The
Catholic Weekly
Online
Sydney
7 December 2003
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Sydney bids
for World Youth Day
Biggest rally of young people
Principals rang bells of change in schools
Abandoned by her dad, Dina finds a caring home in a village of poverty
A new St Pat’s: the
wait is over
A diary that caters for Catholic needs
Help for newcomers
Caritas emergency food aid to E Timor
Survival guide
How to help the refugees
Evening group
Editorial: Boost for youth
Letters: Wonderful memories
Conversation: Ted Collins, Bishop of Darwin - Souls to be saved, not locked up
Making
time for Advent
When in Rome do as the ...
Poor Clares’ rich history
Fidelity, respect, chastity
Times were a-changing
Holy Land ‘holiest of all’
Poor Clares’ rich history
Fr Stephen Bliss, provincial of the Order of Friars Minor, and fellow Franciscans concelebrated the Mass
By Damir Govorcin
Sr Joanne Fitzsimons says it was through “the loving and natural goodness” of the Poor Clares sisters that God gave her the call to enter religious life.
“I was taught by the sisters at St Clare’s College at Waverley and they had a dramatic influence on my life,” she says.
“They were very God-centered and I found I could be myself around them.
“I would come alive in their presence, which is what attracted me to join the order.”
She was 17 when she joined the Poor Clares at Waverley in 1962.
Reflecting on the 41 years since, Sr Joanne says “it’s a special privilege” to be part of the order.
“I have no regrets in joining the order at such a young age,” she says.
“I had to contend with the continual struggle in deepening my life and, as I was young, I had to grow into adulthood.
“I have been able to follow God being a part of a special group of women.”
The Poor Clares are celebrating 120 years of service in Australia.
More than 400 people packed Mary Immaculate Church, Waverley, for a thanksgiving Mass to mark the occasion on Sunday, November 23.
“It was wonderful day for me because there was such a large gathering of family, friends and some ex-students,” says Sr Joanne.
“The Mass was a joyful occasion, full of deep gratitude for what the order has achieved in Australia.
“One of the sisters commented that she wished the deceased sisters could have been with us to participate in this wonderful occasion.
“But I told her that they were with us in spirit.”
Fr Stephen Bliss, provincial minister of the Franciscan Friars in Australia, concelebrated the Mass with other Franciscans.
A luncheon was held later at St Clare’s College.
Letters, photos and historical records were showcased in the college hall, tracing the history of the order in Australia.
The Poor Clares order was founded in Assisi in 1212 when St Clare accepted to follow the ‘new’ Gospel way of life advocated by St Francis.
St Clare helped nurture and shape this consciousness not only among the sisters, but also within the Franciscan family.
The order was founded here on November 23, 1883, after six sisters from Keady and Newry sailed from Ireland to answer a call to meet the desperate Catholic educational needs of a young colony.
Since 1884, the Poor Clares’ involvement in Catholic education has ranged from occasional child care for pre-schoolers, teaching secondary students and offering counselling to university students.
Their work has been spread from Waverley, Richmond, Riverstone, Campbelltown and Hassall Grove in NSW to Bundoora and Mill Park in Victoria and Riverside North in Tasmania.
“The sisters have a gentle and loving nature about them, which I think rubs off on students and other people,” says Sr Joanne.
“Students have told me they feel a sense of warmth and comfort being around the sisters. The sisters try to make the students feel special which, I feel, brings the best out in them.”