THE SISTERS OF NAZARETH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 51, 22 December 1904, Page 29

THE SISTERS OF NAZARETH.

(From our Ohristchurch correspondent.)

■ , A J 3 . a c t onun umt>y of Sisters of Nazareth are expected in Christchuroh within the next few weeks fox the purpose of establishing a home for the aged, infirm and incurable a few particulars regaflding the Order may re of interest to readers of tlie ' Tablet.' The whole service of the house is fulfilled by these educated ladies— the cookuig, the washing and ironing, tfhe making and mending, the personal care of the inmates, nursing the sick and tihe leading of the frequent deathbeds. A pamphlet written some years ago by the Very Rev. Dr. J B McManamny gives eloquent testimony of the noble work aonomplisihed by the Sisters of Nazareth wherever they are located, with esipecial reference to his- ow|n city of Biallarat. J

It was on April 10, 1851, that Cardinal Wiseman acting with Victorie Larmenier (in religion Mother Basil), realising the urgent necessity and the wi|de field tor vhe ktod of work to be carried on by tfrem on behalf of the poor, foundedtfoe Order of the Sisters of Nazareth. It is thus one of tjhe youngest of the Sisterhoods in the Church ; yet in "a sense it is old enough for it is a/not^her branch of the great Augustilnian family. Of Cardinal Wiseman there is n,o need to Speak here, fjor his great work stands out prominently, and his life is written fo golden letters in the modern Catholic history of England. Suffice to say that the Sounding of the Order of the Sisters of Nazareth will ever iemain a memorial of his zeal attd foresight. The chief objepti *>t tlhe Order is to provide a ilnome for the aged ajnld inSajntine destitute poor. Like all great undertakings, it had a small beginning, and untold difficulties in its establishment and development were encountered and surmouintdd. A little over fifty years halve gone by since them, "but like tlhe grain of mustard se^d the Order of Nazaretlh has grown intio a mighty tree and has slpread its branches o/ver the United Kingidom, and even South Africa. Beginning in ISSI at Hammersmith, London, wiiHh thirete Sisters it now has -upwfcirHs of 30 howses artf, according to a late estimate, 500 Sisters. Ifti I»8i8 the late Bish'cup ol Ballarat, on the occasion of his visit ad limina, applied to the Mother-General at Hammersmith for a community of tlhe Na7areth Nuns for Australia. The result was that six of the Sisters accompanied the Bishop on his retucn, and on November 10 of that year Nazareth Hojuee, Ball'arat, was folurfded. This is the number of Sisters we are promised to found a branch of the Order in ChrLstcKureh With reference to the foundation in Ballarat, a valuable ]pr#p«rty had aJre'ady been .purchased 'by tfcei Bishop at a cost of £3300, and this he presented to the Sisters on their arrival. The accommodation was, however, too limited for the number of applicants, -and the erection of a larger building was at once begun, and completed in 1891. Applications were nwmewus, and the bouse was sp'oh filled. A new wing was therefore adWed in 1894, at a cost of £4 000, to the defraying of wftiich a generous beqiuest by the late Mr Martijn Doughlin of £25,00 heliped considerably. Altogether Nazareth House, Ballarat, has cost some £16,0(¥), and sin-c its fouo/iiati'o.n h;as sfoeli-erdd cdnsiiderably over 200 aged people and 3ioo children. According to an estimate of £*ome years a<gp there were then 28>0 inmates cared firjr by a tswnirrtiißSity of 16 Sisters, all from the mofher house, Landon,. Besides the branch housie of the Order at Ballarat tthere are houses in England at Cardiff Sjdutihenid, O x fiord , Northampton, Sdut^sea, IVlididlesboroiugih, Cftielteinli-am, Lentlon, Box Hill, Islewotth, Great Orosiby, anid Lancaster ; in Scotland at Aberdeen, KilmiarTilock, and Glasgow ; in Ireland at B,allyw,afeigh and Derry ; in Smith Afritea at -Port Elteabettti, Kimberlev

Capetown, Jlphannesiburg, and Durban The noble work of the Sisiters during the late war in S,olith Africa is of such reoemt history that refexonce tlheretto is needless, suffice to say that their heroic selfsjaarifice and devoted attention to the w,o.vtn,ded, dvirvg, and tiis'dase-stiritek'eh otom'toatants, Briton and Boer alike', received grateflul recognition from generals' On tine field as wjnll as fsom those in the highest /positions at. Home, Rioyjalty iincluti^d. These trying times, howetver, caused nipt ofnly severe pecuniary loss, but also entailed a cons.i ! de\pa-ble tlhi«nvn,g out in bheir .ranks Ijy death, sirid ,a temiptarary, alt/hdugh serious, interference with their oitditoary putrsViiit*. So great, JntdeCd, ihave "been the demlainlds on tfoe mothe»r-ho l use for replaniahing the deDleited commiunities tWai; tihe mwcli desired foundation fln Christoftliurejh 4ias been aio long delayed. Tfce prjopertv acquireid by his Lordship the Bishop Sor tihe Nazareth House in CTiristehuroh is a large resittemce aorapTistng probably 14 raoms, and sitV?ate»d at t^he oot>iei< of Fitizgerald Avenue alnd Ferry RoaJd, witihfn five minutes' walk of the Cathedral. The UiiM-

S^ ll^ On ***?*<»** grounds well laid -out and cpltivatett, and recently pjut in thorough order. T,he new St^^ system runs -along the two street front<v?£ c Sifl<aw ' SaVlll > Albion Con^^iy's ' ianto ' ?s 7 P SiS XT* SistWS are COmin S to Ne w ZeaCd, carl?fn ?J m aTr y e at v the t nd of present mointh or Zful wiinL - 6W V , 6ar> by Whiah time<it is lh °P« d everyjSSSsSJ^l °Jom\ c . SiSterS t0 immediaL