presentation sisters victoria

Australian Religious Archive: celebrating story and history

12 October 2022

Fiona Basile

The religious archives of five Australian congregations have found a new permanent home in Melbourne as part of an initiative to collect and store valuable materials for future generations. Five congregations to date—the Brigidine Sisters, Presentation Sisters of Victoria, Faithful Companions of Jesus, Family Care Sisters and Missionary Sisters of Service (MSS)—together with the University of Divinity, will be part of the new initiative to create an archive centre in Box Hill, in Melbourne’s east. There will be room available for other religious organisations to join and have their archive cared for, too.

The Australian Religious Archive, which will be cared for and managed by the University of Divinity, is designed to hold the story, history and legacy of religious congregations and other religious groups who have made significant contributions to both civic and church life in Australia and beyond. Renovations to the existing Franciscan Friars site on Albion Road, where the University of Divinity is situated, are set to commence in 2023, to create a major facility with a variety of rooms to store and protect archives, along with public spaces for display and research purposes in the future.

Speaking on behalf of the Franciscan Friars of Melbourne, Provincial Phillip Miscamble says the Friars are delighted to welcome the Australian Religious Archive to their St Paschal Estate. ‘It will add a great resource for future academic research, housed within the University of Divinity,’ he says.

Sr Helen Carboon, Congregational Leader of the Presentation Sisters Victoria said the Australian Religious Archive will hold and honour the story, vision and history of groups who have played a foundational role in the establishment and development of health, education and welfare entities in Victoria and beyond. ‘Being held under the administration of the University of Divinity gives the collection status and permanent security,’ she says.

‘We appreciate being part of this creative collaborative venture. It reflects the way congregations like ours have always worked: looking for new possibilities and working with others to achieve what we could not do alone. It is exciting to be part of the beginnings of this new undertaking, which will provide opportunities for further historical study and research into the future.’

The Archive will provide a home for the Presentation Sisters’ history and primary documentation. ‘Precious letters such as those from Fr James Corbett, Parish Priest of East St Kilda, who wrote to the Presentation Sisters in Limerick, Ireland in 1873, “From the ends of the earth I cry to you for help” will be both safely stored and made available for further exploration of our story,’ says Sr Helen.

According to Professor Peter Sherlock, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Divinity, the Australian Religious Archive will be a research centre that preserves and hands on to future generations the many vibrant religious traditions that have contributed to Australian society and culture, highlighting the ongoing need to be attentive to spirituality and theology in this land. The Archive will house not only print and manuscript materials, but also objects such as fabrics, furnishings and ecclesiastical vessels.

For some years, Missionary Sister of Service Bernadette Wallis has been working on the archives of her congregation, which are currently housed in Hobart, Tasmania, where the order was founded. She is excited that the MSS archives will have a permanent home alongside other congregations, in a purpose-built space that can be accessed by those wanting to do theological and historical research, and by those who are interested in the stories of these congregations:

There is a great sense of social responsibility in preserving this history and in sharing this story, particularly for those groups who are coming to their fulfilment.

The national archive is being established in the spirit of Pope Francis’ message to participants of the Charism and Creativity: Catalogues, Management and Innovation regarding the Cultural Heritage of Institutes of Consecrated Life conference held in May 2022. Here Pope Francis shared that the value of archives is their capacity to transmit a religious, spiritual and cultural meaning that acknowledges their relationship with the history, spirituality and traditions of a specific community, including its charism and fulfilment. He noted that:

The need and, at times, the burden of preservation, can become an opportunity to renew, to rethink one’s charism, to recompose it in the current socio-cultural context and to plan it for the future.

In its aim to create a permanent research facility for the archives of religious organisations, with the potential to expand to meet future need, the Australian Religious Archive project opens up exciting possibilities for just such renewal, rethinking and future planning.

The facility is likely to open for operations in late 2023.

For more information about the Australian Religious Archive, contact the University of Divinity .

Fiona Basile is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a regular contributor to Melbourne Catholic.

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Australian Religious Archive: celebrating history and story

The religious archives of five Australian congregations have found a new permanent home in Melbourne as part of an initiative to collect and store valuable materials for future generations. Five congregations to date—the Brigidine Sisters, Presentation Sisters of Victoria, Faithful Companions of Jesus, Family Care Sisters and Missionary Sisters of Service (MSS)—together with the University of Divinity, will be part of the new initiative to create an archive centre in Box Hill, in Melbourne’s east. There will be room available for other religious organisations to join and have their archive cared for, too.

The Australian Religious Archive, which will be cared for and managed by the University of Divinity, is designed to hold the story, history and legacy of religious congregations and other religious groups who have made significant contributions to both civic and church life in Australia and beyond. Renovations to the existing Franciscan Friars site on Albion Road, where the University of Divinity is situated, are set to commence in 2023, to create a major facility with a variety of rooms to store and protect archives, along with public spaces for display and research purposes in the future.

Speaking on behalf of the Franciscan Friars of Melbourne, Provincial Phillip Miscamble says the Friars are delighted to welcome the Australian Religious Archive to their St Paschal Estate. ‘It will add a great resource for future academic research, housed within the University of Divinity,’ he says.

Sr Helen Carboon, Congregational Leader of the Presentation Sisters Victoria said the Australian Religious Archive will hold and honour the story, vision and history of groups who have played a foundational role in the establishment and development of health, education and welfare entities in Victoria and beyond. ‘Being held under the administration of the University of Divinity gives the collection status and permanent security,’ she says.

‘We appreciate being part of this creative collaborative venture. It reflects the way congregations like ours have always worked: looking for new possibilities and working with others to achieve what we could not do alone. It is exciting to be part of the beginnings of this new undertaking, which will provide opportunities for further historical study and research into the future.’

The Archive will provide a home for the Presentation Sisters’ history and primary documentation. ‘Precious letters such as those from Fr James Corbett, Parish Priest of East St Kilda, who wrote to the Presentation Sisters in Limerick, Ireland in 1873, “From the ends of the earth I cry to you for help” will be both safely stored and made available for further exploration of our story,’ says Sr Helen.

According to Professor Peter Sherlock, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Divinity, the Australian Religious Archive will be a research centre that preserves and hands on to future generations the many vibrant religious traditions that have contributed to Australian society and culture, highlighting the ongoing need to be attentive to spirituality and theology in this land. The Archive will house not only print and manuscript materials, but also objects such as fabrics, furnishings and ecclesiastical vessels.

For some years, Missionary Sister of Service Bernadette Wallis has been working on the archives of her congregation, which are currently housed in Hobart, Tasmania, where the order was founded. She is excited that the MSS archives will have a permanent home alongside other congregations, in a purpose-built space that can be accessed by those wanting to do theological and historical research, and by those who are interested in the stories of these congregations:

There is a great sense of social responsibility in preserving this history and in sharing this story, particularly for those groups who are coming to their fulfilment.

The national archive is being established in the spirit of Pope Francis’ message to participants of the  Charism and Creativity: Catalogues, Management and Innovation regarding the Cultural Heritage of Institutes of Consecrated Life  conference held in May 2022. Here Pope Francis shared that the value of archives is their capacity to transmit a religious, spiritual and cultural meaning that acknowledges their relationship with the history, spirituality and traditions of a specific community, including its charism and fulfilment. He noted that:

The need and, at times, the burden of preservation, can become an opportunity to renew, to rethink one’s charism, to recompose it in the current socio-cultural context and to plan it for the future.

In its aim to create a permanent research facility for the archives of religious organisations, with the potential to expand to meet future need, the Australian Religious Archive project opens up exciting possibilities for just such renewal, rethinking and future planning.

The facility is likely to open for operations in late 2023.

For more information about the Australian Religious Archive, contact the  University of Divinity .

Source: Melbourne Catholic

Artistic impression of Australian Religious Archive development, by Baumgart Clark Architects

Aerial view of University of Divinity campus at St Paschal's Estate, Box Hill/ Photo by Jess Hibbs

Part of the site at St Paschal's Estate, Box Hill, which will form part of the new Australian Religious Archive.

University of Divinity at St Paschal's Estate, Box Hill

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Presentation Sisters Victoria

Presentation Sisters, 150 Years of Service

Rear from left, Sisters Margaret Mary Crowley, Loyola Moloney, Lawrence Teahy, Aloysius Evans, Columba Bailie, Fabian O’Keefe and Di Pazzi Hensker. Front from left, Joan Gallagher, Teresa McMahon and Gerard Walter

Many of us who grew up in the Latrobe Valley and East Gippsland would have fond memories of the Presentation Sisters for their work in the parish and at Nagle College in both Bairnsdale and Moe/Newborough.  

My early years were spent in Bairnsdale and I remember the day that Mother Catherine PBVM came to St Mary’s Primary School and was introduced to the various classes. The Presentation Sisters were taking over the administration and staffing of the school from the Josephites.  I reckon I must have been in grade 4… and I was mildly alarmed by the ‘horns’ of her starched wimple.

It is almost precisely 150 years since the Presentation Nuns arrived in Australia. On December 21st 1873 the first small group of Sisters from their Limerick convent disembarked at Port Melbourne to staff the little Catholic school in East Saint Kilda… what was to become Presentation College, Winsor.

They were intrepid women. There were six professed nuns and two young postulants, one of whom was only 19 years old. The superior of the little group turned 31 on the voyage to Melbourne.

The tearful relatives who clustered around the 11 o’clock train to Dublin never expected to ever see them again and they, the nuns, like all other Irish migrants of the time, both religious and lay, never expected to return to see their relatives or their homeland. Most of them never did.

On this day in 1873, so protracted was their parting that the train was half an hour late leaving Limerick.

I have included a poem written to mark the first 100 years of the Presentation nuns on the mainland  (there was an earlier foundation in Tasmania). It perfectly captures the ‘shock of the new’ and the audacity of these women as they ‘rose up’ to follow their vision of the possible.

We too stand on the threshold, listening to hear ‘Life’s insistent cry’ every day we embrace the dawn.

Article by: Mike Hansen, Traralgon

Century  1873-1973

They were women of listening hearts To them the Spirit spoke; ‘Come’. So they rose up to follow. He led them out of their quiet valley, Over the rim of the world, Where summer came in winter-time And the very stars hung strange.

Listening, they could not rest from journeying… Always a little further… always one pace beyond. They set their course with life for their lode-star, Faith and love and laughter brimming over, And hope in their firm hands like seed. Till the seed they planted became a great tree, and many there were grew strong in its shade.

We stand where they once stood. Listening… hearing our own world, new-born this day, Life’s insistent cry – the Spirit’s voice. Let us rise up and follow, For though the Cross hang in our stars Resurrection shouts in the sunrise, And the tree of a hundred rings, deep-thrusting Out of firm darkness lifts to the light Branches vibrant with song.

Presentation Sister Raphael Consedine 

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Presentation Sisters, Society of Australian Congregations of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary ( - )

Presentation Sisters at Tardun, courtesy of Christian Brothers Institution Albums 1 & 2 (Holy Spirit Collection). DETAILS

The Presentation Sisters were founded in 1775 in Ireland by Nano Nagle. Their website gives some history of the Presentation Sisters' work in Australia. They came first to Richmond in Tasmania in October 1866, to Victoria in 1873 and to New South Wales in 1874. In 1900, the Presentation Sisters went from NSW to the Western Australian goldfields and July 1891, another group came directly from Ireland to Geraldton. The Presentation Sisters and Christian Brothers have had some historical links because of the inspiration drawn by the founder of the Christian Brothers, Edmund Rice, from Nano Nagle's approach to religious life and work, and the practical support he gave to the establishment of their convent in Waterford, Ireland. In July 1941, four Presentation Sisters formed a community at St Mary's Christian Brothers' Farm School Tardun. The Presentation Sisters kept a Community at Tardun until 1966.

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In his book, Enduring Struggle , Tardun ex-student David Plowman writes (p.255) that the Sisters of Nazareth were the first females at Tardun and after them came the Presentation Sisters. These were Mother Laurence (Ryan) and Sisters Aidan Coady, Philomena Ryan and Patricia White. They were followed in 1942 by Sister Peter, Sister Benedict, Sister Evangelist, Sister Paschal, Sister Bridget and Sister Margaret Mary to help with the boys from Clontarf who were evacuated to Tardun. The Presentation Sisters were asked to take charge of 'the domestic arrangements in connection with the school, such as cooking, taking care of the sick, superintending laundry, clothes mending and the Chapel.' Professor Plowman also records (p.259) that the Sisters at Tardun led an 'uncomplicated life' enjoying simple recreations such as Sunday films, walks and concerts put on by the Tardun students. They had an annual holiday in December at Geraldton with other Presentation Sisters. Apparently, it was their habit to have a 'Sunday drive around the property and to neighbouring farms.'

In 1948, the Presentation Sisters also established a primary school at the Pallottine Mission at Tardun, a few kilometers from St Mary's Farm School.

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Melbourne Catholic girls school Presentation College Windsor to close in 2020

One of the oldest Catholic girls schools in Victoria has announced it will close at the end of next year, leaving students, parents and staff shocked.

Key points:

• The school, which has about 700 students, will close at the end of the 2020 school year
• The Victorian Presentation Sisters say falling enrolments have made the school unviable
• There are concerns many teachers at the school may struggle to find new jobs

Presentation College Windsor (PCW), which was founded 146 years ago, has told the parents of about 700 girls enrolled at the school that it will shut its doors at the end of the 2020 school year.

The congregational leader of Presentation Sisters Victoria, Sister Maria Lazzaro, told parents in a letter the "sad and difficult decision" had been made due to falling enrolment numbers.

"Despite our best efforts to sustain and grow our learning environment, enrolments have continued to be a challenge for us," Sister Maria wrote.

"Comprehensive reviews of the college in both 2002 and 2018 indicate that the number of students intending to enrol in the college in the next decade are unlikely to recover to the level needed to resource a successful Catholic secondary college in the 21st century."

The news has left parents reeling as they plan where to send their daughters in 2021 and has also left dozens of teachers facing potential unemployment.

Premier Daniel Andrews ruled out a providing a Government bail out and said it was a matter for the Catholic Education Office.

"I'm not announcing that we're going to try to keep the school open. It is a private school," he said.

Year 11 student Kiara Katiforis said news of the closure was "a bit shocking".

"It's just very sad because suddenly we're going to be losing our friends … but you know what I think, we'll be able to pull through this, and I think you know we'll form tighter friendships because, like, this is just going to bring us together," she said.

Fellow Year 11 student Luka McMahon said the idea of students merging with the nearby Christian Brothers' College had been raised as a possibility.

"We'll always be a community no matter what," she said.

Nearby private schools charge higher fees: parent

Sam Baker, whose daughter is in Year 8 at the school, said she had been "blindsided" by the announcement.

"We were never told this was on the plate … this is all news to us," she said.

She said she had chosen the school for her daughter because of its small size.

"We actually don't know where we are going to go. Every other Catholic school in this area is full to the brim."

Janet Mitchell, whose daughter is also in Year 8, said she was angry that the school community had not been given a chance to save it.

"There's a very strong alumni network … and those alumni will be feeling just as bad as we do [Tuesday] morning and I'm sure they would be more than happy to support the school in an organised and ongoing way.

"I'm not prepared to give up — I know a lot of other parents are not prepared to give up.

"This is something worth fighting for."

Stieve De Lance, the mother of a Year 10 student, said her daughter was in the process of picking her subjects for Year 11 and 12.

Ms De Lance said she wasn't sure where her daughter would finish school, but was considering home education, or the prospect of travelling to another suburb.

"The only local school is Prahran High and because at the moment because it's brand new, they only have a Year 7 class," she said.

She said some other nearby schools charged $35,000 a year.

"This is the only place that you can get a cheap education for your girls," she said.

Ms De Lance was cynical about the school's motivations for closing, saying other schools operated successfully with fewer students.

"I suspect the real estate value of the highly desirable location might be a leading driver for the decision," she said.

"I would wonder whether the property the land is situated on is more valuable than ongoing girls' education."

Another parent, Jacinta Scott, told ABC Radio Melbourne her daughter Jamie had started in a Year 7 cohort of about 70 girls, which had shrunk to about 50 by Year 10.

"They're a very, very small class … and they've had quite a few classes cancelled over the years due to numbers — so their drama classes, which is one of the reasons why I sent my daughter to the school, French classes got cancelled this year.

"Being in Year 10 and the school only being open for another year means Jamie could stay at the school for the end of Year 11 but then what does she do for Year 12?"

Principal says 'families are spoilt for choice'

Principal Filina Virgato said the decision to close the school had been a "really hard" one.

"PCW has always been a school that's really fought for women's education," she said.

"We're a unique school. The girls are fantastic, they come from all parts of Melbourne, they don't just come from this area here, but despite that we are a very close-knit community, and it's going to hit us very hard."

Ms Virgato blamed competition from other schools for a decline in enrolments.

"There are a lot of schools here — families are spoilt for choice.

"There are a lot of new government schools that are opening, and we just weren't able to sustain the number of enrolments that we need to really be able to offer our girls [the] robust and rigorous curriculum that they deserve."

The school held a special assembly this morning for the students and will run information nights next week to brief parents.

Ms Virgato said Tuesday's assembly would be an opportunity for students to "grieve" the loss of the school.

"But I also want the girls to still be proud. I want us to go out on a high. I don't want this next 18 months to be a funeral, I want these next 18 months to be a celebration of the great school that we are and the amazing people that make it up."

Michael Elphick, a consultant assisting PCW with the school's closure, told ABC Radio Melbourne the school would not reverse its decision, despite public support for it to remain open.

"The decision has been made … it's not reversible.

"It's great to think the community value the school enough to want it to stay open, it's a good school and people love this place … but the economics are just not there.

"It's just a matter of demographics … there's a lot of schools in the area, both independent and government schools.

"They're good, well-run, they've got the numbers, they can offer a wide range of opportunities to the kids, things that a small school with these numbers can't compete with."

The director of the Grattan Institute's school education program, Peter Goss, questioned why enrolments were dwindling at a school in a growing part of Melbourne.

"Parents are voting with their feet," he said.

"In a suburb with a growing population, a school that is delivering the goods should be seeing increased enrolments."

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For more than two hundred years the belief that education has a fundamental role to play in spiritual, personal, social and intellectual development has engaged the imagination and energy of Brigidine women.

This has led us to involvement in all levels of education, both in teaching and in administration – primary, secondary, tertiary, adult – in the countries in which we work. The focus on education in faith and building strong learning communities is seen as a powerful means of social transformation whereby the ideals of peace, freedom and social justice are promoted.

A recent development in educational governance

The Brigidine Congregation has increasingly worked collaboratively with our lay colleagues in ministry in the leadership of our schools. In 2014 in Australia the Brigidine Sisters established Kildare Ministries, a Public Juridic Person, with canonical and civil governance responsibilities for educational services and community works.

Currently Kildare Ministries is responsible for the following Brigidine schools:

The Brigidine Sisters and the Presentation Sisters have a common journey from Ireland to Australia in the 1880’s which led to the establishment numerous primary and secondary schools across the country. With much shared history and inspired by the same Gospel values of justice, compassion, hope, courage and wonder the Presentation Sisters Victoria have entrusted the governance of the following school and community works to Kildare Ministries:

Star of the Sea College, Brighton

Presentation Family Centre, Balnarring

Wellsprings for Women, Dandenong

Trustees: From L – R: Back Row: Maree Marsh csb (Co-Chair); Kathy McEvoy; Anne Astin Front Row: Brigid Arthur csb; Rosemary Copeland (Co-Chair); Vicki Ward; Nola Vanderfeen pbvm

More information:

www.kildareministries.org.au

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PLEASE NOTE: This copy is signed by - Sr Mary Kavanagh, Sr Mary Agnes Tuomy and Sr M. Gerardine Whelan. 172 illustrations and 18 sketches. The book is in very good condition EXCEPT for tanning and shelf staining. The jacket is only in good condition with shelf rubbing and two small tears at the top spine. Seller Inventory # 000829

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Title: Adventure in Faith: The Presentation Sisters...

Publisher: The Congregation of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Victoria

Publication Date: 1974

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Good

Edition: 1st Edition

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