WelCom March 2022
A group of Brigidine Sisters attended a Memorial Mass for Sr Monica Landy cbs in Masterton on 1 February – the feast day of St Brigid.
Sr Monica was last Brigidine Sister to serve in Masterton. She died last September during lockdown, so community recognition of her life had been delayed.
The Brigidine Sisters were named after St Brigid of Kildare, Ireland. The Congregation arrived in New Zealand in 1898 and settled in Masterton to serve the community in Catholic education.
During their February visit the Sisters also visited Chanel College. The college was formed 42 years ago after St Bride’s College and St Joseph’s College amalgamated in 1978. The Sisters had taught at St Bride’s.
‘The Sisters hadn’t previously seen the newly-blessed heritage corridor at Chanel, which has a special section dedicated to the Brigidines,’ said teacher and ‘tour guide’ Claire Hills.
Claire was one of the first two lay teachers at St Bride’s College, starting there in 1968. Her recently created heritage corridor includes sections of photographs to remember the Brigidine Order and the Marist Brothers who taught at St Bride’s and St Joseph’s.
The Sisters also visited Chanel Chapel, which has beautiful stained-glass windows they had donated from the St Bride’s College Chapel. It was the first visit to the chapel for some of the Sisters.
Their visit was also an opportunity to meet and share experiences with Chanel College’s new principal, Myra Coley.
Sr Helena Fouhy csb, born in 1923, is now aged 99 and lives in Palmerston North. The Fouhy family were prominent farmers in the Pahiatua area. Sr Helena entered the convent in Masterton aged 19 and was a teacher for many years. She was chosen to write the history of the Brigidine Congregation in New Zealand, One Love, Many Faces: Brigidines in New Zealand, 1898–1998’, to celebrate the centenary of their arrival in Masterton.