NATIVE SISTERS IN OCEANICA.

New Zealand Tablet, 19 January 1922, Page 45

NATIVE SISTERS IN OCEANICA.

It is said that the test of every fervent Catholic community is the prevalence of vocations for the religious state. Religious vocation is the. flower which buds forth from the stalk of Love Divine—the outcome of the growth of fervent Catholicity. Most blessed, therefore, is the mission in New Britain, Oceanica, for it has possessed a native sisterhood' since 1912, and it is called “Daughters of Mary Immaculate.” Under the care of the devoted Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, to whom the training of these Sisters has been intrusted, they are formed according to the spirit and tradition of the religious life approved by the Catholic Church, and now number twenty-five. Since their rule prohibits the native Sisters from nourishing themselves with the food adopted by Europeans, they live solely on the products of their, native soil. To help them to live the natives round about, from time to time, bring them the products of their plantations. However, for the most part, the Sisters depend upon their own efforts at cultivation for their food and that of the children in their charge. Although the Sisters provide for their own support as regards food, nevertheless they depend upon the offerings of charity for their religious habits and the clothes wherewith to cover the nakedness of the children under their care. ■ •' - • Let us not forget these humble souls, but newly come into the Lord’s vineyard, when sharing our wealth with the poor.—Exchange. o I