CCHA Historical Studies, 51(1984), 89-106
Religious Women
in Nova Scotia:
A Struggle for Autonomy. A Sketch of the Sisters of
St. Martha of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, 1900-1960
by Sarah
MACPHERSON, C.S.M.
Dingwall, N.S.
PRE-FOUNDING
HISTORY
In the past few years many religious
communities have found a need for story telling. The retelling, reinterpreting,
and reliving of the stories of our founders and foundresses have led to a
reawakening of the spirit, mission and charism of our religious families. The
love, courage, and spirit of adventure of the pioneer sisters inspire us anew
and challenge us to emulate them. A large part of our renewal has been carried
forward by this search into our past. The brief story that I am about to
retell, although simple, humble and downright ordinary, proves yet again what
people of dedication and courage can accomplish.
Back in the 1880’s and 90’s, St. Francis
Xavier University, established in 1855 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, faced
financial trouble because of difficulties in obtaining and keeping a permanent
staff for the household needs of the university. At that time the university
was a preseminary for young men as well as a regular academic university. The
Church in eastern Nova Scotia was dependent on the university for the initial
training of young men who planned to study for the priesthood. To accomplish
this work with the finances available, St. F.X. University needed efficient
household management. The comfort and well-being of the staff and students was
of great concern to both the Bishop of the Diocese and the administration of
the university.
By the early 1890’s the student body had
greatly expanded. Bishop John Cameron, Bishop of Antigonish and Chancellor of
the university, along with Dr. Daniel Chisholm, Rector of the university,
realized that it was crucial to reorganize the domestic arrangements. To this
end they contacted several religious communities with the hope of obtaining
sisters who would take over the household management of the university. Our
archives contain copies of letters to several communities requesting their
assistance.1 None of these
efforts to get sisters from outside the diocese and the province met with
success.
In 1894 Bishop Cameron contacted Mother M.
Bonaventure, Superior General of the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, to seek her
help in solving the household personnel problem. Recently discovered letters,
written in 1897 by Mother Mary Fidelis to Doctor Daniel Chisholm, state that in
1893 Archbishop Cornelius O’Brien of Halifax had given the Sisters of Charity
permission to establish within their own congregation a “Sisterhood,” an
auxiliary branch, whose members would be devoted to the household management of
educational institutions operated by the Sisters of Charity.2 These sisters
became known as auxiliary Sisters of St. Martha. Apparently, Bishop Cameron
knew about this “Sisterhood” and had made arrangements with Mother Bonaventure
for the training of some girls from the Antigonish Diocese, since by 1894
Mother Bonaventure was preparing for the reception of girls from the Antigonish
Diocese to train with the Sisters of Charity. These candidates from the diocese
for the auxiliary group were to return to St. F.X. University and continue to
function as an institute of auxiliary sisters under the Sisters of
Charity. Their membership was to be increased by the addition of candidates
from the Antigonish Diocese.
In a letter to Bishop Cameron, dated May 8,
1894, Mother Bonaventure outlined the details of the plan, stating, “We shall
be prepared to receive any who present themselves by the first of September.”3 On May 22, 1894,
Bishop Cameron sent a circular letter to the priests of the diocese asking them
to “look through your congregation for such persons as may be fit to join the
new order.”4 The contents of
this letter seem to indicate that it was on his suggestion that the auxiliary
order of Sisters of St. Martha was being founded in 1894. On the other hand,
Mother Fidelis, the Superior General of the Sisters of Charity who succeeded
Mother Bonaventure, and who was the Superior General at the time the sisters
were to come to Antigonish in 1897, maintained that the ‘Sisterhood” of the
auxiliary sisters had been established a year before Bishop Cameron asked the
Sisters of Charity to include St. F.X. University among the institutes managed
by the members of the auxiliary sisters.
Both statements could be correct, depending
on how the matter is viewed. In 1894, the development of the institute of
auxiliary sisters was in an early stage. Their novitiate seems to have been at
the Sisters of Charity convent in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and possibly the
novitiate had no more than five members. It appears that, after Mother
Bonaventure’s agreement with Bishop Cameron, the novitiate was transferred to
the motherhouse in Halifax in order to receive the candidates from the Diocese
of Antigonish, as well as candidates from other dioceses. It is in this sense
that Bishop Cameron could say that Mother Bonaventure had “undertaken to
found... an order of auxiliary sisters” even though the institute had already
existed in a less developed stage.5
Several young women responded to the appeal
of Bishop Cameron for recruits for the new community. In the fall of 1894 at
least three candidates from the diocese entered the novitiate established at
Mount St. Vincent.6 Between 1894 and 1900, thirty-one candidates
from the Antigonish Diocese went to Mount St. Vincent, Halifax.
The basic spiritual formation
of the candidates, as well as training in work skills, was provided by a novice
mistress and a mistress of work, both Sisters of Charity. The auxiliary Sisters
of St. Martha had their own rules and regulations, distinct from the Sisters of
Charity.7 Several auxiliary
Sisters of St. Martha who entered in 1894 made profession on June 30, 1897. One
made profession on July 2, 1898, and several on July 9, 1899.
In the meantime, a convent that could
accommodate twenty-five sisters was constructed at St. F.X. University. Prior
to the arrival of ten auxiliary Sisters of St. Martha and three Sisters of
Charity in July 1897, a lively exchange of differing viewpoints passed between
Dr. Daniel Chisholm, Rector of St. F.X. University, and Mother M. Fidelis, who
was elected Superior General of the Sisters of Charity in 1896. The archives of
the Sisters of St. Martha contain copies of the original letters of Mother
Fidelis in which she differs with Dr. Chisholm about who proposed the original
idea of the Sisters of St. Martha; about the modifications of arrangements
between Bishop Cameron and Mother Bonaventure; about the cost of maintaining
and training of the sisters; and about the scarcity of vocations to the Sisters
of St. Martha. This strained relationship seems to have resulted in
difficulties which later prompted Bishop Cameron to take matters into his own
hands and in 1900 to set up his own diocesan community of Sisters of St.
Martha.
Under the direction of three Sisters of Charity, the sisters who arrived in 1897 worked until 1900 in the household department of St. Francis Xavier, reorganizing, cooking, cleaning, and caring for the sick in the university infirmary. Their days were not without crosses. One sister, Sister Lucy Mailett, who had been professed less than a year, died. Dr. Daniel Chisholm, an original supporter and mentor, resigned as rector because of ill health. However, the sisters’ work and their feminine touch were creating a more homelike atmosphere at the university.
The correspondence of the time indicates
that by early 1900 Bishop Cameron was preparing to request from the Sisters of
Charity that the auxiliary Sisters of St. Martha from his diocese be returned
permanently to Antigonish in order to set up their own independent community.
According to Sister John Baptist, an early historian of the Sisters of St.
Martha, Bishop Cameron had consulted Archbishop O’Brien, had received his
approval, and had obtained the consent of Mother Fidelis for his plan.8
In July 1900, the Sisters of
St. Martha from the various missions of the Sisters of Charity and those who
were working at St. F.X. were recalled to Halifax for their annual retreat.
Some accounts state that the Archbishop and Bishop understood that Mother M.
Fidelis would inform the auxiliary Sisters of St. Martha of the forthcoming
plan for separation from the Sisters of Charity, but for reasons which she
considered sufficient, she did not acquaint the Sisters of St. Martha from the
Antigonish Diocese, in advance, with the plan. On the last day of the retreat,
July 12, 1900, the Sisters of St. Martha, twenty-six in number, were called to
the assembly hall. Archbishop O’Brien, acting for Bishop Cameron, and under the
impression that the plan had already been explained to the sisters, called for
volunteers for the Antigonish Diocese. After a brief pause, thirteen sisters
stood up to volunteer for Antigonish. The Archbishop gave his blessing to those
who volunteered and to those who remained with the Sisters of Charity. The
Archbishop also dispensed the sisters, who volunteered, from the vows they had
taken to the Sisters of Charity. Later, two other sisters, who were not present
at the assembly, volunteered, bringing the number to fifteen.
The first group of three Sisters of St.
Martha came to Antigonish on July 16, 1900. A few days later a group of eight
arrived. Some weeks later a novice came, and on September 11, the last three
came to Antigonish. Looking back in time to that September evening we see these
fifteen women: young, inexperienced, with little academic learning, but with
enthusiasm, practical wisdom, common sense, and the desire to meet the need
that God had shown them through the words of their Bishop.
EXPANSION AND
STRUGGLE FOR AUTONOMY 1900-1920
The Sisters of St. Martha were
formally established as an independent community on July 29, 1900. That day
they held their first election of superior and novice mistress. The term of
office of the superior was for one year because not all the fifteen sisters had
arrived. Bishop Cameron presided at the election. Sister Mary Innocentia
McNamara was elected superior and Sister Mary Ninian Beaton was elected novice
mistress. This latter office was necessary because at least four of the
volunteers were novices.
Two candidates joined the new community in
Antigonish in the late summer of 1900, and by September two more entered, one
of whom did not persevere. We know very little about the prayer life, the work
and the play of these eighteen young women during the first year. Father Joseph
MacDonald, Rector of St. Ninian’s Cathedral, was their confessor, and Reverend
E.J. Devine, S.J., directed their first retreat in the summer of 1901.
Because of the change in status of the new
order, it was necessary to revise the 1897 “First Rules and Constitution” which
the sisters had received from the Sisters of Charity. New articles regarding
their obedience to “the heads of their order in the persons of those who are
appointed to direct and govern them,” regulations pertaining to the election
and qualifications of the superior and novice mistress, provisions for the
holding of the chapter, all had to be inserted into the constitution. The
chapter was composed of all the sisters of perpetual vows. An article of the
constitution stated, “All important matters relating to the community are to
be referred to it.”9 This was collegial indeed; however, the new
community’s independence was not complete because government was under the
direction of the authorities of St. F.X. University. Articles I and III of
Chapter II of the constitution state:
The community of
the Sisters of St. Martha will be subject in temporal matters to the Board of
Governors of St. F.X. College, of which His Lordship, the Bishop of the
Diocese, for the time being is President. The college makes itself responsible
for the maintenance of the sisters.
The ordinary of the
diocese shall be the head of the community. The rector, the vice-rector and one
other priest of the college, shall form a council which shall have the power to
approve or set aside the choice made by the sisters of one of their number as
superior. But its decision shall have no force unless it is ratified by the
ordinary.10
Other articles of
the constitution give this council the power over admittance to the community
and for permission to make profession in the community. The council did not
have the right to decide upon the religious vocation of candidates. This was
reserved for the confessor and canonical superiors. Once a sister made
profession, the university guaranteed her support and maintenance, and each
member of the community was allowed a monthly wage of two dollars. The superior
was to administer these funds.11
The above quoted articles were to cause
conflict between the university authorities and the sisters from 1900 until the
middle of the second decade. As will be seen later, the resolution of the
conflict came in 1917 with the achievement of autonomy by the sisters. In the
beginning, the guidance, support and protection of the university council was
beneficial for the sisters.
In 1901 Sister M. Faustina MacArthur
replaced Sister Innocentia McNamara as the superior. During this year a second
revision of the constitution was printed with the Imprimatur of Bishop Cameron.
One significant change from the 1900 handwritten version appeared. It omitted
the article that gave the university council, mentioned above, authority to
veto the sisters’ choice of superior. The council still could rule on the
eligibility of candidates entering the order. The first public profession
ceremony took place at St. Martha’s Convent, Antigonish, in September 1901 .
The first ceremony of perpetual profession of the Sisters of St. Martha
occurred in 1905.
From the time the sisters came to
Antigonish in July 1900, they had assumed the responsibility for the household
management of the university. This included cooking and cleaning for
approximately one hundred thirty students, professors, and maintenance staff.
The sisters, under the direction of the local physicians, acted as infirmarians
for sick students. Since no hospital existed in Antigonish, students with
serious diseases were cared for by the sisters. On one occasion, the convent
sewing room was used as an operating room for an appendectomy.
In 1902 the sisters opened
their first mission when they took over the household management of St.
Joseph’s Hospital in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. In 1906, at the request of the
residents of Antigonish, and of the practicing physicians in the area, the
sisters opened the cottage hospital, and in 1908 three sisters went to Mount
Cameron, a home for retired priests, to take over the management of its
household. The courage and foresight of the pioneers is evident in the fact
that by 1902 two sisters were sent to take training as nurses. Within two years
of their founding they were reaching out to meet health care needs. They were
not impeded by the university authorities. When in 1906 the sisters set up the
cottage hospital in Antigonish, the university authorities permitted them to
engage in hospital work, but the sisters had to assume the financial
responsibilities of running the hospital. They organized campaigns to raise
funds for their work, and in 1907 the sisters became incorporated as a legal
body in the Province of Nova Scotia. This act gave them the right to ‘Take,
purchase and hold real estate and to sell or mortgage the same.” The hospital
proved its worth when an epidemic of typhoid broke out in the Antigonish
community in October 1906. By 1907 the hospital was established on the present
site of St. Martha’s Hospital. By 1909 the number of sisters in the
congregation had increased to forty-one, several of whom were nurses and able
to meet the need for hospital personnel.
From 1910 to 1920 the sisters expanded
beyond the diocese of Antigonish, attained autonomy from the university,
increased their involvement in the fields of nursing care, child care and
hospital administration. They responded also to a request to train sisters for
a new community – the Sisters of St. Martha of Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Bishop Cameron, our Founder, died in 1910.
Dr. H.P. MacPherson presided over the chapter of that year at which Mother Mary
Stanislaus was elected superior. She was reelected in 1913. In compliance with
canon law, four general councillors were elected to aid the superior in the
decisionmaking process. In 1916 Mother Mary Faustina was again elected
superior.
The first mission outside the
diocese of Antigonish was undertaken in 1913. Archbishop Neil McNeil of
Toronto, who was a native of the diocese of Antigonish, asked the Sisters of
St. Martha to assume the responsibility for the household management of St.
Augustine’s Seminary, Toronto. Because of the dual authority that existed
between the elected heads of the community and the university council of
priests some misunderstandings and conflicts were experienced in setting up
this mission. In a letter written by Mother Faustina to Dr. H. P. MacPherson,
she tells about the anxiety she and Sister Francis de Sales, the first sisters
in Toronto, experienced because of the conflict and indecision that went on at
“home.” She writes:
We were very glad to get something definite in
regard to the sisters coming or not coming.
Later in that same
letter she says:
We shall, I trust,
“pull through” with the Lord's help and without any help and little sympathy
from our own community, but we hope it will be a long time before we are
placed in such a position again.12
Eventually, formal
acceptance of the undertaking came from the college authorities and the seven
sisters appointed to join the two already at the seminary arrived in Toronto in
August 1913.
While the Sisters of St.
Martha were still in their “teens,” they were asked by Bishop Henry O’Leary of
Charlottetown to train candidates for a sisterhood for the household management
of St. Dunstan’s University, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The
circumstances that necessitated the founding of a new independent community
were not unlike those faced by Bishop Cameron twenty years earlier. Because of
difficulties in obtaining and keeping sisters to do the domestic work at his
university, Bishop O’Leary asked Mother Mary Stanislaus if she would undertake
to train candidates for this new sisterhood. With the approval of Bishop
Morrison and the university authorities, she agreed. In responding to this
request, Mother Mary Stanislaus showed her willingness to meet a very different
kind of need. Between January and August 1915, four candidates came from Prince
Edward Island to begin their formation for the religious life and their skills
training for the management of an institution. Unable to wait for completion of
their training, Bishop O’Leary asked the sisters to return to Charlottetown in
1916. Mother Mary Stanislaus, whose term of office had expired, and two other
sisters from Antigonish, accompanied the four novices to P.E.I. For five years
these sisters worked successfully to establish the congregation and to carry
out their domestic duties. In 1921 they elected their own superior.*
The most difficult and probably the most
progressive move that the sisters made in the second decade was the achievement
of their autonomy. They wanted the right to govern their own lives and had to
persuade the university authorities to grant them autonomy in all aspects of
life: selfgovernment, the right to handle their own finances, and control over
admittance into the community.
Since 1900 the sisters had elected their
own superior and, in 1901, the university council’s veto of the sisters’ choice
of superior had been removed. However, the university council controlled
community finances. They supported the sisters, but the salaries which the
sisters received from their work in houses, other than St. Martha’s Convent,
were set by the university authorities and paid directly to the bursar of that
institution. The money which the sisters earned from making church vestments,
from sewing or from any other source, was turned in to the university bursar.
The university council still had the power to vote on the acceptance or
rejection of candidates into the congregation, and to determine the
institutions in which the sisters could accept work. Even with the most
fatherly interest, these sisters felt frustrated and thwarted when they saw
their numbers increasing, their space at St. Martha’s Convent becoming limited
and their requirement for a separate headquarters becoming a desperate need.
Several social and economic
factors might have influenced the move for autonomy. Most of the sisters came
from rural backgrounds where independence was an asset. Many of them were of
Celtic ancestry. Their parents or grandparents had experienced oppression in
Scotland and Ireland. In Canada they sought freedom. That spirit was passed on
to their daughters. By 1915 the sisters were operating and financing two
hospitals in eastern Nova Scotia and managing the domestic affairs of St.
Augustine’s Seminary, Toronto. Hospital expansion campaigns had quickly taught
these sisters the techniques of financial management. They realized that they
were capable of controlling their community finances. With the onset of World
War I, the sisters, like all women of the time, had to take on many of the jobs
of the men who had gone overseas. Women in general were realizing their
potential and were assuming greater responsibility, which led to confidence and
maturity.
The only known written evidence of a
feeling of unrest and dissatisfaction with the control exercised by the
university authorities in the affairs of the congregation is found in letters
written by Sister Mary Faustina MacArthur, who was then in Toronto, to Dr.
H.P. MacPherson, rector of the university. On April 27, 1914, Mother Faustina
wrote:
There are other
matters too in connection with the home affairs but it is hard to decide
sometimes whether it is better to give an opinion or to keep silence, that one
hardly knows what to do, which side of the house I am obliged to be most loyal
to.
I feel sure that
the superior is working for what she sincerely believes to be best for the
community ... but our community is differently situated to any of the others,
so that as our rule stands now, the community itself comes, in a certain sense,
only secondary to the work we were founded for.13
In a letter about a
month later Mother Faustina said:
I’ll not say
anything more about the matter just now... I don’t wish to antagonize the
sisters down there just at the present time. Your interference in this affair
will, I fear, be made capital of by a number of the community.
It grieves me more
than I can tell to see and feel such an amount of opposition and
misunderstanding between the two sides of the house.. .
Why don’t you
suggest to the Bishop to ask the community for a statement as to the
objectionable Rules or Constitutions at present in force and let them suggest
the changes desired.14
The objectionable
rules mentioned above were those written in the constitutions that gave such a
large measure of control to the university council. Clearly the sisters were
objecting strenuously to this domination and control. Mother Faustina feared
that if the discontent were not settled to the satisfaction of the sisters
that, “the present condition of unrest will soon affect even the spirit of the
younger members.”15 When she was elected superior general again in
1916, she placed before Bishop Morrison the arguments for separation from the
university council. By July 1917, a letter
was sent to the
bishop asking him if three priests of the diocese, Father Moses Coady, Father
M.M. Doyle and Father C.W. MacDonald could represent the sisters at a meeting
with the university authorities to be held in August. A formal agreement was
drawn up on August 7, 1917, part of which is as follows:
And whereas: the
said religious community having considerably increased in its membership since
the time of its inception, it is now deemed to be in the best interests of both
parties hereto that the said religious community, while binding itself and its
members and their successors to efficiently serve the said university in all
domestic duties attached thereto and usually performed by women and as long as
the said university may require the services of the said religious community,
the said religious community be constituted as being empowered to direct its
own organization subject to the bishop of the diocese of Antigonish and his
successors in office and as a religious community to receive and administer for
its own use its whole income from whatever source obtained, and also to assume
the responsibility in law and in equity of providing for the maintaining itself
and all the sister members thereof, both active and retired.16
It is a tradition
in our community that the successful resolution of this problem resulted from
Dr. Moses Coady’s foresight and sense of justice. The achievement of autonomy
did not damage the good relationship that existed and still exists between the
university and the sisters. The struggle for autonomy was completed when, in
1931, the congregation was given papal status.
Another urgent need of the
diocesan church was the care of orphan children and unwed mothers. The sisters
responded again to the need by opening, in 1917, St. Mary’s Home, Sydney, N.S.,
for both orphans and unwed mothers. A few years later the services were
separated when the unwed mothers and their babies were cared for at the renamed
Mercy Hospital, in Sydney, and the bigger children cared for in Little Flower
Orphanage, Bras d’Or, N.S.
Plans for the building of a motherhouse
began in 1918. Lack of funds made the carrying out of these plans difficult. An
Appeal to the clergy met with a generous response. The building was completed
in 1921, but at the cost of much worry, personal sacrifice and a debt of
$79,000.
The chapter of 1922 reelected Mother
Stanislaus as superior general. The following year the constitutions of the
community were revised to effect their conformity with the 1917 code of canon
law. During Mother Stanislaus’ administration two new hospitals were opened,
one in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and another in Inverness, N.S. St. Martha’s
Hospital, Antigonish, and St. Joseph’s Hospital, Glace Bay, were expanded.
These activities developed women of experience who, in the following decades,
contributed greatly to the well-being of our people in eastern Canada and parts
of western Canada.
A most noteworthy achievement in the field
of hospital organization was spearheaded by Mother M. Faustina and Mother M.
Ignatius. During the winter of 1921 these two sisters had been meeting with
Mother Audet of the Hotel Dieu Sisters of Campbellton, New Brunswick, to
discuss common hospital problems. In May they met with Reverend C.B. Moulinier,
S.J., then president of the Catholic Hospital Association of the United States
to discuss the feasibility of forming an association in the Maritime Provinces
to look after the interests of Catholic hospitals. From this meeting the
Maritime Conference of the Catholic Hospital Association of the United States
and Canada developed. Mother M. Faustina was its first president and in 1922
Mother M. Ignatius was elected president.
The Sisters of St. Martha entered the
teaching apostolate to meet the need for higher standards of education for
rural youth of eastern Nova Scotia. Poorly trained teachers, low salaries,
inadequate buildings and equipment, and a static curriculum disadvantaged rural
children. Dr. Moses Coady, one of the founders of the Antigonish Movement,
along with other members of the rural clergy, was convinced that programs of
self-help would be successful only if improved standards of education were
achieved by all people, especially for children. His original plan, which was
later dropped, was to have the Sisters of St. Martha operate a small hospital
as well as teach in the school. He believed that the two apostolates could be
successfully carried out by the sisters in his native county of Inverness, Nova
Scotia. Several sisters who taught before entering were available and others
were sent to prepare for teaching. Dr. Coady, writing to one of the councillors,
Sister M. Anthony MacPhee, said, “There may be some people who will object to
your taking up teaching ... surely it is your line to take up the teaching of
domestic science.”17 Dr. Coady built a modern school in Margaree
Forks, Inverness County, and in 1925 the Sisters of St. Martha began teaching
in the public schools of Nova Scotia. In 1926 and 1928 the sisters became staff
members in two other Nova Scotia public schools.
The membership of the congregation
increased rapidly during the next ten to fifteen years. Efforts were made to
prepare the sisters for the works of the apostolate. As early as 1902 sisters
were being trained as nurses, and nursing education continued to be emphasized
in the years that followed. In the middle and late 1920’s sisters with academic
background were enrolled in degree programs at St. F.X. University, and at
Dalhousie University, Halifax, while others were receiving training in music,
art and household science at universities in Canada and in the United States.
In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s a great
social movement was beginning at St. F.X. University. In response to the
economic difficulties suffered by many farmers, fishermen and mine workers in
eastern Nova Scotia because of the depression, several of the professors at the
university began to mobilize the people into adult education study groups.
These professors, Dr. Hugh MacPherson, Dr. Moses Coady and Dr. Jimmy Tompkins,
advocated self-help movements, such as co-operative marketing, co-operative
buying and credit unions. In order to achieve these goals in the co-operative
movement sound adult education programs were necessary. The sisters were aware
of these movements from the beginning and several sisters became actively
engaged in that work known as the Antigonish Movement.
VENTURES IN WESTERN
CANADA
While the sisters continued the original
work for which they were founded at the university and at the seminary, the
period from 1925 to 1937 was marked by a great expansion into new works. These
activities comprised spearheading campaigns to build and operate hospitals in
eastern and western Canada, collecting money for orphanages and homes for
children, entering the field of teaching in rural areas and becoming involved
in social work.
These women, who previously had so little
experience in finance, did not hesitate to deal with stocks, bonds, mortgages,
and bank loans and to acquire the skills necessary to build and administer
large institutions. This involvement into the money markets, architectural
ventures, and administrative responsibilities was not without its pain and
worry. The sisters’ trust in God, their Orayers for His support, their
confidence that they were fulfilling His will, and their dependence on Him for
guidance in their undertakings instilled into the whole congregation a deep
spirit of faith in God that continues to be an inspiration to us today.
The expansion of the Sisters of St. Martha
into western Canada began in the late 1920’s. Bishop J.T. Kidd, Bishop of
Calgary, Alberta, who had known the sisters at St. Augustine’s Seminary where
he was formerly rector, asked Mother Ignatius in 1927 to consider buying a
hospital in Lethbridge, Alberta, that was operated by a lady ready to retire.
An agreement between Bishop Kidd and Mother Ignatius was drawn up in 1929 by
which the sisters would take over the Van Haarlem Hospital in Lethbridge, and
then would build a new hospital. This proposed building program necessitated
the borrowing of money, the changing of the congregation’s Act of Incorporation
to extend to provinces other than Nova Scotia, the purchasing of land, the
hiring of architects, and a host of other details. Six sisters formed the
pioneer band in Lethbridge and, by 1930, construction of the new hospital was
in progress.
About the same time, the Brett
Sanatorium, located in Banff, Alberta, and operated by Dr. Harry Brett, was
sold by his widow to the Sisters of St. Martha. Besides being a general
hospital, it had the added attraction of hot sulphur springs for the treatment
of rheumatic and arthritic diseases. The hospital became known as Mineral
Springs Hospital.
The economic hardships suffered by many
people during the great depression of the 1930’s affected the sisters deeply.
This led them to begin an unorganized form of social work. Dr. Jimmy Tompkins,
a co-founder of the Antigonish Movement and pastor of the Canso-Dover parish,
asked the sisters to establish a convent in Canso in order to work with the
people in setting up self-help programs. The convent was opened in 1932. The
sisters were invited also to open a convent in Canmore, Alberta, that year.
There, many immigrant families who had little contact with the church since
coming to Canada were helped and their children taught catechism. In both these
missions the pioneer sisters lived in great poverty.18
These ventures into social work emphasized
the need of the congregation to have sisters trained in social work. In 1934
two sisters were sent to the University of Toronto to enroll in a degree
program in social work. In the years that followed, many other sisters were
trained for this work.
Three superiors general
governed the congregation in the time of consolidation: Mother Mary Immaculata
Fraser, 1937-1943; Mother Mary Ignatius Floyd, 1943-1961; Mother Paul of the
Cross, 1961-1967. After World War II expansion was rapid. The number of sisters
increased from 273 in 1941 to 438 in 1961. Sixteen houses were opened, teaching
missions, hospitals and social centers. The first house outside Canada was
opened in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1952 at the invitation of Cardinal Cushing.
Its primary purpose was to be a social center from which the sisters could go
to work in different parishes in the City of Boston.
In the middle of the last term of office of
Mother Ignatius, the congregation had to face difficult problems. The 1955
chapter delegates elected Mother Ignatius superior general for a third
successive term. This was contrary to both our constitutions and canon law, but
Bishop John R. MacDonald, Bishop of Antigonish, petitioned the Holy See and
received permission for the third successive term for Mother Ignatius. The
postulation showed the faith and trust that the community had in Mother
Ignatius, but the strain of such a prolonged time in office had its effect on
her health and in 1958 she suffered a severe stroke. The circumstances interrupted
the efficiency of the community administration and they created a sense of
apprehension and a spirit of unrest, which was heightened by the changes of
Vatican II a few years later.
Mother Ignatius, who had been superior
general for a total of thirty years died in 1964. During the time in which she
was in office she had guided, supported and advanced all the apostolates of the
congregation, but she excelled in her understanding and promotion of hospital
work. She was one of the first organizers of the Maritime Conference of the
Catholic Hospital Association of the United States and Canada in 1922, of the
Maritime Hospital Association in 1929, and of the Blue Cross Plan in 1942. She
served for eight years as a member of the Canadian Hospital Council. In 1957
she was appointed to the Hospital Services Planning Commission set up by the
Province of Nova Scotia, the purpose of which was to draw up the blueprint for
medical care in the province. Serious illness forced her to resign from this
commission in 1959.
POST-SCRIPT:
VATICAN 11
The challenge of Vatican II required a
response to unmet needs of a different kind for the Sisters of St. Martha, the
need for community renewal and updating of our way of life in conformity with
the proposals of the Vatican Council. Efforts to meet the challenges began
during the term of office of Mother Paul of the Cross. Unrest and uncertainty
marked the years from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies. Vocations decreased
and the desire for renewal of both the community and the individual members
became evident. By 1967 the winds of change had brought about the elimination
of many outmoded customs, a revision of prayer schedules and an urgent desire
to get on with the work of renewal. The general chapter of 1967 declared itself
to be the beginning of a period of experimentation. The chapter set forth a
fourfold mandate to be carried out by the new administration under the
leadership of Sister Teresa Ryan as superior general. The tasks outlined by the
chapter were:
1. to study the aim
and purpose of the congregation with a view to setting community and apostolic
goals,
2. to launch an
all-out effort for renewal and education of the sisters with emphasis on
spiritual renewal and ongoing formation of persons and to develop a retirement
program,
3. a careful
selection and preparation of the sisters for their apostolic service and
training for leadership,
4. to reevaluate,
with the help of management consultants, every aspect of the congregation;
lifestyle, government, finances, apostolates, the use of personnel resources
and improvement of communications at all levels of the congregation.19
An all-out effort
for human development was the first attempt to fulfill the mandate. This was
opportune because the sisters needed a variety of personal experiences before
too many organizational changes were begun. The quality of communications was
improved so that the sisters felt freer to discuss matters openly among
themselves. The houses were more frequently visited by the superior general and
the members of her council.
Some new governmental structures were
adopted, the local houses were given greater autonomy, and the local superior
with the sisters assumed many responsibilities that had previously been the
jurisdiction of the general administration. Policy-making and long-range
planning still remained the work of the general council, but the day to day
management operations of the houses were coordinated by an executive group –
apostolic directors. Good work was done at this time with intensive study on
behalf of the whole congregation into our charism, the spirit of our founders
and the theology of the apostolate. A formation program was developed and a
method for evaluating our apostolic services was adopted.
With the examination of and reflection on
our lifestyle, some sisters made the choice to leave the congregation. The
number of sisters decreased from 438 in 1961 to 326 in 1981. Several sisters
asked for transfers to different apostolates which necessitated withdrawal from
some services and frequent changes in staff in many works.
Since 1970 new forms of ministry have been
taken on in an attempt to meet the needs of God’s people. Many sisters are now
engaged in social work in hospitals, pastoral care in hospitals, parish
ministry, religious education for adults and children, and spiritual direction
of sisters and laity.
It is difficult to predict what will be the
scope and the extent of these ministries in the future. It would appear that
the needs of people in a society of high technology will center around
ministries that take into account their spiritual needs. As Sisters of St.
Martha we trust that God will give us the insight to recognize these needs and
the courage to meet them in the best way we can. An article written on the
history of the Sisters of St. Martha in 1977 states,
It is evident that
the Sisters of St. Martha share in their official founder's gift of social
awareness. From this their apostolate has sprung, as they have flexibly through
the decades extended themselves to meet the needs of the times. The true spirit
is captured in the first sisters who prepared the way through their special
dedication. They were, first of all, women of faith as was St. Martha. It was
through this faith that they were able to let the lacking of necessities rest
in the hands of Providence. It was their faith which allowed their vision to be
broad enough to embrace the varied needs of human misery. Today their founding
spirit lives on and once again the present sisters reach out in deep faith to
an unknown Future.20
STATISTICS -
SISTERS OF SAINT MARTHA
Number of Sisters Number of Houses
(including
Motherhouse)
1900- 15 1901
- 1
1941 -273 1941
- 20
1961 -438 1961
- 36
1981 -326 1981
- 30
Apostolic Works No. of Houses
1900-1978 1984
Household Management 8 2
Orphanage & care of unmarried mothers
3 1
Hospitals 11
5
Schools of Nursing 4 1
Teaching (schools - not individual 26 8
houses)
Social Work agencies 12 1
New Works in which
the sisters have become involved since 1970
Social work in hospitals
Pastoral care in hospitals
Parish ministry
Religious education for adults and
children
Spiritual direction of sisters and laity
SOURCES
History of the
Sisters of St. Martha, chapters I, IX, X (unpublished), by Sister May
Mulvihill.
Brief Outline of
the Early History of the Sisters of St. Martha (unpublished), by Sister John
Baptist Cameron.
A History of the
Catholic Church in Eastern Nova Scotia, vol. II, St. F. X.
University Press,
by Dr. A.A. Johnston.
Most Reverend
John Cameron, D.D., Founder of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Martha (unpublished), by
Sister John Baptist Cameron.
Sixty Years, Deo
Soli, 60th Anniversary Booklet, Sisters of St. Martha.
The Heritage of
the Sisters of St. Martha, by Sister Irene Doyle. Antigonish Diocesan Archives.
St. Francis
Xavier University Archives.
Archives of
Sisters of St. Martha, Motherhouse, Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
“The Casket,” published in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
1Letters in
Antigonish Diocesan Archives (1893-1894).
2St. Francis Xavier
University Archives.
3Antigonish Diocesan
Archives, May 8, 1894.
4Copy of Original
Printed Circular, Archives, Sisters of St. Martha, Antigonish. Nova Scotia.
5History of the
Sisters of St. Martha, chapter 1, 1894-1930, p. 8 (unpublished), by Sister
May Mulvihill.
6The Casket, September
20, 1894, p. 8, cot. 3.
7Copy of 1897 Constitutions of Sisters of St. Martha, Archives of Sisters
of St. Martha.
8Brief Outline of the Early History of the Sisters of
St. Martha (unpublished), by Sister John Baptist
Cameron, 1949.
91900 Book of Rules,
Chapter III.
10Ibid.
11Ibid.
12Letter of Mother M. Faustina to Reverend H.P. MacPherson, July 13, 1913.
*After the death of Mother Mary Stanislaus in 1970, the Sisters of St.
Martha, Charlottetown, requested that her remains be transferred to the cemetery
at
Mount St. Mary’s, where they now rest. The Charlottetown sisters regard
her
as the co-founder of their congregation.
13Letter of Mother M. Faustina to Reverend H.P. MacPherson, April 27,
1914, St. F.X. Archives.
14Letter of Mother M. Faustina to Rev. H. P. MacPherson, May 31, 1914, St.
F.X. Archives.
15Ibid.
16Articles of Agreement, August
7, 1917, Archives of Sisters of St. Martha.
17Letter of Dr. Moses
Coady to Sister M. Anthony MacPhee, August 14, 1923, Motherhouse Archives.
18History of the Sisters of St. Martha, chapter IX, p. 23
(unpublished), by Sister May Mulvihill.
19History of the Sisters of St. Martha, chapter X, p. 21
(unpublished), by Sister May Mulvihill.
20The Casket. 125th
Anniversary, 1977.