Memorial To Nurse

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31660, 22 April 1968, Page 2

Memorial To Nurse

A stained glass window depicting St Agatha, the patron saint of nurses, given by members of the Rose Muir Association in memory of Sister Mary Christmas, was unveiled and dedicated in the Christchurch Hospital chapel during a service yesterday afternoon. About 150 persons attended.

Sister Christmas, who graduated from the Christchurch School of Nursing in 1910, joined the Army Nursing Service during the First World War and served In several countries in the Mediterranean, including Egypt and Malta. She later served aboard the troop ship Marquette, which travelled from Alexandria to Salonica. When the ship sank in the Gulf of Cassandra she was one of the few persons saved, after spending 20 hours in the water. Sister Christmas returned to England, where she nursed at the Walton-on-Thames Hospital. For her work she was awarded the medal of the Association of the Royal Red Cross, which is shown in the bottom left-hand corner of the memorial window. In 1918 she returned to New Zealand and trained as a physiotherapist serving tn Christchurch and in Rotorua. In 1923 she became the first tutor sister of the Christchurch Preliminary School of Nursing. She retired in 1937 and died in 1964. In his address at the service the Anglican hospital chaplain (the Rev. W. D. Harding) said that Sister Christmas’s work had been based on and inspired by her faithfulness to God. Both St Agatha, who was the patron saint of Catania, the second city of Sicily, and Sister Christmas were continual reminders to persons that they must be faithful in! both active and passive 'senses, he said. Faith was|

the spring of courage and the secret of endurance. “We must die daily,” he said. “Only thus by losing ourselves can we find ourselves. This Sister Christmas did and this St Agatha did.” The unveiling Of the window was performed by Misses J. N. Erwin and E. Hodges, both former nurses of the Army Nursing Service during the First World War. The service was conducted in four parts by Roman Catholic hospital chaplain (the Rev. Father W. Middleton), the Presbyterian chaplain (the Rev. H. Crawford), the Methodist chaplain (the Rev. H. G. Brown), and Mr Harding. The photograph shows Miss Erwin (left) and Miss Hodges unveiling the window.