NEWS FOR WOMEN Wing For Elderly Women Opened At Mount Magdala

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27441, 30 August 1954, Page 2

NEWS FOR WOMEN Wing For Elderly Women Opened At Mount Magdala

A new wing to provide beds for 66 elderly Women at the Convent of the Good Shepherd, Mount Magdala, was blessed and formally opened by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Christchurch (the Most Rev. E. M. Joyce) yesterday afternoon. The wing, which host £30,000 to build, will be known as St. Ann’s block. Its opening was attended by a large gathering of friends of the order and clergy. The fiirst major addition to the convent carried out by the sisters of the Good Shepherd for more than 25 years, the block -was described by the parish priest of Addington (the Rt. Rev. Monsignor J. Hanrahan) “a very great milestone in the history of a great work of charity—the helping of the aged and* the poor,” The Reverend Mothers and Sisters at Mount Magdala were congratulated on their work by a well-known Christchurch welfare worker, Miss K. O’Connor. Miss O’Connor, who attended the opening of the block as representative of the Aged People’s Welfare Council, said that the council would give to the order whatever assistance it was in its power to

render for the work the order was doing.

Bishop Joyce said that sisters of the order, who came to Canterbury in 1886, had always been most solicitous of those persons who had needed motherly care. An example of their solicitude was St. Ann’s block, which would provide for elderly women who would otherwise be thrown on the charity of the State. He wished to thank.the sisters for their work, the architect of the new wing, and the builder.

t’The sisters of the Good Shepherd are engaged in the greatest of humanitarian works,” said Bishop Joyce. “To the ladies who will be in this building I would say this: it is no more than you .deserve. You have given your lives and your labours to make New Zealand the beautiful country it is. The happy evening of your life under the sisters of the Good Shepherd is a reward for all you have done for the good of New Zealand.” Mr C. T. McAloon replied on behalf of the prioress and sisters of the order. An inspection of the new building was led by the Rev. Dr. G. W. Harrison, and afternoon tea was served by the sisters.