sisters of lilerc
( 1850 - 1925.) (Mercy
Convent Archives, Auckland.)
'''.I'he Sisters of Mercy -
(Centenary 1831 - 1931.
Convent Librar•y,
\Vellington. )
Mother Catherine LlcAuley -
An Al?preciation (IJimerick
1938) (Convent Library,
Timaru. )
Surnrrw ·y of Hi or•y of CatholicCJ:F.lrch
in New Zealand
(1828 - 1936.) (Lrs.
Goulter, Pairlie.)
11
'l'he Sisters of Mercy 1 ' in Nevv
Zealand. Catholic Schools'
Journal, Deptember, 1932.
(Convent Library Timaru).
(Convent of Uercy, Lyttelton).
(Convent of l'.lercy, Hold t
\
a J.
2. Personal Interviews.
----------··~ --
I have been able to eo;.;: u.p on much ma·i.;t;;;rial by
discussing doLtbtful points ·ai th five pioneers who, though.
they have passed beyond the allotted three-score- and-ten
are still quite clear on the events and life of sixty
years ago, though not always so clear as to more modern
events. ~jisters: too, who have lived VJith the first
Auckland and Wellington Sisters, have been kind in
furnishing details.

C HAPT:Bm. 1 •
THE LIBRARY 7
fAWTERBURY UNIVERSITY COLLEGd
CHRISTCHURCH, 11.1.
Ox•iqin and Spirit o:t_:_ the Order of l,lercy..!. ..
The Order of' Llercy sprang into being as an outc:owe
of the zeal and chm·i ty of a beautiful, noble-hearted
Irish heiress, Catherine McAuley, who was born in Co.
Dublin, in 1787.
( 1) Although the second hal1' of the 18th
century was a 11 CPitical period for adhel'ents of the old
faith"
:r:n Ireland, yet Catherine's father, a devout
Catholic, enjoyed all the privileges of polite society
without any apparent injury to his Catholic principles.
In those penal days when Catholicity vras a crime and all
things Catholic were 11 hidc1en away as in the days of the
Catacombs, 11 Catherine's father used to asf~emble at his own
home on Sundays and holidays the poor of the district to
instruct them in the truths of their religion.
His
lessons were to bear fruit in the life of his young daughtel"'
who never forgot them.
1:/hen Catherine, who was the eldest of three children
vras but seven yem•s old, she lost her father;
and her gay
young mother seeing that to adhere to the Catholic faith
meant to belong to (2) a upoor, despised, impotent, ragged
and pitiful c onmnJ.ni ty, If
willingly accepted the Protestantisnt
of her friends, with its monopoly
of wealth, power,
1. Mother CathePine McAuley - An Appreciation (Eev. (.T. Ryan
f3.J.ii:.A. D. Litt.) (Limerick, 1938.)
2. Ibid.

8
prestige and learning. She died when catherine was eleven
and thenceforth the three orphans were brought up by
Protestant friends who could never persuade Catherine to
adopt their religion.
( 1 ) Vlhen sixteen years old, Catherine was adopted by
Mr. and Idrs. Callaghan, lately l'eturned from abroad, who
were old Protestant friends of the McAuley family.
Her nevv guardians idolised Catherine but were inflexible
on one point - that she should not profess the
Catholic religion. Yet so deeply.did she revere her
father's memory that she offered· to relinquish all, rather
than embrace any religion but his,· and this, even though
she was yet ignorant of Catholic aching and was denied
any association with it. However, the strength of her convictions
eventually secured her objective and she not only
resumed the open practice of her religion, but gained a
victory over the prejudice of years by winning her
guardians themselves to e~)race the Catholic religion.
Mr'. Callaghan who survived his wif'e by two ars died
in 1822, leavin,e.· Catherine his sole heiresr:;. (2) She was
now mistress of his sta.tely residence 11 Coolock House with
its plate, carriages and furniture, and income of £600 a
year· and a sum of £30,000 in the Bank of Ireland. 11
Already
1 .
11
Leaves from the Annals of the Sisters of Mercy 1 ', Nev1
York 1881 Vol 1. page 10.
2. Article in "Zealandia 11 (IJirs.· Goulter) Auckland Nov.L5th.,1937

9
her good father's exrunple had borne fruit and we find her,
during leisure hours, distributing food and clothing to
the poor, and visiting and instructing the sick of her
neighbourhood. So when she came into possession of this
fortune she decided to devote her life to the succour
of the poor, the sick, and the ignorant. (1). For their
benefit she sacrificed all; "her time, ·which ladies of' her
class were accustomed to 'Naste in pleasant distractions; her
energy, which in those days of cheap labour she would
never have been called upon to expend; 11 and her for·tune,
which could give her a life of affluence and even of splendour.
Almost irnmediatley after inheriting her fortune, she
gathered about her other, noble:...minded ladies whom she inspired
with like, noble ideals and (2) on September 2LJ.th,
1824, there was laid the foundation stones in Baggot Str'eet,
Dublin, of her first institution for destitute women and
orphans, as wel1 as of a school for poor children.
At thts
stage she had no idea of forming a religious order, but,
with her "practical capacity as :3:n administrator," she
(3) saw that by forming themselves.into a religious congregation
the good done by herself' and her colleagues
could be continued indefinitely in the future by those who
would follow in her footsteps.
(4) Hence after receiving
1. M.C. McAuley·- An Appreciation- (Rev. S. Ryan S.J.)
2. "Leaves frorn the Annals of the f3isters of Mercy 11 Vol.1.
pp. 21-22
3. "An Appreciation" op. cit.
4. Leaves from Annals. op. cit. pp. 33-67.
THE LIBP.J!RY
fARTERBURY UNIVERSITY COLLEG.S
CHRlSTCHUHCH, N.Z.

10
from Pope Pius V111 a Rescript of Indulgences dated l.iay ·
.,
23rd, 1830, Catheri.ne and two companions began a novitiate
on September 8th, 1830, under the Presentation Sisters
at Georges Hill, Dublin. (1) Here on December 12th,
1831, they took their vows as the first Sisters of Mercy,
Sister M. Catherine being appointed first Superior. Almost
in~ediately their zeal and charity were severely
tested; for, in 1832,
Dublin
cholera stalked the streets of
and the Archbishop appealed to the Sisters on
behalf of his suffering flock. (2) In answer to his
appeal the Sisters, we are told, "lcnel t down to receive
his blessing &'1d then r•ose up and made the cholera hospital
their home."
During the ten short years of her
religious life Mother McAuley founded convents throughout
Ireland and opened, in England, the first convent
since the religious revolt of the sixteenth century.
Lady Barbara Eyre, daughter of the Earl of Newbury, vvas
the first to receive the habit.
Of the progress made
by the Order we have the follovling from l.Iother EcAuley' s
own pen
( 3) "We are now ( 1839) above a hundred and desire
to join us seems rather on the increase. Though it was
thought foundations would retard it, the case appears
to be otherwise.''
It was while engaged on the Birmingham foundation September
1. Ibid. Vol. 1. P. L~3.
2. "IJeaves from the Annals of the Sisters of Mercy."
Vol. 1 . P. 315.
3. Ibid. Vol. 1. P. 1L~.

11
1841, that Mother McAuley's failing health disclosed
. alarming symptoms. She died at Baggot Street on November
11th that year.
Though teaching is the chief work of the Order of
Mercy, yet, when opportunity calls, the Sisters pass
from class-room to hospital or sick-bed and, if need be,
even to the battlefield. In 1854-6, in 1861, and again in
1899, the Sisters of Mercy by their devoted service to the
sick and wounded soldiers won the praise and esteem of all
creeds.
(1) On Friday, October 27, 1854 the first of several
bands of Sisters of Mercy embarked on the "Vectis 11 bound
fot the East. With.Florence Nightingale and Miss Stanley
they showed themselves indefatigable in their efforts to
soothe the awful sufferings of the plague-stricken and the
wounded, on battlefield and in hospital, at Balaclava,
Scutari, and Inkerrnann. (2) Two of the Sisters, victims of
cholera and typhus respectively, are buried on the bleak
heights of Balaclava. Again, in the records of the American
Civil War, we read of the devotion of the Sisters to the
stricken soldiers of their adopted country. (3) In 1900 we
find Queen Victoria giving a very cordial reception to the
Sisters of Mercy vvho had worked so heroically during
1. Annals of the Sisters of Mercy Vol. 11. p. 129.
2. Ibid. pp. 197-198.
3. Supplement to .N.Z. Catholic Schools Journal, September
1932 (Aucldand. )

12
the siege of Mefeking. The Annals tell that while expressing
her gratitude for their kindness to the soldiers, her
Majesty pinned the Royal Red Cross on their guimpa.
As Mother McAuley had foreseen, the good wor•k she
began continued after her death to make rapid progress
so that within a hundred years of its foundation the
Order of Mercy had spread throughout the English-speaking
world.
At St. Johns, Newfoundland the first house of the
Order was opened in the rtestern Hemisphere and at
Pi tts·burg 1843 the first Convent of Mercy in the United
States. Soon afterwards not only convents and schools
but orphanages, hospitals and homes for young women were
established by the Sisters in Amei'ica, Australia, New
Zealand. and South Africa.
The Centenary of the OI'der was celebrated in 1931
when the following statistics of the Order were presented.
Ireland
England
Scotland
Channel Is.
Australia
New ZealwJ.d
( 1 ) Co:tNENTS OP MERCY
196.
93.
8.
3.
252.
46.
Africa
B. \Vest Indies
North Arne ric a
South America
Central America
Total 1, 507 Convents; 20 ,L-1-62 Nuns.
s.
5.
886.
12.
1. Supplement N.Z. Catholic Schools Journal, Septenilier 1932.

CHAPTER 11.
THE COMING AND EARLY ACTIVITIES OF THE
SISTERS OI' MEHCY
13
It was as a result of the concerted effort of French
missionaries and Irish irmnigrants that the Catholic
Church was established in New Zealand.
In 1838 Monsignor
Jean Baptiste Pompallier, newly-named Vicar Apostolic of
Wester·n Oceania of which New Zealand then formed a part,
landed at Hokianga where he and. his intrepid band of
Marists were warmly welcomed by an Irish settler, Thomas
Poynton, and vvhence he set for·th determined to roughhew
his way and blaze the trail for· his followers. In response
to his appeals to Europe, priests trickled into the country
and according as these became available, he established
mission stations throughout the land. Realising the needs
of his growing flock Bishop Pompallier embarked for Rome
in 1846, and tvro years later, New Zealand was divided into
tvvo dioceses Auckland and V/ellington. Bishop Viard who had
been Bishop Pompal1ier' f> coadjutor since 1846, v1as appointed
first Bishop of Wellington with the Marist Fathers as his
helpers, while Bishop Pompalliel" retained the charge of
Aucklancl from which diocese the Marist Fathers were to
withdraw in favour of secular clergy, as soon as the
diocese was sufficiently staffed with priests.

14
on his return joul"ney from Europe in 181+9,
shop
Pomp allier called at St. Leo 1 s Convent of b:ercy, Carlow,
.
Ireland, where he begged for volunteers for his remote
sea-girt mis on. Mother Cecilia Uahe1~, then Superior of
the Carlow Convent, privately offered hel~self' for the
distant mission as did several other members of the
Community.
( 1) When it becarne known that Mother Cecilia
Laher had volunteered, the whole community in a body besought
Bishop Haly, then in c.harge of the diocese, to dissuade
her.
Though aware of the singular merit of their Superior•,
this zealous pastor very pertinently
the Sisters how
they, themselves, would have got the Pai th, if st. Patrick
and St Augustine had remained at· 'home.
though he was sorry to part with any
He told them, that,
them, God's glory
demanded the sacrifice.
So on August 8th, 1849, Mother
Cecilia
and seven companions set out from St.Leo's
Carl ow, to travel to tbe remote enc,s of the earth there to
carl"'Y on the works of Mercy -
the amelioration of the spiritual
educational and physical needs of the growing population.
In
Cross", one of New
aland's earliest newsprints,
we find the following, dated Friday, April 12th 1850:
"Shipping Listtt
April 9. -
11
0ceania", of Antwerp, 533 tons, Captain
1 • ' 1 Leaves from the Annals" Vol 11. P 591.

1 5
G-ustavus Radou, from Sydney, the 21st Uarch.
Passengers: Bishop Pomp allier 10 (sic) Sisters of Mercy ... "
11
The New alander, 11 a contemporary Auckland Newspaper,
bearing like date gives the names of those Sisters: "
Iv!esdames I.larie hlaher, Elizabeth Hughes, Mary Pages, Mary
Franklin, Mary Maher, Elizabeth Taylor, MaryBannox and
Mar·y Slattery."
Thus after braving the rigours of the
Atlantic and Pacific for eight months in a (1) 533-ton
sailing vessel~
Mother Cecilia Maher and :per seven companions
reached Auckland, then but a small struggling village,.
where they were to establish themselves as the first
religious community of women to set foot upon New Zealand
soil. 1
'The outhern Cross 11 has the following account of
their landing and welcome:
11
0n Tuesday afternoon a large
assembl
was gathered together at Smale's Point to
witness the arrival of shop Pompallier, The wor>thy
gentlel:ian had, however, debarl\:ed in private, and the crowd
was gratified with a sight of the Sisters of Charity (sic),
and several members of the Roman Catholic priesthood.
As
the bell was tolling, a rush took place and the church·was
speedily thr•onged by an eager auditory..
Mass was celebrated
and a 11 Te Deum" chanted with no inconsiderable ability by
the choir especially considerj.ng the crowded state of the
church and the excitement of the occasion. 11
1. "The Southern Cross" April 12th, 1850, as recorded in
The Seventy Fifth Annivel"say (Bishop c::.eary) P·age 5.

16
However, in the interests of historical truth, we quote
from a more accurate ace o~--

T.o the newcomers, Auckland presented a noYel picture of
17
town life.
Mother Cecilia describes the town of Auckland
in 1850 (1) as "singular-looking, partly in a valley and
partly straggling up a hill;
wooden houses, streets marked,
but sparsely strewn with dwellings; grass ever~rNhere. 11
(2) The European population of the Colon.:r ,then totalled
about 30~000
of whom 35 per cent wePe in Aucl\:land; 22 per
cent in ';'!ellington;
16. 6 per cent in Nelson; 12. 3 per cent
in Canterbury; 7. 7 per cent in Otago and 6. L~. per cent in New
Plymouth.
(3) Of the 105,000 Maoris then in the country more
than tv;o-thii'ds dwelt in Auckland while fevver than 2,000 were
then to be found in the South Island.
The variety of the
climate, the character of the e6il, and the nature of the
surface-vegetation, largely deteri11ined the distribution of the
population so that, while some fortunate, fertile localities
could support a fairly dense population, others -
paPticularly
such as were mountainous or su·bject to heavy rainfall -
were
c;_ui te uninhabited.
The expansion o:f' Northern settlements .was
difficult because of the hilly nature of the country, and
it took stout hearts and broad backs to clear and burn through
the dense forest in order to link by roads the various settlements,
and thus enable out-settlers to carry their
laboriously-procured produce to some convenient centre
1. Annals, Vol 11. op. cit. p. 607.
2. History of N.Z. (Rusden) Vol. 11 Published London 1882.
3. "The Romance of New Zealand" (Horsley. )

from which it could be exported.
18
Gradually their unflagging
industry and the steady increase in population begot new
c ondi tionf:~
of life throughout the };;nd, so that
J:J!other Cecilia I,·laher could write frm: Auckland -
( 1) "No aristocracy here; all are comfortable.
Immigrants are Irish or English."
She gives the following tariff of the necessaries of life
in Auckland 1850;-
11
GooJ. tea, 1 s. 6d. per pound; sugar, 3d.; beef and
mutton, very inferior, 6d.; very good pork; 4d.; butter
in summer 1 Od.; and in winter 2 or· 3 shillings; excellent
potatoes very cheap. Servants £15 to £20 a year; washer­
·women, 2s. 6d. a day; mechanics, 7s. 6d.; labour•ers, 5s.
No poverty where there was industry. 11
S~ne
years before the Sisters' arrival, (2)Father
Petitjean had opened a schooi 11 for the children of
inunigrants 11
and with the able assistance of stalwart laymen
he pioneered the work of education.
Hovvever, (3) it
was not until the coming of the Sisters of Mercy, in 1850,
that the education of Catholic youth in Auckland became an
organi undertaking. In 1850 the Sisters took over
Father Petitjean's school, knovm as 11 St. Patrick' s 11
and soon
they opened another - a sort of secondary school - dedicated
to st. Ii'rancis.
Their Schools began with seventy
Catholics eight of whom were war-orphans and fi:Lteen Protestants.
They also improvised in the :Lirst week and orphan~
1. "Leaves from the lmnals" Vol. 11. pp. 600-601.
2. "Auckland Times" March 9th 1843 (not signed)
3. "Seventy-fifth Anniversary" (Dr. Cleary) Page 17 •.

age in which to provide for the children of soldiers who
19
had fallen in the Maori Wars. (1) Their efforts in this
field vrere so successful that to-day they have tV'

20
( 1 ) 11 re is a specimen of a Maori pupil; 11
'One of our native girls has returned to her tribe.
She is eight·een, very modest, religious, and edifying in
her conduct. She is very talented. After learnin~ to read
and write her own language she was taught English, which
she speaks nicely, but with a lisp. She reads and writes
English well, went through with Arithmetic, and has a good
idea geography. At examinations she was often asked to
point out remarkable places on the rnap; her knowledge of
the equator, zones, etc., would surprise you.
iron, knit stoclcings, crotchet, n~alce
dresses.
She can wash,
and bake bread, cut out
She helped to malce a rochet for the bishop; can
scrub a house and put it in order.
is regarded with admiration· by all.
thirty of her· country girls (in the Bush).
go to her'. 1 '
As you may suppose, she
She has a school of
.
Some Europeans
As a result of Mother Cecilia's earnest entreaties
Carlow Convent opened a novitiate for Auckland and from
time to time sent out reinforcements. (2) In 1857 a band
of five Sisters about to embark at Chelsea, were visited
and encoUJX:lged by Cardinal Wiseman, who was deeply interested
in New Zealand.
(3) Of the next contingent which
arrived in 1860, one member, Mother Bernard, the daughter of
--------------------------------
1. Ibid Page 615.
2. uLeaves from the Annals. 11 Vol. 11. p. 603.
3. Seventy-fifth Anniversary. 11 (Dr. Cleary) p. ·24.

21
General Sir Sheffield Dixon, and grand-daughter of the
sixth Marquis of Lothian, had served in the Scutari Base
Hospital and was destined to f'Dund the first convent in
\Vellington in July, 1861.
On ( 1) December 8th, 1861, Bishop Pompallier blessed
the foundations of the present I\.fother House Mount Street,
Ponsonby, and wrote the following to .B 1 ather Therry of
Sydney:
" ••• The Sisters of Mercy (have) a part of Diocesan
ground of' eighteen ( 18) acres in extent near Auckland t t-self
for religious, charitable, and educational purposes, v i"Z.:
for their parent convent in the Diocese, for a Hospital,
and for their vast establishments of boarding-schools
in favoul' of bother races, 'whites and native' of
this countl'Y• The intended establishment, not yet built,
shall cost very likely between three and four thousand
poUnds •••• To build it) I depend .on the charity of the
faithful, and upon the assistance of God in His paternal
providence. 11
In 1852 the care of native children was handed over to
Dr. Pmpallier' s new· Order c ed the Holy F'ami ly. Thie
Order did not survive the
shop's departure, and his
niece, who was its Superior returned with him to Frsnce.
Yet the existence of this Order is of historical interest
for tvvo reasons.
Maori race who were undoubtedly
take the veil.
(2) It included several members of the
first liaori women to
In that Order also we first meet the noblehearted
Suzanna Aubert who, before founding the Order of
the Sisters of Compassion, spent nearly a quarter of a
1 • Ibid. p • 1 9.
2.,
11
Zealandia" (M. Goulter). November 18th, 1937.

22
century among the natives, teaching the children and
assisting the sick and aged.
The Sisters of Mercy vvere devoted to the Maoris from
the very start. ( 1) For Maori women who had to travel to
Auckland in order to dispose of their vegetables and
fruit, Mother Cecilia opened a house of hospitality with
the idea of protecting them from dangers to which they
might find themselves exposed in undesirable boardinghouses.
The Sisters were often impressed with the heroic
virtue of the native girls under their care:
( 2) 11 0nce," writes Mother Cecilia, 11 as our orphans and
native girls were walking on the shore, one of the
children clirnbed a rock overhanging the sea; hel"' foot
slipped and she fell down s .~me yards, and grasping some
shrubs, scPeamed for help. The·situation was terrific; a
priest and a settler looked on shuddering. But one of the native
children leaped like a deer down fror.1 the rock and seizing
the almost breathless child, bore hel" in triumph to her
companions. 11
Mother Cecilia's constant solicitude for the ~~laoris
awakened in them a lively gratitude and. gave her such
influence over them that a few words from her often made
peace between hostile tribes. (3) On one occasion when
tv1o rival tribes were on the point of attacking each other,
t1other Cecilia sent them, by a friendly native, a flag on
which was worked a dove beari
an olive branch under which
was inscribed the message .- "The sacred girls beg the
1 •
2.
3.
"Leaves from the Annals"
11
Leaves fran the Annals"
Ibid. p. 607.
Vol. 11 .. p. 615.
Vol. 11. p. 605

23
hostile parties to become good friends. 11
At once both
tribes yielded to her entr'eaties and hostilities wer·e
averted.
During their second decade in the country of their•
adoption the Sisters experienced the horrors of the
devastating, hfaori Wars when they did much to assuage the
sufferings of the distressed and afflicted. ':i'he~',
themselves,
suffered such extreme privations that in a letter
Home, Mother Cecilia remarks that ( 1) there was not a
single pound.in the house.
"It was with anxiety c::nd
solicitude that they made out what was barely necessary. 11
The Sisters were often impressed by the gratitude of the
r,:aoris.
Whenever the slightest danger threatened their
dwelling, both parties gave them notice and. assured them
that, no matter what happened, the 'sacred girls' would
be safe. ( 2) Once, in the thick of war, a chief at the
risk of his life carne into the harbour and calling at the
convent warned the Sisters to be ready to flee if the worst
should. come.
He endeavoured to allay their fears by
pledging his word to give them timely notice and to convey
them to secure refuge.
the Sisters' work in Auckland during this time
Cardinal hloran writes:
(3) 11 They proved themselves true Apostles to both the
1. "Leaves from the Annals." Vol 11. p. 619.
2. Ibid. p. 608.
3. Seventy-fifth Anniversary. p. 21.

2Lj.
'-'uropean and the natives in Auckland and throughout the
~!10 le Diocese. Amid the Vicissitudes· of that Diocese v;hen
;.issions were forsaken, and when difficulties arose such as
seldom have befallen a Colonial Diocese; for that suffering
-~)lurch was for years encompassed on every side with the
terrors and ravages of savage warfare, and 1, i th all its
direful consequences, dissensions, desolation, ruin, and a
crushing burden of debt, nevertheless throughout that trying
t~eriod st. Mary's Convent of Mercy in Auckland was a t1>ue
fortress of the faith, and handed on to the faithful of the
Diocese the
.
tradition of piety and the blessings of religion."
.
Eighty years after their ari'ival, on the occasion of
the centennial celebrations of the Order in 1931, the Sisters'
woric was still held in 1 oving rnernory.
( 1) 11 'l 1 he arrival of the pioneer Sisters, 11 says a writer
in 'Zealandia, ·' 11 during the episcopate of His Lordship,
Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier (whose memory is still deeply
revered by ~he Maori people throughout New Zealand) was an
epoch-making event in the social and religious progress
of this c Oil!ltry. 11
"Therein we are not f'orgetful of the fact that our
people substantially participated in the benefits thereof -
for many of our women-folk o:t' the past, sever•al generations
v1ere educated at the convent schools - and the names of the
Sisters of l\lercy are held in household reverence in many
homes. 11
J:l'or nearly twenty years, l,Iother Cecilia and her
c onmmni ty dwelt in a tottering old house with I,ady Poverty
as a constant companion.
(2) Yet when the financial crisis
came in the wake of the Maori Wars, their five convents
were found to be free of debt. However poorly the,y lived 9
the culture of good books and good music was always
cherished.
Even Vihen poverty obliged them to economise in
food and clothing, the libr.aries were well stocked and
1 •
2.
11
Zeal andia 11 (M,. Gaul ter) NoveLiber 18th, 1937.
Annals. Vol.·iL op. cit. p.619.

25
every book that was a help to spirituality or education
was ordered from Europe as soon as it appeared.
(l)"Buy
every good book for us" appears in lfother Cecilia's
letters home alwost as fr·eq_uently as "send us subjects."
In 1861 the present "Old Convent," St.l:Iary's, Ponsonby,
becrune the Mother House, and Novitiate.
For seventeen
years this convent was hallowed by the presence of
Uother Cecilia and is still redolent of her self-sacrificing
spirit. Here still lives in her d~ughters,
that wholehearted
solicitude for the poor, the erring, the sick
and th.e orphaned.
1. liLeaves from the Annals" Vol.ll. p. 632.

HOTHER CECILIA MAHER.
26

27
CHAPTER 11:l.
MOTHEH CECILIA_ i',lAH}EH -
AUCKLAND FOUNDATIONS
of women pioneers of the Catholic Faith in New
zealand the name of ]',[other Cecilia (Ellen) Maher, like
Abou Ben Adhem's name, might.easily lead all the rest.
:1er arPival on these shores, at the head of the little
band of Sisters of Mercy in ·J850, is a prominent landmarlc
of Catholic Pl"ogress in New Zealand.
Ellen Maher
was born at ( 1 ) Fl~eshford,
Co. Kill

28
four years later, and with her outstandinz qualities of
mind and heart vras elected S~perior
of the Carlow Convent
in 1842. This office she still filled when, in 1849,
she generously answered Bishop p;)mpallier' s appeal f'or
volunteers for his hazardous mission in a land shalcen
by earthquakes and distressed by native wars.
r brave
and cheerful spirit counted not the cost, nor did it
suggest to her that on accoui1t of age -
she was nmv past
her prime -
she might well co:r.unend to someone younger,
the sponsoring of such an arduous underta1cing.
Prom
her sev~n
yeaPs' experience as Mother Superior in
Carlow, L~other
Cecilia well icnew the burdensome cares
attached to that
fice, yet from' 1850 to 1868, she bore
that ydce unflinchingly, guiding her Auckland c onununi ty
through the toilsome years of furPow digging by "superin- (1)
tending every detail connected. with the pioneering vroPk
of the young cmrununi ty. 11
Pi red with apostolic zeal r3.nd
defiant of danger, ther•e hover•ed about her a radiance of
love and helpfulness as she struggled heroically with the
scantiest resources to secure a foothold in the land of her
adoption. Her (~) ardent piety and high executive ability
so noteworthy in her life in Auckland, nave becone
a treasured tradition.
In 1868 she was given a well-
1. nseventy-fifth Ann::..versary'' op. cit. Page
2. Ibid. Page 23.

earned rest from her administrative duties but was
obliged
29
to resume office in 1871. Now, as before in her role as
adrninistrator or the affairs of the community, she displayed
a keeness of discerrunent and an ad~ptation of means
to the end, while ·always there was
the sam,e compass of wind
the same. good sense.
Ever cheerful, even when a loser,
she served as a constant source of inspiration to those
aro,~.nd her. Her overwhelming earnestness, and the spirit
she infused into all with whom
she came in contact, .largely
contributed to the perpetuation in the Auckland community
of the real spirit of Catherine. ticAuley.
From Mother
Cecilia hel~
that should
subjects imbibed the (1) Christlike spirit
animate the approach to, and the sol uti ::m of,
the problems connected with the poor, the suffering,
and the neglected of humanity.
J?or Maori and vlhi te
alilce, she had the vvorcl of' personal appeal and inspiration,
which particularly suited each case, her exhortations
assuming the form surest to impress the soul she desired
to reach. Having fully demonstrated by her life, (2)
what charity means, what service means, what true progress
means, her
owing heart poured out its last words of
hope and consolation on November 25th, ·1878.
During
the two days that her remains lay in state in the convent
chapel. she had loved so well, (3)
crowds wllom she
1 • Gately. op. cit. p~e 5.
2. Pamphlet C. '1. 1 • S. t~elbourne. Sisters of Mercy - Centenax•y
3. "Zealand· u (G lt ) 1931-W.J. Lockington
la
S.J.
:rou er Nov.18, 1937.

had taught as well as numbers of non-Catholics whom she
had befriended, carue to pay her their last respects. After
Requiem Mass she was borne by ten Sisters to her last
30
resting place in Mount st. Mary's Cemetery.
(1). If, as scientists tell us 1 not a leaf falls to the
ground, not a pebble rolls upon the shore without in some
1:1easure affecting the harmony of the universe, what
trer;1endous forces must have been put in motion, changing
the cowardice of weru{ness into strength of endeavour,
rounding irnrnature impulse into the shapeliness of fixed
purpose and keeping alive the fire of prayerful devotion
i~ the dark places of life, by the union of faith and
good works which marked the earthly career or lilother
Cecilia!
( 2). FOUNJJATIONS SCHOOLfi.
ST. EAR~~-PONSONBY:
In a small wooden building,
st. Patrick Is' Hobson Street' Aucl

31
convent proper, a fine boarding and day school for seconda1·y
pupils, an orphanage for girls, and St.Joseph's, a primary
school.
However! schCJol accom.mcdat:Lon was still
inadequate and aftel" the forming of the Sacred Heart
parish in 1886 the church was used as a school.
Roll
nwnbers increased and in 1.893 we find three Si
ers of
1.:ercy and J.liss Foote teaclline; in the church some 150
pupils.
In 1895 Sacred Heart Girl's School was opened, in
which girls and boys were taught. until 1913 when with the
opening of
the Vermont Street Schools, the Marist Brothers
too~;: over the boys. In 1929 ·at a cost of £36,000 st.
r.;ary' s boarding and day schools gave ;Jlace to the
present superstructure in Spanish Mission style of
archi tecttu•e so attractively girt \Vi th neat lavvns and
friendly t:r·ees.
The traditions of many generati01l2 of
successful pupils combined with the most modern equipment
for the irnpar•ting of a many sided education by trained
teachers, several of \Yhom are University graduates, are
marked features of st. Mary's College.
The annual successes
of the pupils in University and other public examinations
v.;herein they hold their own with the public schools and
:::alleges of the Doraini on, together with the results which
are achieved by its pupils in the exam.i.nations held by the
two leading London Colleges of 1~usic - Trinity College and
the Associated Board of Music -
continue to give evidence

32
of the high standard of wo:r'k maintained thl~oughout
St. Mary's
college.
practice the i
In addition~ the pupils are taught to put into
/
als of Catholic education which Cardinal
Nemnan has epitomised as follows:-
"I wish the inte ect to range with the utmost freedor:1,
but what I am stipulating for is, that they should be
round in one and the same place, and exemplified in the
same person. I vvant the same roof to contain both the
intellectual and moral discipline. 11
A junior Mercy Guild by its activities keeps the school
children in touch with the needy, and an enthusiastic Old
Girls' Association unites ex-students who joyfully look
f o rv1ard to their ra-union$.
1 85Q_z_ 8'-". PATRICK' 8 AUC;~LANl): T H , the first school in
v;hich the Sisters taught, gave place in 1880 to the new·
convent and schools erected by Archbishop Steins, S.J. on
the
te now occupied by the l!,ai'mers' Parlcing Area, corner
of Hobson and Wyndham Streets. Thousands of scholars
conned their daily tasks in this school which in time gav:e
way to the new st. Patriclc' s, a handsome brick building
erec
d on a new site and adorned with the wooden crosses
of "Old St. Patrick's," which it st
rears aloft as it
dail~r gathers in its three • hundred pupils. To this primary
school is. attached a registered Technical School in which
pupils pursue an efficient post-primary course.
j_862, ST. JOHN'SLPARNSLL:
A little cottage, to which the
Sisters either wallced or drove in the Bishop's carriage,

";er·red for years as the first convent school hex•e.
33
st. John's was opened in 1862 by S.M.
s, S.M. de
Chantal and S.M. Ignatius. The present attendance is round
1 oo.
--
1 861.+. Joseph's,.Onehunga~ Here S.M. Philomena,
3 .1.!. Veronica and Sister r.larie opened a school for girls in
in 1905 b were admitted. The roll is 263
1866. st. Cecilia I ~Q_tahuhtU This school, founded by
s.J.f. s, S,I,i. Philomena and S.I.I. Scholastica ,, has now
a daily attendance of about 215.
In 1874 the ~)is ters opened
st. Thomas's, Thames, which in 1911 they gave over to the
Sister~
of St. Joseph.
1882. st. I.Iary' ~Q._ramandel__;_ The re site funds for the
bui of this convent were collect by Rev. Fathe:t:>
;,;ahoney, 0. F. M., V. G.
The first Sisters to go there were
S.M. Gabriel, S.Ivl. Barbara, S.B. Alphonsus.
When nurses were
badly needed in Coromandel, Sisters from this convent
attended the public hospital
daily~ anQ when the new public
hospital was built there, in 1896, the Sisters took temporary
charge and lived there until the opening of their
own hlater Hospital in 1900.
1894. st. Joseph's 0r2hanage, Trucapuna: On their arrival
in New Zealand in 1850 the Sisters relieved the r~rarist
Fathers of the responsibility of looking after eight
orphans, children of soldiers who had fallen in the Northern
~aori Wars. In 1894 S.M. Alphonsus and S.M. ~ildred

34
established st. Joseph's Orphanage at Talcapuna and in 1300
·Nhen the boarding-out system was begun, an industrial school
was opened.
in the following year -~t
Fire destroyed the orphanage in 1923 and
Archbishop Cattaneo and Lord Jellicoe.
was rebuilt, and reopened by
By 1927 the original
eight orphans had given place to hundreds and a new feature,
that year, was the admission of bo·'s of the parish to the
day school.
·1896. st. Leo's, Devon12ort.: 'l'his school, called after the
gl:'eat parent-house Carlow, vVaB
opened by S.M. Peter,
S.l.I. Columba and G.l.I. Stanislaus with a roll-call of
seventy children. The present roll is 125.
1902. St •. Cather~ne's, Waihi: This, the first Mercy Convent
opened in the present century in New Zealand, had for its
"
original staff four Sisters, S.M. Francesca, S.M. Ray:mond,
S.M. Frances and S.M. Stanislaus.
It has six Sisters on the
staff now and a roll of 100.
1903. Te Aroha, OUr L~ of Lourdes: From the outlying,
scattered dairy-farms of this district two Sisters, Sister
Mary Patrick and S.M. Columba, gathered. in thirty children
with whom they opened this school in 1903. The roll has
now risen to 188. In 1904 the Sisters opened St. Dominic's
Convent, Gisborne, but in 1915 this convent was talcen over
by the Sisters' of St. Joseph .
.1~ Holu: Cr'oss 2 EJ2som: Three oisters, S.M. Benignus,

s.J 1
l.
Borrorneo and s.r,L Cecilia began work here in 1921 but
35
the building was burnt to the ground in 1928 when the
were lent the presbytery by the late Rev. T.J. O'Byrne.
sters
The
con vent vtas inunediately l"ebuil t and has now a roll of 1
Desides the work of teaching and the visitation in their
homes of the sick poor, the Sisters also visit the Auclcle.nd
I nfi rrnary.
1)22. Iiiount Carmel, l1iilford: With the intention of providing
a rest-house women this house was opened. Hovvever,
it has so far been used as a school for boys under
twelve.
rrhis foundation i.s of particular inte:t•est because
the property adjoins the farm and home
ad of Thomas and
Lary Poynton, whose daughter, !iirs. Shea, gave them to the
Sisters.
1223. St. Br·ide' s, Avondale: From a begin11ing uad.e b;J five
Sisters, S.M. Berchmans, S.M. I1~onica,
S.Ivi. Josepha,
S. Li. Aloysius and S. £,1. Mal achy 'l'li th eighty-tvYo childl"en
this school has increased its st to seven Si and its
roll to 200. Three sters who serve Holy Cross, Henderson,
reside here •
.:!3.£2..! .... ........:?t ar of the Sea OrphanB£_~_:_.tJ.ov{j.ck: Prorn 1913 the
''Pah 11
had been used by the Sisters as a girls' orphanage
but in 1925 the girls moved into "Star of the Sea~ a new
building, par"t of' which was of vrood. The v10oden part was
destroyed by fire in 1929 a:nc. the follovving year saw the
erection of the new block together with the beautiful
Bishop - Cleary - Memorial Chapel - a fitting tribute to him

36
who so loved the orphans.
1926. r.;onte Cecilia College, Hillsborough H.d. ~ Onehunga:
The residence knovm as the "Pah, 11 a building historic
interest, was purchased by the Sisters in 1913 and used as
an orphanage until 1925, in vFhich year, it was turned into a
boarding school for bo;{s too young for t'.n ordinary college.
The children of the surrounding district were also admitted
to th~
day school.
1 927. St. Iviary 1 s, Pawarenga :. The natives of this district
';rere visited by Rev.
Pathers Servant and Baty S.M. as far
back as 1839. Four Sisters, S~l.I. Anselm, S.J·,~. J:,Iarcel
s .. M.
Helen and s.r,I. Cyril founded this school for the
natives in 1927. The number attending is 92.
11
'rhe ( 1 ) Sisters
conduct several schools for the native children, one at
Whang
e, an almost inaccessible point in the extreme north
of the North Island, where the little Maoris endear themselves
to the Religious by their docility, intelligence and
eagerness for instruction .
.:l_ll?__.___Holy Cross, Henderson:
This school as has been stated
is serv by three Sisters who reside at St. Bride t s,
Avondale. The roll is 115.
( 2) Hosni tals: As the care of the sick is one of the cherished
works of the Order of Mercy, th·
sters eagerly longed for
·---·---- --- ..... ·---·
1. Gately op. cit. p. 221.
2. Supplement N.Z. Herald Feb. 23rd. 1938, (not signed.)
11
Zea1andialf (Goulter) Nov. 18th, 1937.
Correspondence with Auckland Sisters.

37
the day vvhen they would be able to open a hospital in
Auckland.
At last the time seemed ripe for such an undertaking
and on November 7th, 1900 the Sisters purchas
a
large private residence in Mountain Road, on the northern
slope of r.;ount Eden.
With M.lii.IGnatius as Superior, and a
staff of three Sisters and five nurses, the hospital
entered on its career vii th eight patients, an6. after
twenty years
enduring labour• was qu1 te free from debt.
Then the need for greater aoconunodation was felt and soon a
two storey brick building 'Nas added.
By 1925 this too
proved inadeccluate for their vrork and to comrnemorate the
Silver Jubl
e a fine, large residence was co:r.verted into
a convent and chap and named "St. Ignatius 11 after the
hospit foundress. As the training of the Sisters was of
vi t
importance, several, vvho showed aptitude for the
nursing profession, were sent to the leading institutes in
Australia, St. Vincent's Hospital and the Mater Hospital,
::lydney, where they specialised in several branches of
hospital nursing.
The thorough training gained there formed
the firm foundation for the strikin,:?; success and exc
tional
speed with which they have pressed onward for the
thirty-nine years of the present century.
After the passage
of legislation enabling approved,privately-owned hospitals
to train nurses the Sisters pursued the irlea of' building a
new hospital of the most modern style.
For this purpose

liiother M.
38
G::mzaga and I.lother M. Agnes, nursing enthusiasts,
were sent to America to see there all m:JclePn hospitals and
appliances.
As the Sisters travelled through the United
states and Canada they visited each hospital of note, including
the famous J..Iayo Clinic, and culled from each, wiclel,
knowledge and experience.
As a Pesult of that visit there
now stands on the slopes of T;Iount Eden, a magnificent !':later
I'Hsericordiae Hospital r1ith every conceivable convenience.
This towe:cing edifice can accornmodate one hunclr>,::cl and
twenty patients and is c Olllhilete with the world's latest and
best in hos: i tal appliances as well as x-ray rooms, private
rooms a-la-Llode ancl pleasant public wards.
In these vrar>ds the
Sisters delight to lavish on the poor that loving car>e
and attention inculcated by their revered foundress.
The
hospital is well staffed with twenty-three Sisters, fiftysix
nurses and very full administrative ancl domestic staffs.
The two foundresses, !Jother r..r. Gonzaga and Eother I·,I. Agnes
are still in charge of the institution and have grateful
memories of the sustained progress ·;rhich it has made. On ( 1)
Jan. 1st, 1937 the Mater Misericordiae was officially registered
as an apprQVed, private hospital with Training
School capa.ble of training nurses.
Ever solicitous for the
happiness and '

38B.
for them in 1938
11
a c omf'ortable, even stylish home" to
vrllich they retire clurin2 their hours of rest and leisure.
As testimony of the high esteeo in which the Sisters are
held ·by the med.ical pr•ofession we have the following
tribute from hlr. Frank Macky, President of the Auc~land
Division of the British Uedical ~ssociation:
(2) "The :~Jiste:r·s have eEn•ned the esteen o:C the prof'essi.
n thr'oughout the \Vorld. They have earned it in an
unlimited sense for their enterprise, for their readiness
always to zo to t~~ last degree beyond the limits of a
meagr•e pur:3e in the provision o:t' hospital acco[-Lmodati:~Jn
and facilities. 'rhey m•e to be admired for• their :faith,
and :f'oc:· t~~e c '):'Viction that 3 job rrell clone will earn its
o·.ir. r'ertard. ''
I,U;:evvise the ~.lister's are loud in their• praise of ti1e
weH:ber•s oi' the n,:;Ci.ical lH':Jfession.
'l'hey :eealise that the
public warQs, in which doctors generou~ly atten~ in an
honorery capacity; frequently r/i tness scenes of noble self
sacrifice and sublir::e, .unostentiltious endu:r.'ance \J.nequallec_
elsewhere; showing as Pope says that:
11
In Faith anc_ Hope the world \7ill disagree,
But all I.Iankincl's concer>n is Charity."

39
G!lA.FVEH 1 'T.
-·----
r; G ,_, o r:.
~arly in 1850 Bishop Viard ~ith five !~rist 7athers
and ten Brothers left Auckland for the ne~ly-created
Diocese of ~rellin~ton ',\'11ic:: hr:d been entrust to the
Dociety of =~ry. Shortly (l) after his arrivnl the shor1
directed the building of a ~athedral,
presbytery and
convent, and petitioned Aucl:land and I!elbourne for Sisters
of :.:ercy to teach the children v:ho ·were _y;rov:i
up '::i thout
an? education, religious or secular.
Sisters could then be
only JITOtlised, and l)fmd1ng their .arrival he sta:"'fed tJ:e
schools •.:i th four your:n; ladies '\'.'ho ;::ere desirous of becol"ling
nun.:;, anc1
on Gepte:1ber f3th, 1850 OTJener1 .St. r:ar:r's,
the :tst Catholic Girls I f.~chool' in '.'fellinr:;ton. ( 2) mhe
two-acre sitE~, the town be , on v:!lich the convent \vas
built y,•as the
f't o:" 7oord r·ctre, \\'hose daughter BUbsequently
beca:1e a 1 .1ellinc;ton f)ister. of l ~ercy.
In 1861, the
fai thfu.l :·:other Cecilia l:ep~c
her Dronise and sent the
Bishop three volunteers frau ./:..uol:land, 8. E. Augustine
·who had served at Gcutari, ''nd
f;is ter ~'arie, a tulant, to establish tht.."l first convent
in 1 dellin[ston. ( 3) ':'he tmm then extended ~'lainly
alons the
beach aYlC. held a roimlRtion of nome f.i ve hundred, of whon
1. "Zealn.ndia" L'ov. 18th, 1£3'7. (lr. Goulter)
2. ".Annals!! o;;. cit. }'a-:;e o34.
3. Ibid. p. 634.

40
only forty were Catholic adults, while those in the outlying
districts, "dwellers in the pathless woods 11
on account
of bad roads or tr~acks,
their town neighbours.
were almost completely isolated from
However, despite the small p·roportion
of Catholic adults, the Sisters took charge of over (1) sixty
children in the primary grades and forty-four others ineluding
t·wenty boarders, ready to start at the High School.
Though by this time the natural wealth of the country vras
'becoming known and appreciated, the Sisters found their
first twelve years in Wellington the leanest imaginable.
They experienced the chill
meagre and uncertain resources,
the cramp of quarters so strai teneci that one ( 2)
roop1 served as infirmary, community room, music-room and
parlour, and the utmost anxiety on account of a staff
numerically inadequate to cope 'iVi th the denanrl3 of ever
increasing numbers of pupils.
Yet, they pressed on, seeking
help from diverse sources until, in 1873, the intensity of
their plight wrung from Lather :rA.
Ursula Frayne of
l'.:elbourne two of her community - t~Jother 1.1. Cecilia Benbow
and L:other I:l. Xavier Butler -
destined to put St. Hary' s
on its feet.
Heartened by the potent enthusiasm· of the new
Sisters the little group struggled on and slowly, but steadil;,\
the tide turned in their favour.
Better housing and
1. · "Zealandia 11 Nov. 18th, 1937.
2. "Annals 11 op. cit. p. 636.
( '' l'.i.
Goulter.)

more spac,ious class-roorr.sbecaJne a necessity; so in 1876
41
( 1 ) Mother Cecilia Benbow left for> Europe in search of teachers
nnd funds and returned t·.:ro years later VIi th sixteen Sisters
and £2,000.
She lost no time in direciing the building of
new prenlises and before the year was out the present convent
sroup, st. Uar~rr sr Hill Street, had been erected.
Prom its
inception St. llary' s High School has stood for the best in
higher education; it aims at the ~raining of young women
for efficiency in things intellectual and social but its
chief care is the development of character according to the
ideals of true Catholic woman~1ooc1.
truly a picked band, children of
(2) Its first pupils were
ioneers v7hose own (3) intellectual
pursuits had, perfo1·ce, to give way to sustained
effort in order to wr·est a livelihood from virgin soil. V.li th
these pioneers (l.i.) 11 education was almost a passion 11
and we
are not surprised to find their daughters travellj.ng to
school in a sailing ship and living on ship's biscuit and
salt pork vvhen contrary winds made the journey longer than
they had anticipated. So perilous were these journeyings
to and from sc~wol,
that fwmetirnes on their return after the
holidays, the children found the ;")lster·s praying for their
souls as for those lost at sea.
It was not any catalogued
number of courses which the school professed, that induced these
1 •
2.
3.
4 ..
11
Ze alanc1ia 11
Ibid.
C.H. B.E.
C.H. B.E.
Nov.. 18th, 1937. (M. Goul ter .. )
Vol. 7 Part 2 Ch. X11 Page 242.
Vol. V11. Part 2. Page 243.

42
pioneers to expose their children to such risks, rather was
it the conviction that, side by side with intellectual and
artistic culture, v.'ent the pe1~s1stent leavening of the
moral character. ~ore up-to-date facilities in ace ornrnodati on
and c lass-roow equipment call for attention and in (1)
1930 at a cost of £20,000 the new college in Hill street,
was upreared under the c:t.irection of t:other M. de Sales
Goulter, wl1o for thirty years had served ~s Principal of
the High School. This new St. Uary's College with its excellently
equipped class-room, library, studio, dresst:alcing
room and. large assembly hall furnishes ideal envirorunent
for the pursuit of all branches of secondary work.
(2) The roll for last year was 62 boarders, 154 secondary,
From small beginnings at St. Lary's of 1861 on Golder's
Hill the Order of Uercy has radiatect. branches throughout
the Archdiocese and Suffragan Uees.
(.3) GUIWJ

43
is a speciality with the pupils as is annually testified
by their achievement in this
eld.
St. J·oseph' s, UE.J2._er Hutt, 1852: Teachers 6, pupils 248.
Bishop Vi
with his marked predilection for the
hiaoris built a home called "Providence It
native and
half-'caste girls on a strip of land ( 1) granted for the
purpose by Governor, Sir George G:r.,ey in 1852.
As soon as
the Sisters of Mercy were in residence in ~ellington,
they
took over the char' of this ovidence and taught the
Maoris to read English intelligently and fluently, to
vvri te neatly and '.vel1, to malce
ir own clothing and to
:.eep their quarters clean and tidy.
A visitor> to tha Pr>ovidence
in 1879 wrote -
( 2) 11 The children e seperate "bed-ronms and are all
scru.pulously neat and clean. Each l"oom oper.s .. into a long
passage and there :Ls perfect ventilation. The teaching
and supervision of' the school is the gratuitous work of those
in charge. 11
rrhese Llaori girls on return to their tribes bee ame a potent
influence in the spreading of European culture for, as
Sir Apirana lTgata claims -
(3) "One the greatest services rendered by the
schools, especially the secondary schools, to the ~aori
race is the gradual sr~olub.:-1n of the comr:mnal idea
for w .._ich the word 11 kianga 11 stands, and the persistent
substitution of the pakeha idea of home •.•• The eclucatecl
young women could not imbibe nev'i as and t es during
their residence in the secondary schools without insisting
on changes in the vill life. They have in··
1. "Zealandia" Nov. 18th, 1937. (I-::.Goulter.)
2.
11
Annals 11 op. cit. Page 639.
3. C.H.B.E. V'i1 .Part 2, Page 2h9 quot The Times,
N. Z. Nwnber 22nd Februa1.,y 1927.

f'luenced theil' elders and the young men to confoi'll
to the new standar·ds. If
Too soon, however, the Maoris showed a tendency to move
inland and children of' the incoming Europeans were also
received at the Providence. The Maori-loving Bishop Viard
died in 1872 and in 1876, owin.~ to the need for greater
accormnodation, his old house, the. gift of Bishop Hedwood,
was converted into an extra wing for the Providence, which
thus prolonged its existence until the end of the century.
Ready by the new century stood a new stone orphanage on the
old site but, by 1909, even this was over-cro\ided and gave way
to the present St. Joseph's, Uppe,r Hutt, the land f'or
which was the gif't of (1) Hon, H.W. Petre of' Woburn
Estate. Later, a desirable adjoini property was purchased,
which exten on has made possible the flourishing farm
which now aff'ords no little help in supplying the needs 1 of
some two-hundred and f'ifty children. Up to 1918 St. Joseph's
was exclusively for girls; but the catastrophic epidemic of
that year depl'ived so many children of' both parents that
the Sisters (2) improvised a boy's home out of a stout old
stable vvhich still withstands the invasions of vigorous
youths. The upkeep of this double orphanage is a constant
source of' anxiety to the Sisters in charge. It is mainly
financed by a large, annual donation f'rom the T.G. I,1cCarthy
Trust, by the yearly diocesan collection, and by devices
1. "Zealandiau Nov., 9th, 1937. (M.Goulter.)
2. "rrhe r,lonth 11 Dec. 1931.. (Leonard J. Cronin. )

such as Street Days.
45
ST. Philomena's, 1

took charze of the already existing school for girls. In
1889 an Infant School vvas built and seven years later the
Sisters accepted char-ge of the boys' school which,since
1872, had been in the hands of a succession of rnasters.
Soon after the incoming of the present centu1~y the present
fine convent and High School were built in Liaxwell ltoad
opposite the ole. site. ( 1) Total nuwber of pupils 249.
Newton, 1820: Teachers 7, puptls 260:
His GPace, Archbishop. Redwood, for·mally opened
st. Joseph's Convent School in Adelaide Street, Newton, on
June 30th, 1890. To this school the Sisters tr·avelled by
tr'amcar for ten years until in 1900 they had the happiness
of establishing thei'e a branch convent, st. Anne's, toge tl:er
with a new parish school and St. Joseph's High School in
Daniel Street.
SeatoU1f:; 9
__:!_209, Pal'()_~pjaJ Scho:Jl PreDaratory College:
A little cottage sltuat on the present Church
property served as Church and School for many ye0rs. In 1909
the parochial school, St Anthony 1 s,w&s opened ana the
Sisters who teach here reside at the preparatory call
which was also built in 1909 under the title of Star of the
Sea. The college is adrnir'ably si tuuted cowrnancUng a wide
view of the sea G.nd is well provided with playing-al,eas,
marked off into tennis courts, croquet lawns and football
1. Directory op. cit. Page 346.

47
fields. r.rother E. Bernard Redwood has foP many :rears been
in ch~rge here where she has received boys from all parts
of' l'ievv :~~e and. Some these boys have become priests,
some doctor's, others lawyers, but whatever ~heir
subse

children who are as yet unable
'
Pic t on , 'I 91 4 ·:
attend Catholic Schools.
48
Up to 1914 the Catholic children of Picton travelled
eighteen rlliles to Blenheim convent school, but on August
4Ll that year, the Sisters had the happiness of establishL1G'
''~· ~Jl'".:·:C~- convent in Picton. 'l'he absence of a school,
hovrever, necessitated their teaching in the clmx•ch until
at length in 1924 His Grace, Archbisi1op Redwood, blessed
and opened the present parish school.
Dell back from the main roa~
..
Hu tt, Nai Hai pi'ovides yet cmother sphel~e
at the foothills of Lower
of' activity for
the Sisters of l.Ier·cy.
:B'or pictui•esc1ue scenery St. Thomas's
Hc;Jtle stands second to none in hew Zealand.
)rounds beautifully
set out ace ording to Cllli \/orld patterns:· dis~;lay
a
profusion of' Nature's wealth - fresh-lookin~ bush, bri~hter
toned ferns and fronds; a whispering broo>: :L'lOY,EJ. beneath
r'ustic bl'idges sunnounted by Old ~,/orld Statues~ rookeries
and neat drives and perhaps dearest of all, the lazy sw1ms
that glide up and down the slov1-moving waters.
This
beautiful home belonged tb the late John Dutchie and was
purchased for the Sisters of :Mercy in 1917.
Boys c owe to
Hai Nai fro;n all parts of the .u~xninion,
they are taken from
five years of age and may be kept until they have passed
standard V1.
The fees are sufficiently low to bring Nai Nai

49
within the reach
tr1e working class and, in necessitous
cases, boys are taken without fees, provision for them being
obtained thrcmgh an annual church collection and through a
donation from the T .G.I'.1cCarthy J?uncl.
St. Thoraas' s is
paPticularly suitable foro delicate b.ys, who after the
first two months of its bracing air, its football, svvil[lming,
cricket, boxing and gardening, feel the full vigour of boyhood
coursing thr.m~)1
their veins.
Mount Carmel, ar;
up-to-eLate primary school at Hatai tai,
was opened by the Sistc.a's in 1930 ·,
is supplied with
Sisters from Hill. Street who travel thence by tra.mcar every
day. The thickly peopled st:cict l.liramar has its
convent school, He>ly Cross, in which four Sisters from
Seatoun teach one-hundred and. forty-tlu~ee
pupils.
In 1936 the Sisters frcm1 Hill Street opened a branch
convent near the parish school in Ar'o Street to provide a
co~venient
residence for the staffs attending the Aro
Street and Brooklyn Schools.
A house in R,Dna Bay v1as purchased
this year also, to serve as a convent foP the Sisters
who teach 1
already, nearly a h1JnU.red pupils in San Antonio,
the old building in which Mass was celebrated until the
building of the present church.
'fHE LIBRARY
t~I'ITE:RBURY UNIVERSITY COLLEGB
CHRISTCHURCH. N.Z.

50
An Amalgamation:
( 1) 1 'Under the rule, originally established by the
foundress, a Convent of t:ercy was an indepenclent House,
electing its own ~uperior and training its own novices. In
more recent years, however, the need for centralisation in
government foP X"eligious communi ties, especially in the
equ:l nt of' the novitiate has made i tsel:f :felt, with the
result that in sowe c ountPies the ;3 :1 sters of Eercy, who
are under Papal jurisdiction, have been organised into a
general ate, 'Nhilst in others, their convents have been
grouped together v;i thin a diocese under one Superior, with
a Cowman novitiate, as the first step, it is hoped, of' reorganisation
covering a vtiuer area." Thus in 1927 His
Grace, Archbishop, Hedwo:Jd, desirous of placing all the
Convents of r ..:ercy in the .-".rchdiocese unc1er one Superior,
amalgamated the H.eef'ton, \lestport and Grani ty Convents with
St. tlaPy 1 s, Hill Street, '.lnder the present, I.;other I'.I.
Francis
Doyle as Superior General o:f the amalgamated Communities.
It may be mentioned here that this lceen enthusiast in recognition
of her services in the interests of Education,
received a Goronc;tion Leclal, Jt.me 1937 !'rom their Eajesties
the King and Queen.
Reefto!l.'- 1881 :
(2) u,~uartz x•ee:fs o.iscoverecL at i;;urpay' s Creek some sixty-
'
11
1 • English Catholic 11 T iri1es Dec. 11 th 1937.
2. I.Iarist tlessenger, Page 9, Sept. 1st, 1931. (:a.ev. K. 1\IcGrath.S.M.
'

51
five years ago made Reefton' s name and fame." In 1875
Rev. Pat:,er C:umm:i.ngs, s .. M., erected a church and school, and
after la:r te: chers had taught '.l~e
chilO.ren for twelve years,
the question of religious t(;ac
rs vms considered.
Hev. Pather Rolland, finding that Hoki tika was unable to
supply him with Disters of },iercy, successfully appealed to
the foundress of Singleton, Mother 1-J.
t:>tanislaus Kenny, who
not only gave up four of her Sisters but even acc~mpanied
them on their arcl.uous jourm:y, first across the Tasman and
thence to \'/ellington, Greymouth, Hol;;:i tika, ac:cnsB t 1 1e
Terematau by aerial tramvvay, and, by coach as :ear as the
railway terminus W11er·c: they boarded the train fo1· ~.e
ton.
'l 1 he ;isters found a girls' school ax;aited them wlth some
hundred and forty on roll; they added a Hi
i3choo1 which
opt:necl i'.'1th 30 pupils and almost at once began the v7orlc of
visitation 0f the Biclc.
'l:'he Sisters visited Boatrnam regularly
to truct the child~en in their religion.(1) A
school was opened in 1893 at Ikamatua, a little fanr:ing
settlenent in the Grey Valley, and \7as attended by an average
of about forty children not all of' whom vvere Catholics.
It
was a gl'ate:ful work and. though it meant trwt the Sisters
had to leave l?.eefton at 7: 30 a.m. and return at 8: p. rn.
they d.id not grudge the sacrifice.
However, a grr.::ater
sacrifice was still to be made, for one of the two Sisters
1. I.iarist L~essenger Page 12, Sept - November· ·1931.

52
'.who travelled daily to Ikamatua ( 1 ) returned alone one night
llalf-dr·mmec_ anc1 covered with blooCL, her coL~panion
having
been the victim of a f~t l'oau acci nt.
Vlestport, 1 ~2_4_;_
This town received its pioneer sters o~ Kercy from
Reefton which gave the (2) late r.:onsignor ·' sh seven sters
whoi on Pebrura:c>y 3l"d.,made tbeir horne in \/e:;tport.
Alr;Jost
inuaed.iately they too~-:: charge of • CJ·3.nice's School anc1 ened
a Becondary school in Dhich pupils ~ere p~ep for' the
public exmninationr3. In ~ St. Canice's School was anted
Government inspec t.Lon.
By ·1904 the old c :::nvent and School.,
were unsui t
le for further use by the :i.ncreased numbers of'
teachers emu. ['Ltpils so a new convent snci. Schools were built
in ;,iueen Stre where later, St. Joseph's Scho was opened in
·J The secondaP,y colle , st. ,,iary's, cu_1Pit the first
tilenty rear-2. adr;1i tted. gi:cls only, but in later years large
classes of boys also, have GOiilpletecl the
seco!1Llary
education s.t st. Lar•y' s. In ·ISYI vie find that there v;ere
sixteen boys out of a total of fifty pupils.
Extra classes
at'e held f'or ambitious clerical Horl~ers
who, havin.s:; secured
positions, are ti desirous of' pursuing their studies
under the Sisters' direction. In 1914 the Sisters opene~ an
out school in Grani ty and in 1921, vthen free rail':;ay tid:ets
were wi thdravm1;a convent was established in the township.
1. Marist ssenger. November 1934. Page 13 article not signed.
2.
11
\Jestpor•t 1:ev1s" Dec. 1 L~ th 1·1931 .0-nsigned a:r·ticle).

In (1) 1912 the O'Conor Home for the Aged was opened in
53
accordance with the wi
of the late Eugene O'Conor, Esq.,
and har3 been conducted by the Sisters of 7vestport since
then. '.::'he present number of inmates is twenty~nine. During
the influenza epidemic of 1918 the Sisters offered the
authorities one of' the
dormitories as a Wai."'d for out-side
patients, and for weeks they nursed all who were sent to
thelrl. Ihur of the ~)iste:r.'s nur·sed in the public homes.
rrhe total nlill:ber of pupils attending the Westport Sisters I
Schools last year (1938) was as follows:- St. Canice's 80;
St. Joseph's 106; Granity 53; St. J;Jar~·'s College 48; rnalcing
a total of 287. In the year that followed its foundation
~estport's need exceede~ that of its parent, Reefton,
accordin.:ElY the l.iot.her House and Novitiate were tr•ansferred
frOL, Heeftcm to Fv'estport and, after arnalgamation in 1927,
to ·~Iel
ngton.
'rhe little band of three who left Auckland to found
the first convent in Wellington has indeed increased and 'multiplied
until at the present tirae the amalgamated Communi ties
of the Archdiocese m:unber slightly over two hundred while the
.
nlilnber of ch1ldren ·taught in their schools approximates
to four hundred out of a
(2) . Catholic Population
of 66,714 according to Government Census of 1 6.

0 H.'>.PT ER V •
54
Almost ei~hty years , in 1860, provider;t, :Car•-
seei. ,John Lac foP ( 1 ) purchased the excessively
disproportionate area of the province of ~estl
i to pre~:;cnt clay valu.es. Soon aftel"'V·tarcls that il.'resist
e ruagnet - gold. - allured thither flo of cosmop
i tan s of eve v.ralk of li who surged tlu"ough
Hokitika and converted it from an unimportant t
into one of leading ports of thecolony. Dy the of
186h population had 1·1sen fr•ow (2) 100 to , 000 Y:18.ny
o:t' vrhom were Irish Catl10lics anxL\Us thei1~ new hon1es to
secure the ministrations a priest. su:9ply thei:r.' ne
Icev. Pather Ste HaJ.lun was appointed f:l. priest for
the West Coast an(t was ly succe by a chain selfs
u.c :.·if icing men, l1'ostly Ear ist Pathe1•s, vvho exlli bi ted
int
id C;!nstancy in theiP service of l)oth God and man.
r/e find, as a str•one link in ti1is chain, Rev.
ltp I.;artin,
S.l.~.
viho, born in the South of France in 1830, in due tiLe
became a I.~a:dst Pather and volunteered for Australasian
::.iission. After rende valu.able service in
Dunedin anc1 Inverc argi
, Father I.:aPtin was sent to t
his gener·ous,
1. "Zealanclia' October 13tll, 1938, (not signed.)
2. Harist L:essenger. !>.larch 1938. (Editor. )

55
franl(, unPeser'Ved tLough prudently guaro.ed raann:cr quickly
Vlon him the esteem and affection of' the 11arishioners vrho
were frankly proud of having a priest in their midst.
A
man of untiring ener
Father J:.Iartin projected and
accomplishe _ many '•dorlt.s of zeal, anci. h.Ls LU1::oelfish devotion
to the :Lnter-e of souls led him to spare nei :c fat
nor anxiety in the shepherding of' his numerous flock.
Shortly after his appointmet

56
own CorruH.lni ty to form
the nucleus of· the Hoki tika
foundation.
The eight Sisters selected were:
Mother M.
Clare hlolony, Superioress of the band,
S.M. I::echtildes Boland, ,~).:.:.
Gabriel Kennedy,
S.M. Cecilia Sheehan,
S.M. Juliana Hyan, S.M. Claver
Ryan, S.LI. Aloysius LlcGrath, Sister Angela O'Keefe
and two postulants.
This little group of ten left
London for· L!elbourne via the Cape of Good Hope, on
the stearner 11 Garonne 11 on July 23rd, 1878.- After a
short break at Melbourne the Sisters proceeded to
li/ellin::;ton where they were warnly received. by Bishop
Hedvrood and ( 1) the Ron. T .A.
Bonar then Superintendent
of Westland. From 1iiellington on 'board the 11 Tararua 11
they enjoyed the company of Mr. Bonar vri th vrhorn
they
established a fr1end.ship vVl1icl-" v;as to end only v1i th his
death. 11 Hever once"
records I.:other L. Clare, "did
this great \1es ~.
Coaster fail to call at the Conve:1t on
Christmas Day to express his good-will on the festive
season. 11
(2) At mid-day on October 15th, 187t3 the 11 Tararua'
appeared oi'f Port Holci tile a.
Its appearance vras a
signal for universal Pejoicin? equalled by the ardency
with WDich the entire town population had prepared for
the coming of the nuns.
described by Mother ~.
Their' actual landing is
Clare as follows:
1 •
11
Zealandia" October 13th, 1938.
2. I'bid.

57
11
,,midst the acclamations of' the people, who had
::...;.-::ambled in vast numbers at the wharf to r:·reet them, the
~: ters arrived at tika. Mr. ~atthew Cleary, the
:-:-ern or of Hoki tika gaol, and l'.'fr. Edward A. Burke accompan-
~ them ashore, having gone out to welco~ne them on l::ehalf
:: the Catholic parishioners, RcN. PhiL~p L , the
~: :ri p :1st or. was the first to meet them and welcome them
::::·iia1ly the land of their adoption. He then conducted
:...:.::::: to the carriages in waiting, Wllich drove off rapidly
-::.:_:;h ths tovm to their temporary residence, a charming
: -:; tae;e of eight r00ms, with garden and paddock."
:-= the f'ine convent which had ·been erected for the:.1 on the
: _ ...,ner of Sewell and staffoPd Streets was not then quite
:·;; .:.dy for . occupancy, the Sisters took up residence in the
- :se in Stafford Stre t, in which the Hon.H.L.Michel ~nd
rs of his f,'ll:Jily aftervlai'ds dwelt.
On October 28th.
fHster's took charge of the girls' school which had been
::~ducted
by a succession (2) of three lay teachers-
__ ::s Jones, Miss Anne Brogan (later to bee orne l.Irs. McKeever)
:...:.::. l:ass Blanche Stevens who handed ove1, the chaPge to the
_ :: ters. urrhe attendance was 105 and the children in
~ :::.eral vrere very intellit::ent" - Such was Eother ClaPe' s
~-~st report of their new pupils. January 14th, 1879 thou~h
: .'lll, wet day -~rom the weather> point of vieY'/, was for the
:_3ters, a day of great rejoicing; for on that day they
· -i into their new convent called St. Columbkille' s. 11 The
.:> m" as their pastor was far:'lilinrly c led by his parish­
.:..:::ers, had suitably furnished it and provided all the
to
--:;tle c omforto vthLch he thougLt the Sisters uight have been
1\
Hokitika Records unpublished.
l;'!arist ssenger. November 193L!.. (unsigned. )

accustomed in their loved Ennis convent.
Not many pioneer
58
religious facing li
in a new cauntry have had. such an
encouraging generous 1'riend. \Yi th the solicitude of a
fond parent, he ed them from the possibility of nancial
worries by providing theE ·. i
neans sufficient to
cover their< ex tu~e for over a year. January 20th,1879
saw the SL> rs PesULle teac not only in the primary
school of long standing but also in a select school later
to orne the present Hi Sc ol. By ( 1 ) PebrD.ary the roll
num1Jers had increased to 1 and included s music pupils.
In the followin2: l.iar>ch, Bishop Hec1.W.iQd vi ted Eol~i tika
:, ;,d perfox'ued the rst solnnn religious ceremony - tht~
Reception to the igious fe Sis tel, J.:. Patr and
Uister J',;.
Columba, the two postulants vrho had accompanied
the eight professed Sisters from 3nnis.
Before he returned
to Wellington the Bishop administered the Sacrament of
Confirmation (2) to forty children, and on two consecutive
days, visited the e.chools and
pleased with the spiritual, :Lntel
res sed himself as •;·-311-
tual and cultL'l,al progress
already manifest in children. On Eastel' Uonday,
)880, st. Columbkille's accep its first postulant who was
soon followed by ~70 many others that tvvo year>s 1 r the
Sisters were ~ble to comply with shop I?.edvrood' s request
to open a conv
in Greyli1outh, then a promising seaport.
1 • tr Zeal andia'' October 20th, 1 ~; , (unsigned. )
2. Ibio ..

Within the follovfing five years schooJ.B were
opened at
59
Kanieri and H.imu ar1d to these the
sters travelled daily.
In (1) 1
8 the Ri::::;ht f{ev. J.J. Grimes, S.1J •. establj_shed the
diocese of ::Jhr'istchurch in which was incorporated the \'fest
Coust vrhich until then had been administered fr:)tl ri
1 inJ:ton.
Two months after his consecr'ation Dr. Grimes paid his
first episcopal visit to Hokitika where he was enthusiastically
received by the par•ishioners.
He visited the schools,
ws.s fully satisfied with the. proficiency of the pupils
ancl confir'J,ted
ty-five in St. l .. ary' s Chruch, \:~lttich
for the occ~'Bton v'/8.~3 c;:mst:c-ained int'o holding, but by no
to
that the E3:i.ste1.'t3 should
orJen 1:1 b1:anch Convent, at :~oss and ( 2) in Lay ·1889,
i:lt. Patrick's Convent,
ss ·,/as es tabli f;hed v;J. tl1 a ~J.uno.red
and tvrent;;r chilC:,:een tlle schools. . 1.:ary' s, the first
Boardinir ~3chool
on the \iest Coast, vras also opened in ·1 El89
and enrolled pupils f'roL E1;..::1.ny arts of stland. st. Dr-ic"i..Q'et Is,
Kumara Has also opened that year ancl soon e.s ma.n.y as one .
hundred ard:l. fifty pupih3 vr0Pe in attendance.
The :.:ollm;i
y·eo.r sa·;i a little bane_ of three Sis tel's lep.ve Hoki tj,l.;:G. and
cross the s to open a convent in I~tt ton.
The Sisters had. now worked for- twelve years 8E1ong the
peo)le of Westland with wany
whom they had become
1.
11
Zealcmdia 11 Octobel,. ·J3th.193,3.
2. Hoki tika ords, unpublished.
--- -------·-----·-·---·---~-

60
acquainted vVhile visi tin:£ the sick, the poor Sl1cl the imprisoneo..
To raany a heart sore-distressed they the
balm cheerful resign~1tion while to more than on': Godee
spi t the:r lp to sclose the sec of his
scontent sl. him lEJV/ - "Pear Vlist not to evade, as
Love st to pur'sue. 11 Throughout the period of expension
Uothei."' ~~1.
Clare continJ.ed to fill the office of L~other
Superior 811d in 18S;2 she retired that resnon~ible position.
r.Phe full extent hel~ work for Catholic educ r;ti on in
stland will never r-ealised,· ?or over forty years she
v1as actively engaged ln the inter'ests of education among
the children ·anc1 youth of the \fe Goast: Bless 'v'fi th
that rarest of rare [:ifts - a clear accurate uin;:1 - she
posse a cheerful, e:et natc .. r-e Vi had the povrer of
exciting effort and arousin[~ ide · in others, Vll1ile her
knowledge, and the amazing
cla.ri ty and. chs.rrn her exp tion, earned i'o:t.' her a unique
reputation as a te r. She never H1iss an op ~~ u .:.·t·uni ty of
pouring her' own
at love of scholarslli p and ac hi ev er;Jen t
into the heaPts of the young.
.A pupil of hel's in the
11
{ 1 ) Only \·;e who v1ere pri vilesed to sit in her classes, or
those who hac1 the honour of living with her, cc-)ulcl r>ealise
the spirituality, the cieep lear·ning, the sirnplici ty and
sincere unclePstancUng of this woman of principle. Her
knovrledge of the classics, her love of history in all i
branches ancl., a·bove :::tl1, her absolute joy in 1..m:Cold:i.nz the
·1.
11
2:ealan~lia 11 October 13th, 1938.

61
beauties tlili Faith, of Scripture and of the Liturgy,
made her a rare teacher for alv1ays · s~1e c om'bined vri th
love of lmowlec1ge a love of heP pupils. 11
Second only to her
at love of God cmne her ardent love
of her native land, thOUc.Th she eschewed c ontr'cwers~r of
all kinds, yet, vvhen occasion deuano.ec5. it, she could launch
a crushin:?; rejoinder barbed with a polite ir·ony altogether
disaru:ing. Por the ')ris she had a very special love and
her stronJ sin~lici
gave her an empire over: then1 which
no diplo;:wcy coul1i have her to ac qui ''e, They, as
well as their: white neig11bour:c~,
sought he1·counsel and
syrnpatny in times of trouble, knowing full '.;ell t."'at her
frienC:Lship lmew no hesitations, r:o ehills, no wear•ying.
Great was the mournin::r at the Arahaura pall when on Octobe:r
20th, 1 1 they heard of her death. In the mess e of
sympathy ¥7l1ich t se L:aoris sent to the Iioki til(a Si rs,
and ';,:n:Lc!: the Sisters fondly che:ei , vre read - "The rata
flower l:la;~; f'slllen at last and we grieve for· her. u "\nd ·the
flmning rata 1
kindling the hillside with t
aze of its
glor•y., is indeed a fitting SYJ:lbol of her glowing charity,
soue sparks of \~Jllich
inflcuaed the he art ; of nany rrho v;ere
so fortunate as to come under the spell of her influ.ence.
Of the original band. of ten pioneer Sisters who began
the vtorks of the Institute of l'.'iercy in the South Islano.
sixty-one years ago, five are not only.still
ive, but
still mentally alert, tho
wont to view with yearning gaze

62
the· progressive course of life's day-star•, now,
for them,
nearing the western horizon.
Gr'e;ymouth, 1 882 :
In 1870 Rev. Father C
omb, S,l,;. built the first
Catholic School in CJ.reyrnouth on a stte ( 1 ) later p1.H'chasec~
·by tLe Government for hLu•bour requirements.
In 1882 at
the request
Bishop Redvroocl the Iloki tika Cornr.mni ty sent
a founctation to open a Branch Convent Gre;ymouth. In
those e
y days the j curney frorri Hoki tika to Greywou.th
v1as both tedious an(\ danger>ous. Short as was actu
distance it had to 1Je cover·ed in successive sta'2:es,
of which v.; a0 the horse-t:r:sm journey as far al::; Ku:

63
necessity ancl llO'Ii/
that tl1ey had tasted the joys of such
travelli , they decided to relinquish them by constituting
Greymouth foundation an independent Convent b
the end
of the year 1882. At once Sisters of s new foundati
on opel}ed a p:Pimary school gir-ls, and boys up
to andarcL i , as l as a high school with bo p r:iwary
an1\ secondary depar·tments.
The present St. Lary 1 s High
School, Alexander Street,. dates 'back to those early days
anci holds an admil'able r~ecorcl
annual successes in
scholastic uusic eire Out-schools were ened
Brunnerton, Cobden a..11d Runanga a total L!-1-~5
C ic children vii:~o are ta~J.[Sht GreyElouth fli ers.
Lyttel ton, ·1890 :_
( 1 ) In 1 Sir> Prederic:·: ·:reld then Prime Lini l
New Zealand, out of l1iD orm 1Jo1.mty presented the Gat ,o' ics
of Lyttelton with a strip
ground for the erection of a
Chul'ch. St. eph' s Chui'ch, now oldest Church in
ocese Chriscchurch, and the olde stone Gimrch in
l'i. Z. vras ·built in ·J 865 a..11d the school erected
staf':i.'ecl vri th lay teachers until ·J 890 when thl'ee Si
v1as
ers of
rcy arrived from Holci tika to take chal'ge
the parish
sc On account of the diffic ties tr•av in those
days, the Lyttel ton Convent from the 1Jeginning \7as made an
independent house ;ai tl1 the of self - gover.nrnent and
s
-~-------
1 .. ChUI'Ch il) H.Z. • cit. Vol. ·) L page 104.

64
consequence - self-support~ From small beginnings in a
house formerly mvnecl by Captain Gibson in Exeter Street, .
the Sisters pressed onward vti th great endurance under the
leadership of 1·1er U. Aloysius McGrath, one the
original band of pioneers from Ennis.
Their new mission
was not one to fire the blood -
it demanded constant
sacrifice and only after years of suffering and str•uggling
did they triumph.
':Pheir perseverance was in large measul"e
clue to the inspiring e:-;:arople of . other M.
Aloysius whose
ever-increasing self-restraint moved forward progressively
with a daily enlar.:Jed innulgence foi' the weakness of
other's.
Slle was an able and well-balanced guide wJ.wse
earnest spirit, combined 'Ji th an aptitude organis ion,
preser•ved her fr•om discouragement snd infused additional
vigour· into those amon::; whorn she vvox•ked.
Organising and
superintending everything rrith a skill, presence of mind
and cheeriness which endeai•ed her to
woraan laboured on, knowing well that in
1, this zealous
s O\Vll time God
would give'the increase'.
(1 )In 1902 rauch needed improvements
vYere effected in the Convent and a new school was
built. Four years previously I.,yttel ton sent foul' Sisters
to open a Branch Convent in i\karoa and again, in 1912 and
1913, similar Convents were opened in Rakaia and Llethven respectively.
In 1934 the present artisically-constructed
----~-------------------------------
1. Lyttelton Records, unpubli

65
building was erected on the site of the old convent.
St. IJ:ary' s High School and St. Joseph's Sci·1ool a1 again strove to malce
him seek forgiveness for his cri~tie
and hacl the great
1. Ashburton Police Gazette 1897.

66
happiness of' tting him to pr'ay. She taught him hov1 to say
the Rosar;;,r and in a shor't tiue this hal"dened sinner had become
a model penitent. He asked the mother of t girl
whose life he had taken to forgive hiL:; he thanked the
people of Lyttelton who had prayed foX' him, and he faced
::md met the death he had deserved, with such admirable dispas
ions that those who witnessed the sad spectacle realised
the force of Tennyson's claim that-
11Llore t
ngs ar'e wrought by prayer
Than this vrorld dx'e81TIS of. 11
J.iother L. Aloysius is still a member of the Lyttel ton
Community ancl though life's ve
ers have come, lit by a
slanting sun, still her reminiscences of' those early clays
are clear and vivid as
old.
St. l.lar'r' s Convent, Christchurcllj 8)L•_:
The Greymouth foundation prospered so well that on
July 25th, 1894 it v1as strong $Dough - o give a band of Sisters
to st. Llary's pari
, Christchurch v/i:lich had been established by
the persevering ( 1 ) ef:f:'orts of H.ev.
Chesnais, &.ti. and his curate I~ev.
t:n.el' Le Uenant des
Pather> Earnane, S.M.
Five
Sisters of Liercy and a postulant crossed the Alps and on
August 1894 too~\: charge of the pariG.il school, • Mary's, a
fine brj.ck building situated behind the Church and separated
from it by the play-ground. At first the Sisters occu~;iecl a
1. The Cyclopedia of N.Z. Vol. 3 (Ch.Ch. 1903.)

house at tlle corner of l.iancheste:r anc1 Salisbury Streets
but in the loviing 1-iovembex- they pure CL a tlu·eequarter·
an acr•e site on vri1ich Vie:re two jacent houses
facin::E C olc.lmbo Strec.::t.
'.Chese houses for- wany ye r:n·s sel'ved
as st. L:ary' s Convent until it became nece s
to secur·e
better i'acilities in h :'using accor:Lodation. In 1900 the
present convent chapel so lfully ~xecute~ in grey stone
was erec te, .. as osin __: buildi
1GlO\Yn r1s Ut. M 's, Uol:Jrnbo· Street. ,.i,.icll lncludes
• l.lax-y' s Collegiate Hi::;;l1 Scl1ool bt.tilt in 19·12; t Convent
e rec teL in l:JlG and ti1e l.:usic Elock upreaPe~_, 1 . In
LancLe ;c;ter Street Sci:co s ti;.e i ster·::; teac!1 present 2
tendr:tnce at
• Lo.ry' s Col1egiate Hign
0chool is :.:: incluO.ing 3) boys. ilere as in ·~11~~ other
Gee onclal'y c)C ciO s c ncluc teci. b~r Sisters, pupils are pre-
L. '
UCl1tJ u .. annually :L'or· publ:fc exm~inatians in v;hich their
succes . testifles to
ies ·.:Jn
anu. pooP in tilei r ,es anc, in iwspi tal, and by t iP unostent
ious charity 'bl'ing l'elief to son:; ·! 1 '10
are too
c rushect to let their want 'bee ome known to pu.blic charities.
Eother Ll. 1.1echtildes Boland, as I'i:l t tperioress, gui d
the worki
of' St. Liary' s Convent for tnan;,r yecu-·s. A pioneer,
who hai begun her lifo as a Sister of
rcy in Ennis and who

68
had filled .. the of1 iee of Assistant in the J::o'

M1algamation until ill-health supe1~ened in 1921. A arding
School
girls was built
joining the Convent anc1 a
splendid
·imn was added 1 ater.
sters who live
at "Villa L:aria" have charge of the High School with both
primary and secondary departments; the parish school, and
the new kindergarten school in Puiriri street; opened in
1937.
In 1930 a boys' junior college was opened in
\iinderrnere Hoad, Papa:nui under the title, J_,ol~eto
College
and re the Sistel'S conduct a flouri~3hing boarding ai1d
day scl1ool for bo:rs in the primary s. The
saw th.::: transfer 'o:r the Lother House and novitiate frmn
nvilla ;,:ar•ian to Tiuaru where the Sis rs had purchasec~ a·
grand old Convent and property frou the Sisters
t11e
Sacred rleart Order w~o
were desirous of giving their
services in other s of their Order re help 1Nas
needed.
Convent of Mercy 2 Tirnaru, 1936:
• :.:other' LI. Agatha LlcDonnell, Superior'ess of
t11e A.lJo.lgamated
Convents of L:ercy in the Christchurch
diocese, t:Jo~c
up Pesidence in wllat had been the Sacred
Heart Convent, Craigie Avenue, ri'imaru.
Here with the
novitiate and a steff of Sisters selected from ttte various
Convents, initiated the v10rks of the Ue Order. 3he
brought to her' task a highly cultivated intellect, are-

70
marliox•ess whose very presence VIas an
inspiration and a steppini_i:-f3tone to nighel, things.
Sacred
lie art Girls 1
College w"l1ici1 is both boarding and. clay school
has at present 120 pupils and Sacred Heart School adjoining the
Convent . roperty t1.as an attendance of 210. This year· ( ·1939)
the Sisters took charge of St. Joseph's School, in the
North Enc:.. of tlle parish, anu. have at present a roll of 53
pupils.
Thus has spread. the seed sovm by the 1i ttle band of
pioneer Sisters of ~ercy who arrived in Hokitika in 1878
and g:we the S:)uth Island its fir-sec religious community of
women.
They sowed the seed, the people tilled the ground,
but God gave the increase.

71
CHAPTER V1 .
When the Hight Hev. Dr.
ran was trans rred in 1 D70
Grahcnfistown, South Africa to the new See of Dunedin,
secured a foundation of Dorninic an
sters frou Sion
Hill, Dublin wi til whose assistance he openeci the first
Catholic priuary school in the diocese on Pebruary 20th,
1 1 a school a week later. The education of
tile girls of __:une6.in re111ained in cap hands of
t[J.ese indust ous nun:3 until ·1897. In the. L:ay of 1 6
iii s Lordship,
shop Verdon, was consecrated Bishop of
Ltmeclin where he saw the need e ablishin2· an ,.,l,der,
the mern'ber•s of i would carry aut visitation of the
s poor in their· homes as 1 as in hospitals,
woc.lci. t care ox'plwno. th s object in view lle
e d to Hev. her Lo ani acl.S :'~enny \'ill a v;as then
f"3uper'ioress of the Convent of Ler·cy, Jingl on,
.. " ·-~: I''
l'i ::, •. /.
and obtained froL1 !1er already
lete6. Coumunity a group
to lay t!1e foundations af the Order in l~une6.in.
'his
i ant Community unLier leade p l,:other 1.:. t.:a
r~irby,
landed at Port Ciialmers on Sunday, Jannary '17th,
1 897, and were welc or:1ed to ir future home ·Ly IIis
Lordship, Bishop Verclon anci_ the priests of the ::a ty.
For
three days the Sisters were the gue
s of the hospitable
Dominican Sisters who oesto1.'ted on them evel'Y conce
able

72
l

73
a c1aily attendance of 215.
this SemirH'J.PY town the Sisters of tiercy in Lay
1898 opened t.heir first t3chaol ta which they tl'avellecl
daily by·train 1~1 Dunedin. 'rhe tr·ain sel .... Vice did n
prove satisfactory for their' wor'k ·so it '>'!as decided to
establish a Convent of the t orm. · Pro1~1 'I G u.ntil
·i 912 the c:J.ildren were taught in ·t;he Church but in ·1912,
llev. Fr.~iston then Parish Priest, ( 1 ) pur·cllaseci frol•l the
Losgi ~orough Council a btiil whicil was re ly conv
into an aCI.mirab scJ.1ool. r;U>.ib e·~· of pupils at
present in attenCJ.ance at Liosgiel Convent •3choo1 is· 60.
'.VI:le founclation stone o:L· s chm•i t e institution
vras 1 a few 1.1onths after the ~3isters arr in
Dunedin and received the
rst little orphan
July i 896.
Here ol";Jhan gir:::.a are received even in infancy
and ar•e looked after with suci1 tender solicitude that
many ti:.ern, in later• li , cheris!l ir rtJel!lOl.'ies of
St. Vincent's as .J...· vne 1
na iest their lives. These .::;i
a1·e c aref ly
ated according to the principles of
Catholic r.::1mrcl1 which l::elieves in sendi
the wll:)le child
to school - the art ns well as the mind - so that she
ac Lees ,,a taste fol~ uoins rrood", a taste for· j;~ght living.
-·- -----··---- -----~-----·---
1. C onve Records, Dunedin.
- -----

74
Children ~ith
special aptitudes, as well as tLJsa with
special disa'bili ties, are treated apart end prepared. to
fill, in later life, the positions for which t~ey
are best
sui ted.
At prer:;ent the Uisters have sixty-two oi'[Jh9J1s in
st. VincEnt's.
Rev. P.O'~eill, paris~ priest of ~inton applied in
·1898 to the Superioress oi' tlle :_;onvent of : .. ei'cy, Dunedin
for· a Conn:J.111.:. ty oi' Ststers fu:c· his pa:c•i::;i1.
It has alvvays
·been the aifil of the ~:listers
of Lercy to supply, to the
best of' ti~eir
ar)ility, Catholic School;:; for the suallei'
r•arL:.lws in each cliocese, so the i·e(Juest t·J provide
\linton r;i th a Cor.]:JUni ty Vfc\S reacl.ily gPc:mtecL Cn the feast
oi' Jt. 3er•nar•ci_, August 20th, 1898, three ;)iste:cs ope~1ed
:=lt. Be:r'nard's C:)onvent, \Hnton.
ll'r'om t .. is cent.·; Siste:es go
This settle1nent was a1most entir·ely Catl1:-,lic in i C!)_.
and foi' sm,,.~
yeal's the children had been attendin · the ~)l~'i•J'ic
schoo1. r;:'hat year, o~1 the :J?east of st. Joseph, ::arch 19th,
the Sister's opened a Convent ancl schoo1 here and the
public school auton:atically closed.
Alexandra, 1912:
At the re c~uest
of I{ev. :L' 1 atJ:1er Hunt of Alexandra,
Central Ota

75
e
there a convent and school, L1 Hhich there ar•e :J.t
prefJent tln•ee Si ers and seventy-tv1o c1lilLLr'en re ectively.
Dis rs nd sc ::rp e 11g Ol1~t
v e r.'y 1 m·
e:cton p sh, he found t there
no Catnolic
t·,,enty-threc
Irl1:n1ediately s about -:;n·ovid.ing a rJ(::anG of
rel ous instr·uction fo1• the chil ·en and obtained 0!;1
five Sistel'S of
!.Jerc3r (Y)enecl a Convent :;nd school in Riverton. Ohil
froL the ous s."'t le: .. ents, Tev1aewae, , Tikaka,
Ot a at au, Thor'nbU.I\'{,
ly ~y t~aiil t~ 2iverton
Conv nt
JI'e~r 1 s 3ush openecl., in ·1916, a sc
ol
in coal-mining tormship of Hightcaps, five es
cdstant, 8.l1CL t:eq.vell thither daily 1.mtil. ·1936.
year
school at 'Hrey 1 s Dush had :Callen to a r-oll
nu.n1:;er of seven while that at Nightcaps ha0. :eiDen to
eighty. Oonsec;uently the sterc-; clos the Convent at
·,irey 1 s Bush and opened one at r"iightc aps rfi::.ere they nort
reside.
rrhe p:eesent m.m1ber of children is ninety.

..\t this little tovmsl:ip. in tl~e
suburbs of Dunedin
the :)is , at r-equest of His Lordship, Bisho:) rdon,
openec1. a Convent and School in ·1 S'1 •
In 191 p it became necessary to acl.r.dt -snall bo~rs
to
St. Vincent's Girls' Orphanage but as these proved to
too at a tax on sting accommodation the ters
sought 8
sui table property on \Vhicl"l to open an orphanage
for lJO,:·s. In 19 0 a beautiful hor:·1e at 'Javerl , till then
by the late Llr. Scobie McKenzie, rras purc~1ased
l)y
Lessrs • ."-.ndrev1 and Henl'y Hagerty c1 tc:> the
Dunechr; Dister·s :.·ercy. Here St. ~oseph's ' Howe
was e
by t
a·blishecl ct.nd the present new buil
generosity
Dec.m Lie lan of' y. At present the Home
is taxed to capacity and Sisters hone t;:; to the
institution in the near future. \i8.'/el'l Doys 1
is a populs.r
ature of the Hor:1e and is ably c ondu.cted
by l.ir. \·:·helan. The peo:;:>le oi' ~)unedin ~ r-ovide an annual
outing for the .iaverly Boys and nm'e than c:>ne clwri table
citizen has, fro1n tiDe to time, su.ppli eve~y boy in the
th boots, overcoat or suit of clothes.
:Pive ;~isters
attenCl to
igious, mor·al and intellectual tr'aining
of boys and rfi th noble purpc:>se and hi endeavour

ar'e mov fo:c·-,;e_rd con antly to a h1gl.ler e:Lfici ncy in
77
their menazeoent. The boys are he tlw and happy, they
C acqUil'C(L its 1 OUl.' ste i nc1us tr ,'.', are
lee i11 t Eport ~nd ev1nce filial respect for
i .. e:ccy the Gistel'S a:..··~
a.Lways glac:L of an
oppor>tuni. ty to
en a llospit
co tc~ by nuns waG a lonB- t vtant in dioces of
the 0
ic uitizenc
rille
i.,
o.e.
selectec:L for· nu.:·si haci unaer!onc traini in and
an~ the Superiorcss, anu ·e ss of the hospi t ::1, ci.i(,
):Jssible to
the Sisters for their nev vork.
'l'hc Ho it i f:t ne bride on a site ::Jl' ;:;ne
a hal ac1·es in
a r·s(_·nnel ei ~c.t ;Jistel'S 8lld a cap;::tci ty o:r
be~-.s. I ti.L se be nnine;s .::-re :eel ati vel~r l, ;ret
te1"l ser·ic or ae gives promise of p i
:::nrth
In Ot
.;
a·· 0 ll s att 'G.:J nm:1e ~.3 ann.
.. ie rc ·r have
e :3tabli ities Confraternities which
tend towards the uplifti yotm v1omen of the

78
oc ese. l.:ercy lcLs ach the alusgiver hov1 to be ov1
her aln:s, hov/ to see in the poor rec:::_pient o1' her charity,
one sent by God to test her justice ann to enable
l' to
hear fr01:1 Justice Hirl1self:
II
a use did it to one of t se,
least bretJ:u•en, yc>"l). cliO. it unto ue."

79
CH.i\.PTER V11 .
COlfCLUGIOJ.Y.
Coincident wit1l the esta'blisllrJent in Ne.i Zealand of'
the 'i/Orlcs o::. ti:re Or•der of Lercy there proceected tl1e daily
perfecting oi' the religious life in eac:C. Corm;mni ty.
The fire kincJ.leCL in th:Jse pioneerinG.· ·.·0.ys 1Jy valiant
vw;:·;en ha::; ~een
steaci.il;yr fannec1 into "ever q'lickening life''
as is Low· attested ·b~r
the 473 I!ev1 Zealand S LSters of r.:ercy
who, vi vifieC:t 'by the sa.me u.isinterested spirit, have bc.n.md
ther:lSelves unresei"/ec~.ly
to the· service o:L' God, and of' nan,
by the thr:..cc V·.J':rs •Jf ~'overty, Chastity and Obedience. r.::'he
\ rder has ever been r·er:larl

so
not only to the Catholic section~ 'but to the CoLJ.nuni ty in
gen~ral.
s:'hese nuns are at present the educators of
(1) 8,94L+ young Hew Zealanc1ers; they mothei' the orphan;
they a:ee the guai>d.ians of· the aged; the :nealers of the
sic:\:; the comforters of the infir'Li and. incur~a·ble.
'liwugh
the Order' wa,::, specif'ically founded for "the service of
the pool', sick ancl ignorant, 11 yet Sistel~s are engaged in
all depar-tuents of' eC:iucational as of ilO:=·~:>i tal rror'~;:.
The
gr•eatel' nur:1ber spend, in general, five days a-v1eek in sc~cool
or> LiUsic-rOOLl ancl the remaining t'HO, in ,:; al':c·yi ng ot

81
and under the rule she then established to suit the
exigencies of the time, eac11 Convent of Uercy was en independent
Hou~:;e, electing its own Sup o:: and training
its O\tn novices.
With the expansion of the Order the need
for centralisation in government has made its f
felt
especially in consideration of the noviti e training,
as a step toward:3 Pemedying this Viant, the C;)nvents
i,iercy
in FieH Zealand have ·been oup ther w~thin each
diocese under one Supe
oress and vri th a common novitiate.
Had i.iother Ec.Auley th r p.r:actical con:r,on sense lived
to see the rwrld- .. ide ezpcmsion of the Order, she w;::~ulc1
have b3en one of the first to eli cern the advisability
securing tl1e unific iDn of the Ol"'der; which u.ni
cation
is the aPdent hope, if rw~ also 'tL·;. fel"'Vent ,·r·ayer, of the
vast majority of
r 20,L1.62 Siste.::s scattered throughout
the v10rJ.d.
THE LIPP.