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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1975-05-29, Page 17XPQSItOR, MAX 29, 1975 SECOND S V he Convent's closin for the time They are achangin MOVING ON The Ursuline sisters of the Dublin Convent, Sister Marion Normandin, Sister Florence Kelly and Sister Francisca Gagnon sit on the convent steps perhaps thinking of the June closure. Sister Simone Myers, the homemaker- for the convent was busy preparing supper and couldn't be persuaded to pose for the picture. (Staff PhOto) Photo and. story by Nancy Andrews Expositor reporter visits Dublin convent for last time before June closure. And 'by )'he way, guess who stayed for dinner. ? The closing of the Dublin convent at the end of June is typical of the change taking place throughout the sisterhood, Sister Florence Kelly, principal of St. Patrick's School, Dublin said. The convent was. first opened in 1915 and the Urulines came from the Chatham Motherhouse during a snowstorm,' before the plaster had dried 'in the convent and adjoining continuation school. Sister Marian Normandin, principal of St. Columban School remembers coming to Dublin a few years ago and feeling "it was the end of the world." How much farther it must have seetned for the first sisters who came to the Dublin convent, then the furthest convent from the motherhouse in Chatham. Now the Chatham Union has convents as far away as Peru and as distant as Edmonton and Calgary in Canada with a total fo 2„200 sisters around the world. The sisters came to this pre- dominantly Catholic Village more than 60 years ago at the request of .Father Thomas Noonan, the parish priest who had himself been taught by the Ursulines in Ireland. - In its peak period the convent housed as many as 12 sisters who taught in the high school, St. Columban and Dublin public schools and those who taught music. The Dublin high school which was closed in 1969, was one, of two public secondary schOols taught by nuns in Canada. , The closure has been pending for quite awhile due to the small number of sisters being housed there and the size of the building, Sister Florence said. In the first,30 years, 15 men entered the priesthood and 30 women the Ursuline Order from the community but over the last 30 years enrolment has dwindled. Last Sunday, the parishes of Dublin and St. Columban held a simple celebration to say thank you for the years of service in these comunities, Sister Florence said. "It wasn't organized on the scale of our fifty celebration because we didn't want it that way," she said. Former Pupils Nevertheless more than 46 sisters and many former pupils including some' priests came to the convent for the last time. Sister Francisca will be moving to Parkhill where she will "keep busy" by visiting the shut-ins and elderly and Sister Simone will go to Chathm. The basic ideals of the founders call for a more active sisterhood willing to change with the times, Sister Florence said. expected to stay overnight at home again," she said. Now the need of her family is considered and her resignation from St. Columban School may leave the St. Columban chool without an Ursuline 'si er, the first time its happen in 60 years. When visiting the co Take Razing Before the girls entering went to the Pines in Chatham, but now they go to Brescia College located just off the University of Western Ontario. Now they enter a univer- sity campus right off, and must take the razing that accompanies the statement, "I'm a sister-in- training" she said. This is a good thing and, results in a stronger commitment since sisters are asked to get involved immediate- ly. Girls are now asked to work a few years or attend university before entering. Sister Florence said the con- vent was a means of having an education in the past and was also identified with daughters of area families who had joined the sisterhood. "We came, vac did what we planned to do, we were successful and now we think we can go somewhere where there is a greater need" she said. In many areas the sisters are turning down prestige positions to work with the really poor, or where there is a real need she said. As the reporter was leaving with lily of valley in hand, picked from a garden in back of the convent she was given the standard farewell "Come again". She realized that after.June she could never comeagain and as a stranger she could feel a fraction of the loss that others in the community must feel. Although these four remaining sisters. will leave they are just a handful of the numerous sisters who have come and gone in the past 60 .years. All the original sisters are now dead. Society is changing and the Ursuline Sisters with it and as Sister Florence said - "Its healthy". Although they leave, the mark they have left on the values an d education of the community will remain for generations to comet Sister Florence said, "it was hard for the sisters who had grown up in the area to see it •closed and realize it,.will be the last time they will be ,here." "We have people who feel very badly that the sisters won't be in " the convent. but since I'll be still a part of St. Patrick School and will be commuting from the Stratford convent it won't be a total break, and it lessens the senseof loss." The fact the Huron Perth Catholic board will use the building alsO lessens the loss since the building will remain a hub of education and the new occupants will be able to appre- ciate its history, Sister Florence said. She said the move is practical and as Sister Marion said now everybody commutes, already she has two lay teachers who com- mute from Stratford. Room for 8 The Stratford convent has room for about 8 sisters while only about 4 live in residence. "If this building could ..be used for a better cause, what right have we to hold it from being used?" Sister Florence said. Change frightens some people and disturbs their secure life, and this may have resulted in people dropping out of the sisterhood. This is equally true in all areas of life, she said. This lack of total commitment may have caused defections and the shake up has confused many people who have found the ways they define things changed. The people now entering the sisterhood, she said, are more -. travelled, have more education "and are the product of the decision-making young people who need a way of life that captures all of theSe aspects. At' one point, most sisters were teachers but now they 'are going into all fields, and with dwindling enrolment there is a greater demand for the teaching sisters. Now there are highly educated lay " people and placement of sisters in schools has to be decided by need. To Chatham Sister Marion will be moving down to Chatham to teach in one of the Kent County schools so she can be close to her widowed mother. Not so long ago this wouldn't have been permited. - "When. I left home, I never her students was when the veil was removed. No one was forced to change from the habit but each person decided on ,what garb was appro. _priate for their type of work. Sister Florence said she was told by one Catholic woman that she couldn't have accepted what she bad said if she had said the same thing wearing the tradi- tional habit. Sister Florence had been discussing changes in teach- ing children about God and because she had been willing to, 'change in her way of living,, the woman found it easier to accept . her views on change. ' When working in Peel County she said the attitude of Catholic teachers had been "Here she comes, now what do we do with her." With the change to ordinary clothes, the barriers disappeared she said. Sister Florence said for three years she lived in an apartment because the type of work she was doing called her to be close at hand. "I would do it, I have done it, but I wouldn't choose to do it," because there is a need to share the prayers of people and feel their concern. Adapt More The need for the cloistered nun, is not today's needs she said. "We have tried to adapt more to our times, it has caused unrest sometimes from within and it seemed a loss of status for those looking on," she said. "We are now free to serve in an unnoticeable manner and able to blend within the community without a lot fo fanfare," without "there goe the nuns, sort of thing," she said. Sister Marion said they are still asked to go places and stay places by the mother-general but it can be duscussed and usually is determined on a practical basis. Last year she had applied for permission to apply in Kent County , but the mother-general asked her to wait because she couldn't get anyone else to reside in the Dublin -Convent and it would otherwise be uneconomical to run. When it was decided to close it in January she gave me the "green light" to go ahead and apply, Sister Marion said. cloisters and-to socially adapt and to return tog, a more active, involved sisterhood. The Ursuline Sister Order was founded in Italy in 1535 by Angela Merid. At first they lived in their homes and met once a month. ' What they wanted to do was to educate girls to be good wives and mothers,, "although we eventually taught boys in the effort to bring about the highest responses in Christian living" Sister Florence said. nt, the sisters laughed when they saw the tags already placed on the furniture that would be going to other convents where they were needed. The bedrooms on the second floor will be large enough for offices and the cutting out of a door on the second storey will allow movement between the second storey of the old high school and the convent. Two of the rooms of the old high school are used for the kindergarten and one large bright room is vacant, Sister Florence said one of the reasons she is glad for the change is that it will mean the big bright room on the second floor will be used. "Its a crime to see this room not being used, I often feel tempted to bring my students across to do something in the room," she said. The four remaining sisters, including Sister Simone Myers, the homemaker for the convent and Sister Francisca Gagnon, a retired music teacher invited the Expositor reporter to eat with them. Cloister Nun Sister Florence explained a few years ago our guests could not eat at the same table as us, but we served them in another room. This was all part of the idea of the cloister nun who lived in a world apart. For the same reason we weren't allowed to spend the night in our homes. We could have done our prayer duties equally at home, and it was hard to understand because it was at home where we were inspired to enter a religious life," Sister Marion said. "Now the idea of the cloistered nun has been abandoned by the Chatham Union and I think its good, although I accepted it at the time and knew no differencd' Sister Marion said. In 1967, the Chatham Union decided to return to the ideal of the Ursuline founders, They decided to do away with the strict No Police The cloister developed when a group of sisters* went to Paris where there were no police. These young girls were far from their families so the idea of cloister started as a form of, protection. The traditional garb had a certain glamour - to it Sister Florence said. The traditional garb was conspicuous and emphasiied the role of the sisters as leaders in religion and educa- tion. Sister Florence said she is relieved to take a back seat. She said she always found it "unreal when she would receive sincere praise for common courtesy. She laughed and said she was really pleased when without her traditional garb she was able to open a door for someone without getting "Oh, sister thank you." As Sister Marion said: "We are people, we just happen to live a religious way of life, in the same way a single person lives a way of live appropriate for a single person and a married person leads a life appropriate for a married person." "At one time we were told what was right or told to read a book, but now each individual must decide what is right, but we make the decision in the framework of a religious way of life." Supper Table At the supper table, Sister Francisca mentioned how hot it was in the Windsor convent where she had stayed. Sister Florence agreed it was htot especially when you were wearing seven pounds of dark serge. Sister Marion entered the convent in 1960 so she only wore the traditional garb for about 5 years, she said. She said the biggest shock for