Ministry

We are called to awaken
to the Spirit of God
present and active in all that exists;
to a spirituality of being in communion;
to participate in the universal mission of Jesus Christ. C3

We, the Sisters of the Presentation of Newfoundland & Labrador, are called to be women of contemplation living in community, united in charity, joyfully and generously serving God and God’s people, with special attentiveness to Earth and those made poor. (Our timeless 1983  NL Congregational Charism Statement)

Our ministries are ways in which we share our individual gifts and collective charism to respond to the challenges endemic or arising in our world. The fundamental challenge before us is worldwide and timeless. We are continually called to help bring forth a society built on respect for the Earth, human rights, peace and economic justice for all, especially women and children, who are typically most affected by unjust systems.

As we strive to keep Nano’s lantern spark aflame, we network with others as together we seek solutions to the same challenge – to be in communion with all of life and to be midwives of a spirituality of peace, justice and integrity of creation. Just as our ministries respond to a fundamental challenge, so are they highly interconnected and often overlapping, as may be seen below, sometimes as a quiet prayerful, supportive presence, sometimes as a more active pastoral presence, and often as an inseparable blend of both.

Contemplative Practice

Our contemplative stance is part of our way of being engaged in life and ministry and at the same time holding Sacred Space for our world. That stance also finds us exploring, inviting and engaging with others in a variety of contemplative traditions in keeping with a spirituality of communion with all of Life as ONE. 

Prayer Ministry

For us as Presentation Sisters, our Prayer Ministry is what gives birth to and permeates our evolving ministries, feeds and sustains them and us, and helps shed light on new paths beckoning us forward as part of God’s unfolding dream for our world.  As one person expressed it, we are “weaving prayer through all we do.” Truly a blend of contemplation and action.

Together as one, daily we hold Sacred Space for our Earth and our world, often in response to specific prayer requests  for Earth and those made poor through challenging personal or societal circumstances, natural disasters or those of humankind’s own doing, or other causes, or for myriad other special intentions.

In a very profound way, our retired Sisters at our Motherhouse, as part of their very active Prayer Ministry, are truly a “Powerhouse of Prayer” in their holding of that Sacred Space.

Should you have a special intention for yourself or for someone else, please be assured that we will be figuratively “Lighting a Candle” for you as our Sisters, Associates, and  other Presentation People continuously  unite with you in prayerful support within our Sacred Space.

Sr Alice Walsh at prayer in the Motherhouse Chapel

On the island of Newfoundland we maintain two Centres, one on our west coast and one on our east coast, whose vision includes providing a welcoming space for spiritual seekers in a peaceful, supportive environment. 

Nano Nagle Spirituality Centre (Officially closed as of December 2023)

Promoting healthy bodies, healthy minds and healthy spirits

We are deeply grateful to

Sr Betty Daniels

and all who served in this ministry

so generously and faithfully

for so many years.

Located in Barachois Brook, in western NL, this former private residence had been re-purposed as a place of peace and healing for all, fostering a spirituality of peace, justice and reverence for the whole of Creation. Those who came always found warm hospitality, and a listening, supportive, welcoming presence.

The Nano Nagle Spirituality Centre has a spacious garden with convenient access to walking trails and the ocean, as well as a guest bedroom and adjoining kitchenette for visitors. The Centre offered quiet space for reading and reflection; areas for discussion groups and keynote speakers; care and support for those pursuing self-care, self-understanding and positive decision-making in challenging times; and a wealth of helpful resources (books, and audio/video recordings) that visitors may borrow.

Those who ministered here support guests’ self-care and self-actualization through spiritual guidance, days of prayer and reflection, and health and wellness workshops.

Celebrating Earth and all of Creation …

The invitation was always to 

“come, relax, and enjoy…
refreshing body, mind and spirit.”

See our Brochure  for more about the
Nano Nagle Spirituality Centre.

Virginia Water Contemplative Centre

A sacred space of welcome … celebrating our relationship with all of Creation

CONTACT INFORMATION
PO Box 21268
47 Parsonage Drive
St. John’s, NL, Canada, A1A 5G6
T: 709-754-1582
E: virginiawatercc@presentationsisters.ca

Virginia Water Contemplative Centre is located on the edge of the city in St. John’s, NL. This is a space of welcome and hospitality where we gather to honour and celebrate the sacredness of all creation. We are a Centre dedicated to the nurturing and wellness of the whole Earth community as articulated through The Universe Story which fosters the reverence, sacredness, value, interconnection, and communion of all of Life.

The mission of the Centre is rooted in fidelity to the evolving Universe Story, The Earth Charter and the mission of the International Presentation Association (IPA) to “speak and act in partnership with others for global justice from a contemplative stance in a spirit of oneness with the whole of creation”.

For more, see our Happenings page
under “On-Going”.

We are dedicated to creating supportive community. We invite you to join us in a variety of learning opportunities and Sharing Circles that are founded in silence, contemplative listening, and respectful dialogue. We offer a variety of earth-based rituals and contemplative practices that guide us on our unfolding spiritual journeys.

Guided by The Universe Story, we seek to deepen oiur connectedness, communion and interdependence with all that exists.

Education

Nano Nagle saw education as a path out of poverty for the powerless and vulnerable. For us as Presentation Sisters, education always has been and always will be intrinsically a Social Justice Ministry.

Nano’s schools also consistently included life skills, academia, the arts and faith development.  For more about Nano and our Presentation founding story click  HERE.

Nano’s story inspired a similar response among our founding Presentation Sisters who came from Galway to Newfoundland in 1833. Education became our primary ministry focus in addressing that basic need among Irish immigrant families throughout Newfoundland & Labrador.

A little over 100 years later, 63 schools had been established in 38 communities province wide. The story of our education ministry has included founding schools, offering teacher training, serving as teachers, administrators and School Board Consultants in Newfoundland & Labrador’s formerly denominational education system, as well as teaching at the University level. Our Sisters worked in both urban and rural schools, including in the St. Alban’s/Samiajij area of Newfoundland and the Davis Inlet area of Labrador, which are also home to two of our Indigenous peoples, the Miawpukek Miꞌkmaq and Mushau Innu, respectively. While we did not establish a convent or school in Labrador, our Sisters served there as educators, in Pastoral Care and Social Work.

Above is a map of our ministry sites in Newfoundland & Labrador since our arrival in 1833. For a map of current ministry sites, see our Contacts & Resources page, HERE.

Click the blue links for Davis Inlet Ministry Reflections by Paula Delahunty and  Anne Campbell as they look back to that time from the spring of 2022, as well as a previous reflection by Marie Furey and an Early Morn Reflection by Margie Byrne

Read more about the history and development of our education  in a Symposium Presentation by two of our Sisters on the Journey of the Presentation Sisters in Newfoundland and Labrador as presented at the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Roman Catholic Cathedral-Basilica in St. John’s in 2005.

After Newfoundland & Labrador’s transition to a non-denominational school system in the late 1990s, when Religious Education ceased to be a core part of the curriculum, Parish Catechetics became a greater focus for our Congregation. Our Sisters have continued to provide Religious Education/Faith Formation in parishes, both as catechists and as members of Parish Catechetical Teams.  We have also served as Parish Administrators, mostly in more remote areas of on the island portion of Newfoundland, as well as in Labrador, always at the invitation of the respective Bishops. That has often also included serving as Spiritual Animators in facilitating Adult Faith Programs, Sacramental Preparation, Liturgy of the Word, and home visitations.

 

Sr Betty Quinlan leads a catechetics class

Click HERE for Sister Ruth O’Reilly’s
Reflection on Parish Ministry in Labrador.

Other Education ministries evolved over time as needs emerged, sometimes as a Sister’s main life-long ministry focus and often in response to new and changing needs as our Sisters retired from the provincial school system.

Read more: our evolving education ministries

Sisters Loretto Croke and Mother de Sales Walsh wonderfully  exemplified life-long ministry in their teaching  private music students well into their 90s. In August 2003. one music student of Sister Josephine O’Sullivan wrote an article for our daily paper, The Telegram, expressing her deep gratitude and highlighting how our Sisters faithfully and selflessly went that “One Pace Beyond” in making music lessons available to as many as possible. Read this touching Telegram Article.

Sister Mary Taylor, on retiring from teaching in our regular school system, volunteered for several years at the Brother T.I. Murphy Centre,  in collaboration with  the NL Irish Christian Brothers in St. John’s. Its mission was to support young people 18 years of age  and older who had fallen through the cracks in the education system and offer them a second chance in an environment more conducive to their success in obtaining the equivalent of a High School Graduation Certificate, opening up increasing possibilities for them for life. In our Union You Tube video, “Leaving No one Behind”, Mary reflects on how the regular system did not meet their needs and that they were certainly those who were left behind. In Mary’s own words, “Nano really lived the Gospel. She knew that if the Gospel is not Good News for the poor, then it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” 

Sister Helen Bonia who had previously ministered as a school teacher and administrator, as well as at the School Board and Department of Education levels,  was invited in her late 80s to offer individual tutoring with a young woman who had similarly fallen through the cracks in our system and whose life and life opportunities were transformed beyond words as a direct result of Helen’s outreach to her.   Helen followed through with her for several years, indeed until into her early 90s. while, Sister Jean Whelan played an amazing role in opening to her the world of technology, so integral to life in today’s world.

Re-envisioning our Education Ministry

Just as Nano’s mission expanded beyond Ireland, often by invitation as with Bishop Fleming’s 1833 request for Sisters to come to Newfoundland as teachers, so also did ours. In the 1970s our Newfoundland & Labrador education ministry began expanding beyond NL shores.

In the mid 1970s Sister Corona Wyse was invited to teach at Catholic University in Washington DC after completing her studies there. Additionally, invited by Newfoundland & Labrador’s Christian Brothers, we practiced collaborative teaching in their inner-city Toronto school from 1977 to 1989, while also offering Music and Counselling.   

Another major broadening of our collaborative education ministry involves Saint Paul University in  Ottawa, Canada.

In 1997 Sister Miriam Martin began a full-time teaching ministry at Saint Paul University, where she served in various teaching and leadership roles until she formally retired from her teaching position  in 2021.

Miriam continues to engage with the University as an Adjunct Professor, particularly through St. Paul’s Providence School of Transformative Leadership and Spirituality, in the Institute of Transformative Leadership, which has facilitated the birthing of our Presentation Sisters Transformative Servant Leadership Program in collaboration with our Union Congregational Leadership Team.

Read more: Other Ottawa Education Collaboration

Further expanding our horizons in education, in 2007, in collaboration with the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland, we funded a Mercy/Presentation Sisters Chair in Religious Education at Saint Paul University, with Miriam already serving as Director of Religious Education  there.

We have worked there with other women religious to establish and evolve the study and practice of spirituality-inspired leadership. In 2011, with the support of and in collaboration with the Sisters of Service of Canada, the Centre for Religious Education and Catechesis was established. It was co-founded by Dr. Myrtle Power and our Sr. Miriam. It continues innovative research today under the capable leadership of Dr. Carol Kuzmochka.

In 2017 with the support of the Sisters of Providence (Kingston, ON) the Providence School of Transformative Leadership and Spirituality at Saint Paul University was founded. Miriam served the School as its founding Director until her retirement in June 2021. The Providence School continues to develop programs and collaborate in many areas of leadership development.

Click here for a 3-minute video presentation prepared by Saint Paul University in 2020 for more about the Providence School of Transformative Leadership and Spirituality Program (PSTLS).

Miriam’s engagement with PSTLS was helpful in establishing the Union of Presentation Sisters Transformative Servant Leadership Program. This is a joint venture between Saint Paul University’s Providence School of Transformative Leadership and Spirituality and our Union of Presentation Sisters with the Commission for Education for Leadership. Sisters Mary Deane, Miriam Martin, and Alba Rodrigues were appointed in 2019 with Sister Anne McDermott as CLT link; in fall 2022 Sister Numba Mukeya was added to the Commission.

In September 2021 and October 2022, the first two cohorts of the Presentation Sisters Transformative Servant Leadership Program received Certificates of Completion and a third cohort has begun with twenty new sisters. In Sr. Miriam’s words, “What a wonderful experience of mutual learning that is supporting leadership development among us.” In this new ministry we have once again shared our Presentation charism from Ireland to NL and from NL to Ireland and all around our Presentation world.

As of November 2022, we are collaborating with twenty other Canadian Catholic religious congregations in two related initiatives.

The School of Integral Ecology at St. Paul University will create academic programs dedicated to the study and advancement of the synthesis of integral ecology in the spirit of Laudato Si.

The Office of Integral Ecology (ORCIE) will enhance the capacity of Catholic religious congregations to collaboratively increase their impact on policy change towards social and ecological justice at the national and international level.  Sister Clo Martin, from our NL Provincial Leadership Team, is our representative on the ORCIE Board.

West Indies: Dominica & Antigua

In the early 1990s our education ministry expanded also to the West Indies, where Nano had first sent her catechists as lay missionaries outside Ireland. Our presence there in both Antigua and Dominica was again by invitation, God using others to do the beckoning beyond the familiar and the safe and secure, ever “one pace beyond”. (Raphael Consedine, PBVM)

Staff and trainees at CALLS, Dominica

We continue to minister in Dominica in an evolving education ministry. Initially, on our arrival in 1993 at the invitation of the Christian Brothers already active there, our  ministry primarily involved teacher training and mentoring, as well as teaching and administration. Our involvement since 2009 has since taken on a whole new focus on fostering life skills among adolescents, through a program known as CALLS, (Centre where Adolescents Learn to Love and Serve), which had actually begun in 1995.

For over 25 years CALLS has been offering transformative programs for at-risk adolescents, facilitating the development of hundreds of youths into responsible well-rounded individuals and empowering them to live successful lives through the acquisition of new, practical skills for life and work, a strong work ethic and an aptitude for entrepreneurship and service.

See Sr. Marilyn Doyle’s Reflection for more on our beginnings in Dominica.

See Sr. Betty Rae Lee’s Reflection on Calls  for the 20th Anniversary Celebration in 2014.

See more about Dominica and CALLS, its beginnings and our continuing ministry there.

See CALLS Facebook Page.

From 1995 until 2019, at the invitation of the Bishop, we were engaged in a variety of ministries in Antigua. Sister Elizabeth Kennedy volunteered for the first three years as a support for the Primary school teachers, and also as a substitute teacher when needed, as did Sister Margaret McLaughlin for the following span of 4 years.  Sister Paulette Nugent served initially as Principal of the Primary School and then in other Diocesan roles.  Paulette was our last Sister in ministry in Antigua. She returned to Newfoundland in 2019 after 24 years of service.
Click Here for Elizabeth’s Antigua Story.
Click Here for Paulette’s Antigua Story.

Sister Paulette as Principal presenting books
to the children and their teachers

Further Broadening our Education Lens

Today, we view education through an ever-broadening lens, supporting myriad learners and seekers in new, creative and life-enhancing ways, as our Charism continues to find dynamic expression  through an always evolving focus on education and social justice initiatives in response to the needs of the time. 

One of these emerging education initiatives includes finding ways to share and encourage exploration of the New Universe Story, inviting a deeper integration of a creation-centered spirituality of communion with all of life. As we seek to facilitate the weaving of the New Universe Story more integrally into the fabric of life, we offer it as a unifying thread that gives new and richer texture and deeper meaning to one’s lived experience as part of a  global community in the 21st century.

Moment of Creation
(Image from James Web Telescope)

We continue to extend that ever deepening and evolving invitation to the wider community of seekers and learners by also creating a wider range of opportunities through our networking with others of like mind. Creatively availing of the rapid and timely emergence of more and more on-line technologies, such as Zoom and other live streaming services, opens up vast new ministry avenues previously undreamed of.

Another broadening of our lens is through the offering and supporting of various programs and initiatives rooted in mindfulness as a way of living, with its deep roots as well in other contemplative or spiritual traditions, both ancient and contemporary. Many such programs and initiatives can be found at The Virginia Water Contemplative Centre, The Nano Nagle Spirituality Centre and  also at The Lantern.

The Lantern (opened in 1997)

Community Life Centre in the heart of St. John’s

CONTACT INFORMATION
35 Barnes Road
St John’s, NL, A1C 3X1
T: 709-753-8760
E: information@thelantern.ca
Web: www.thelantern.ca

This extension of our former Presentation Elementary School, 35 Barnes Road, was renovated in 1996 and repurposed to serve as a centre fostering healthy, vibrant community life in the historic downtown core of St. John’s. The Lantern has transitioned to become a Community Life Centre, inclusive of all seekers.

The Lantern, with its modern, easily accessible space, is primarily a host site, facilitating programs and events that support personal and community wellness, explore individual and collective spirituality, and pursue justice for the underprivileged, marginalized and vulnerable.

Every year the Lantern hosts multiple organizations and programs that bring thousands of people into the facility. Those range from small groups focused on spiritual, physical and emotional wellness, to summer camps for children and youth, to large non-profit conventions and fundraisers, and much in between!

The Lantern also hosts the Ruah Centre, a year-round tenant offering subsidized personal and relationship counseling.  Additionally, the Lantern provides free access to peer support groups and social justice not-for-profits with compatible missions to serve and advocate for the disenfranchised and vulnerable.

The Lantern is separately incorporated and has charitable status. The Presentation Sisters own the property and lease it to The Lantern Community Life Centre. While The Lantern is operated by professional staff under the direction of the Board of Directors, the NL Province of Presentation Sisters continue to financially support the ministry.

For more about The Lantern, its programs and its meeting and event spaces, visit the website at https://thelantern.ca/.

Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation

As Sisters of the Presentation of Newfoundland & Labrador we are called to joyfully and generously serve God and God’s people, with special attentiveness to the Earth and those made poor.

Sr Dorothy Baird (Top R) volunteering with guests at The Gathering Place,  with Director, Joanne Thompson (Top Centre)

Ever mindful that justice is said to have two feet, charity and action, our Sisters answer this call through initiating, implementing and engaging in initiatives, often collaboratively, that support an ecology of peace and justice wherein everyone can access equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities. We endeavour to respond with initiatives that are increasingly global, multi-cultural and inter-generational. Some of these social justice initiatives are highlighted below; some are community partnerships, others involve gifted properties that have been repurposed to meet a clearly identified pressing need, and some a combination of both; some are more global; all are most certainly collaborative ventures.

One such venture was our responding in 2005 to an invitation from the North American Conference of Presentation Sisters to engage in a new mission among the poor in New Orleans with other Conference Sisters and volunteers from around North America. Sisters Joan White and Marie Roche had eagerly volunteered for the mission which took on a surprisingly different focus after Hurricane Katrina totally ravaged the area the month before they were scheduled to make their way to New Orleans and their new Lantern Light home and mission site. 

Click Here for more, including Marie’s reflection on her New Orleans experience.

Click here for Helen’s reflection on her Internship,“A Tidal Wave of Justice at the United Nations”.

A further global example is when for six months from October 2014 – March 2015,  Sister Helen Martinez did an IPA Internship at the UN. In her own words,  “I had the privilege and grace to be a presence at the United Nations in the name of the International Presentation Association.  The core of our advocacy ministry is seeking to ensure the rights of the disadvantaged through diligently monitoring and participating at every level in every conversation from policy to implementation. The foundation of this prophetic role at the UN is giving a voice to those who need yet are denied one…

I saw firsthand that our role in the Non-Government Organization (NGO) community in the United Nations is to be a moral goad, a prophetic voice, a voice without the power of government that can and must remind this august institution both of the goals it must pursue and of the values it must embody in the pursuit of peace and justice.”

Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015 by all United Nations Member States as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. The 17 SDGs represent an urgent call for action by all countries in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

Through our affiliation with the International Presentation Association (IPA), which ha standing at the UN Economic and Social Council, we work to influence UN social and economic policy and advocate for systemic justice in collaboration with like-minded NGOs and religious organizations at the UN, in our missions around the world and at home in Newfoundland & Labrador. The 2030 Agenda and SDGs, along with Pope Francis’ Laudato Si, are an important focus of this work.

Presentation Sisters and Associates in Newfoundland & Labrador have established study and working groups to better understand and explore the SDGs and implementation strategies to support the global effort and commitment to achieve them, along with Laudato Si goals. It can readily be affirmed that all of our social justice initiatives are already in alignment with the SDGs and Laudato Si, and answerable to or inspired by them.

Click HERE for a reflection
by Sr Lois Greene on her
Theological Reflections on
the SDGs and Laudato Si with
Sisters at our Motherhouse.

The following broad strokes paint a picture of our incorporated ministries. Come share this piece of our evolving story.

Presentation House Emergency Children’s Centre (1980-1996)

From Convent to Shelter and back to Convent

“50 Bonaventure” (1980 – 1991)

In 1980, in response to a request from our NL Provincial Health and Social Services and Child Welfare Departments, our convent at “50 Bonaventure” in St. John’s temporarily transitioned from being a residence for our Sisters to being An Emergency Children’s Shelter that would serve as “home” to children who were temporarily in the care of Social Services.  Children arrived at our doors anytime of day or night, ages ranging anywhere from days old to mid-teens, their intended stay being days, weeks, months, or longer, until they could be returned to families, or placed in Foster Care. It was a whole new world! While still owning the building, our Sisters served as administrators as well as staff and volunteers, along with other staff and volunteers.

 Mary Queen of the World (1991 – 1996)

As the need grew and the space at 50 Bonaventure was no longer adequate, we moved the Children’s Shelter to the main part of one of our other larger convents known as “Mary Queen of the World”, on 799 Topsail Road, just on the edge of the city.  Our other Sisters continued to live in the Convent “apartment” that had previously been added on. Times changed, needs changed, Social Services Programs changed, and the need would be addressed in other ways. The Children’s Shelter setting transitioned back once again to being a residence for our Sisters.

The Gathering Place (opened 1994)

Support for vulnerable, under-resourced people in downtown St. John’s

CONTACT INFORMATION
172 Military Road
St. John’s, NL, Canada, A1C 5P5
T: 709-753-3234
E: info@gatheringstjohns.ca
Web: https://kindnesswanted.ca

The Gathering Place, a former Mercy convent and school in the downtown core of St. John’s, was established in 1994 by the Sisters of Mercy and the Presentation Sisters in response to the needs of those seeking food. Both Congregations came together to provide a place of welcome for people who were cold, hungry and often unemployed and homeless or living in less than desirable conditions, and lacking adequate social, emotional and financial resources.

Today The Gathering Place offers a whole array of ever-expanding services. It has transitioned to lay administration, supported by the community at large and hundreds of volunteers. We continue to be faithful partners, committing our energies and other resources to building community, promoting equality, and fostering a sense of dignity and independence among those vulnerable individuals who are The Gathering Place guests.

On 31 December 2022, the NL Province of Presentation Sisters will discontinue their formal role in governance of The Gathering Place but will continue to give financial support to this valuable ministry among the most vulnerable in our society.

You are invited to visit the Gathering Place Website and Facebook page for more information about programs and operations, and the many ways you or groups you belong may become involved or offer support.

Lionel Kelland Hospice (23 Nov 2023)

First residential hospice in NL

Click here  for the  CBC News coverage
of the 2016 announcement.

Click here to see the Unveiling Ceremony, 23 November 2023.

CONTACT INFORMATION
3 St Catherine’s Street
Grand Falls – Windsor, NL, Canada A2A 1V7

T: 709-489-1222
E: info@lionelkellandhospice.ca
Web: http://www.lionelkellandhospice.ca

In response to an identified gap in the province’s health care continuum, in 2016 the Presentation Sisters donated St. Catherine’s Renewal Centre in Grand Falls–Windsor for re-development and use as a residential hospice for the central NL area, providing end-of-life comfort, care and dignity for patients, and support for their loved ones. While not directly involved on site, we continue to provide support.

Nagle Manor (opened 2019)

Affordable housing for seniors

CONTACT INFORMATION
15 Convent Square
St. John’s, NL, Canada
T: 709-576-8196
E: housing@stjohns.ca
Web: http://www.stjohns.ca/living-st-johns/city-services/non-profit-housing

In November 2016, as we celebrated our special 160-year relationship with the people of St. Patrick’s Parish and the students of St. Patrick’s School, our convent was gifted to the City of St. John’s for use as affordable housing for seniors. Through our involvement with the wider community on housing and ending homelessness in the city, we have seen more and more elderly people having great difficulty finding safe, affordable and comfortable places to live. We are grateful that we can give back to the city, to the people in whose lives we have shared so deeply. We recognized that this treasured chapter of our narrative is now completed: another begins as new stories are created at Nagle Manor.  Nagle Manor welcomed its first tenants in 2019. In the beginning, two units had been allocated to our Sisters as we continued to offer a Presentation presence.   We wish the residents joy in their new living space, equal to our own.
See more about the St. Patrick’s Closing Ceremony.

O’Shaughnessy House (opened 2010)

A safe haven for women & children 

CONTACT INFORMATION

T: 1-888-596-8709
Web: www.iriskirbyhouse.ca/index.php/about-us/our-homes/

NOTE: For the security of guests and staff, detailed contact information is available only by telephone. 

For over 150 years Presentation Sisters shared our gifts and leadership within the schools, parish and community of Carbonear until the convent closed in 2004. In 2008, in keeping with our Presentation commitment to care for the most vulnerable, we consulted with community leaders and social justice advocates who identified the need for a shelter outside the St. John’s area for women and children needing a safe haven from domestic abuse. We were very pleased to gift the convent in Carbonear, about 2 hours from St. John’s, as that safe haven, a place of warm hospitality and gentle compassion and a place of promise and possibility.  They themselves chose the name O’Shaughnessy House for one of our four founding Sisters, Sister Magdalen O’Shaughnessy, who in 1852 sent a group of Presentation Sisters to open a convent in Carbonear.

We as Presentation Sisters partnered with Iris Kirby House (a transition facility for vulnerable women in St. John’s, which we had long supported) and the Government of Newfoundland & Labrador to help make this project possible. Together we demonstrate to vulnerable women and children that they have the support of a caring community – an important aspect of the healing process for an abused woman and her family, as she moves towards a life free from domestic violence. While O’Shaughnessy House is administered by Iris Kirby House staff and operational funding is provided by the NL government, our legacy as Presentation Sisters lives on in this place.  While not directly involved on site, we continue to provide on-going support.

Xavier House (opened 1985)

For adults with complex mental health needs

CONTACT INFORMATION
19 Mt. Bernard Avenue
Corner Brook, NL, Canada, A2H 6K7
T: 709-634-2787
E: xavierhouse@nf.aibn.com
Website: https://www.xavierhouse.ca/

Formerly St. Francis Xavier Convent and School from 1947 – 1983, Xavier House in Corner Brook, opened its doors in 1985 as home for up to 20 women and men with complex mental health needs.  It continues to help address a pressing need identified by and within the community and is the only facility of its kind in NL. At the end of 2021, seeing an increasing need for more living space, we gifted the remaining part of the Convent.

Xavier House staff and volunteers, our Sisters among them, offer an atmosphere of love, healing, and joy, focused on respect and dignity while residents receive much-needed professional care. Myriad activities such as cards, painting, bowling, darts, sing-a-longs, and dancing, help residents explore their talents and simply have fun, while celebrating special days affords residents a sense of community, belonging and a good feeling about themselves that many have never experienced before, uplifting residents as well as staff!

Xavier House is separately incorporated with charitable status and is governed by a Board of Directors in conjunction with the Western Health Regional Authority. While the Presentation Sisters currently hold the licence and subsidize the operation for the benefit of the residents, the Sisters plan to move away from governance of Xavier House when planning is completed.

Click here for  Xavier House’s 25th Anniversary Celebration in 2010.

Click here for Sr Kay Rex’s 2021 Reflection on Xavier House.

 

Residents and staff celebration at Xavier House

The residents’ garden at Xavier House

Pastoral, Holistic & Health Care

A way of Being and Being Present … for Life … in the support of the whole person

As Presentation Sisters, our charism calls us to extend what we name as a pastoral presence,  integral to all our Presentation ministries. “Pastoral presence” has many faces and conjures up myriad images.  It most often  connotes  compassionate ministry to those experiencing especially challenging life situations. Familiar examples would include visiting the sick and imprisoned, comforting the grieving, caring for the poor and offering them new opportunities, reaching out to the immigrant community, indeed, ultimately doing whatever is needed accordingly in the form of personal support in the footsteps of Nano Nagle.

A wonderful recent example would be the supportive telephone ministry with the visually impaired initiated by Sister Sylvia Staples who in 2014, while she was in ministry in Dominica, experienced a sudden and unexplainable loss of sight in one eye, and shortly after coming home lost sight in the other. As part of her adjusting to her new reality, she had became very involved with the CNIB (Canadian National institute for the Blind). Soon her telephone ministry expanded into other involvements, a truly pastoral presence birthed from her own life experience. She starts each day with deep gratitude to so many, for so much, and does what is in her power to do. Her message: You still are who you have always been, only without your sight. 

That same  pastoral presence is also woven into the way we are with one another as Presentation Sisters living together in Community.

In its essence, pastoral presence is deeply reflective of a  practice more commonly referred to as  Pastoral Care. Pastoral Care is a recognized ancient practice of offering emotional, social and spiritual and other support to those in need, a practice  found in all cultures and traditions. It involves active listening and gentle relating with individuals at vulnerable times in their lives, helping them to access and activate their own sense of self, their inner resources, resilience, and capacity to cope and to live more actively engaging and fulfilling lives. It has by nature a deeply supportive component, and implicit in that is an equally deep invitational component. It can often also include spiritual accompaniment for those who simply seek fuller, happier, healthier, more meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Sr Regina Quigley in a counselling session 

Sr Sylvia Staples in her telephone ministry for the visually impaired

Sr Catherine Burke praying with Sr Lillian Wakeham, who is visually impared.

Sr Sheila Leonard welcomed by Prison staff for her T’ai Chi Chih session

CLICK HERE for Sheila’s Reflection on her Ministry at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary …

As Presentation Sisters of Newfoundland and Labrador, our main ministry focus has been education, especially for young girls and women. That continued to be our primary focus for well over a hundred years, though Health Care has also been an important ministry focus.

Over the years,  our Sisters have engaged in Health Care particularly at our own Motherhouse. We recall them with deep gratitude and fondness.  We remember Sister Mary Felicita Grace, who in the late 1930s became our first Registered Nurse, having trained at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. With her we remember Sister Columba Hepditch who had also begun nursing training with Sister Felicita  and was called back home after two years to fill a Motherhouse need. We remember Sister Mary Cabrini Miles, initially a Registered Nurse with roots in England who as a lay woman had served on our NL west coast as Matron of the Hospital there. We remember Sister Vianney Lawlor who was perhaps the first to train as a Nursing Assistant, to be followed by Sister Eileen Emberley and in more recent times, Sister Marie Furey.

For Sister Sharon Fagan, who had begun her ministry as an Elementary School teacher, very early on came the call to move away from education within our school system and into Health Care. Sharon also provided nursing care at our Motherhouse, and also as a Public Health Nurse, with its practical nursing as well as education domains. After 20 years in Public Health, Sharon now serves in Congregational Leadership, while also still serving as a Health Care resource where appropriate.

Click HERE for Sharon’s own telling of her story.

Gradually, Health Care at our Motherhouse has become more the domain of professional lay women and men, in constant consultation and communication with our Provincial Leadership Team Health Care contact.

Sisters Marie Furey, Barbara Tobin & Helena  Murphy with Nursing Director Ann Marie Wells looking on.

Sr Kay Rex (L) visiting a nursing home resident

Sr Connie Power providing pastoral care in hospital

Sisters Marie Furey (C), with Nursing Director Ann Marie Wells (L) and LPN, Louise Noftall (R).

Read more: Our Pastoral Care Ministries

Pastoral Care continues to find expression in our ministry through the different experiences of informal and formal mental health support which our Sisters have offered over the years and still do today. That often includes personal counselling, couples, marriage and family counselling, group dynamics counselling, counselling for veterans, addictions counselling, trauma, grief and bereavement  counselling and much more, all as and where needed.  For many years, our Sisters offered these services as part of the former St. John’s Archdiocesan Family Life Bureau which has since  birthed The Ruah Counselling Centre, which is housed at The Lantern.

In our unfolding pastoral ministry context, Pastoral Care also includes facilitating modes of emergent holistic thinking and lifestyle practices that help cultivate optimal wellness through what is often referred to more specifically as Holistic Self- Care.  Its deeply invitational dimension  includes a heightened emphasis on  fostering self care, self-empowerment and self-responsibility on all levels and throughout the various aspects and stages of one’s life

This sometimes includes engaging in a suite of energy-related ministries, often born of an individual Sister’s own life experience, dedicated to the fostering of whole-person health and wellness, supporting, and helping to awaken and cultivate an individual’s own innate capacity for healing by optimizing one’s own inner energetic resources. While some might view these practices as akin to “alternative” medicine or health practices,  another lens would see  them clearly as “complimentary” to other healthy practices. Among the variety of energy focused wellness-promoting practices our Sisters have been and/or continue to be engaged in are Healing Touch, Massage, Meditation, Mindfulness, Reiki, Shiatsu, Tai Chi Chih, Wisdom Healing Qigong, and other less specific energy-related modalities and practices.

Our Sisters continue to engage in these varied aspects of Pastoral Care  in a wide variety of settings, within our province of Newfoundland and Labrador and beyond our NL shores.

Presentation Sisters from Newfoundland & Labrador have served both as staff and as volunteers, as part of both Memorare and Emmaus House in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, USA, which offer personal growth and development programs for women religious throughout North America and beyond. Sr Sandy Butler ministered on site at Emmaus House and Memorare for several years and now continues to provide on-going virtual support to former program participants, as well as occasional in-person support. Additionally, in the broader context of Pastoral Care/Pastoral Presence as personal accompaniment, she is also involved in Vocation/Formation Ministry (Learn more on our What Guides Us page under Vocation & Formation). In that same broader context, Sandy is also the Link Sister for our Presentation NL Associate Relationship (Visit our Partnering page to learn more about our Associate Relationship.)

While our striving to offer a pastoral presence has  permeated all of our ministry through the years, some formally or more informally, it is becoming more of an increasingly conscious focus, as our Presentation ministries continue to evolve.

Pastoral Care beckons us  to new and innovative ways of responding to new calls, new needs …
“Behold, I am doing something new.” Isaiah 43:18.

Other Ministries

Alongside, and often integral to our Incorporated Ministries, our Sisters are or have been engaged in a wide variety of Ministry areas.

Of particular mention, and again with deep gratitude, would be the many Sisters who have served and continue to serve in our intra-congregational ministries, some as a primary ministry focus and others in their retirement from another ministry.

See our more inclusive ministry listing below.

  • Adult Faith Formation
  • Archives – Congregational
  • Art and Design, including Greeting Cards
  • Associate Formation
  • Catechetics
  • Counselling & Psychology
  • Diocesan Director for Pontifical Missions
  • Diocesan Educational Consultant
  • Education (Teaching, Teacher Training, School and School Board Administration, Department of Education Consultancy, and University Education, Mentorship, and Program Development)
  • Health Care:
    • Public Health Nursing
    • Nursing Administration
    • Nursing Care at our Motherhouse
    • Holistic Health & Energy Healing Modalities
  • Hospitality
  • Local Justice Network (JPIC)
  • Music
  • Parish Administration, Music & Office Ministries
  • Pastoral Care
    • Administration
    • Families
    • Hospital Chaplaincy
    • Motherhouse Communuty
    • Outreach to the Poor and Homeless
    • Seniors’ Nursing Homes
  • Prayer
  • Refugee Housing and Integration
  • Renewal/Retreat/Spirituality Centres
  • Residence for Adults with Complex Mental Health Needs
  • Rosary Bead Ministry
  • Spiritual Direction
  • Spiritual Animation Committee/Team
  • Vocation & Formation

Intra-Congregational Ministries

Provincial Leadership Team
Motherhouse Coordinating Team
Clerical, Administration, Finances & Archives
Tech Support & Communications
Food Service, Housekeeping & Haircare
Motherhouse Library, Reception, Chapel & Music
Holistic & Relaxation Therapies
Hospitality, Tours & Transportation

 

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