VOCATION VACATION

There are not many Sisters in religious habits anymore, particularly in New Zealand. But growing up, I always remember the little Sisters dressed in grey at my grandparents parish in Island Bay, Wellington…

Earlier this year I visited a ninety-three-year-old Sister in a rest home. We spoke of her work in Vietnam during the war and how she was captured and detained for a few weeks. Yet the thing that really stayed with me long after I had left, was what she said of her experience now, being cared for in a home. She looked sadly at me and said;

Imagine a world where religious expression was not just discouraged, but penalised, with those caught practicing their faith fined, jailed or killed. This was the environment that Nano Nagle, foundress of the Presentation Sisters, grew up in…