04/07/2024
This fourth of July we hold our American Sisters and Mission Partners, the people of America and our Franciscan Family in America in prayer and wish them all a wonderful ! 🇺🇸
FMDM had a presence in America from 1962 to 1981 and below we share an extract from FMDMs history, written by Sister Teresa, which details FMDMs invitation to open Holy Spirit School:
Mother Francis Spring visited the USA in 1954 and met the Bishop of Albany, New York, on her travels. He asked her for sisters to open and staff a school in Holy Spirit parish, East Greenbush. She was very happy with his request, as she felt having a community in the USA could be a steppingstone to starting missions in South America. It also meant the Congregation was now truly global being on all five Continents.
They agreed that Mother Francis would get six sisters trained as teachers to open his school and would also send two other sisters to study for American degrees, but she said it would be several years before they would be ready.
Eight years later in May 1962 Mother Philippa Crofton-Sleigh, Srs Ethna Donovan and Fidelis Shepherd set out for America on the Queen Mary, with trunks and cases galore. They were the Advanced Guard of the group of eight sisters who would form the first community. In July, Mother Francis arrived with the rest of the sisters.
The parishioners welcomed the sisters very warmly, showered them with kindness and all they needed but they also had many questions. What would these English sisters be like? Would the children acquire an English accent, or the sisters an American one? Would the sisters have to go to Summer School to learn American English?!
The sisters spent the next few months getting to know the parishioners, taking driving lessons on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, and learning to make bread. They also prepared the school; this including painting the walls of the kindergarten with the alphabet, each letter having a very realistic picture.
The school officially opened on 4th September 1962 not without some trepidation as the sisters started to teach American children.
Many other sisters followed over the years and were greatly appreciated by the parents and parishioners. The sisters taught there until 1981, but with a decreasing number of sister teachers it was decided to withdraw and hand over the running of the school to the very capable lay staff. The sisters finally left in August 1981 after almost twenty years of dedicated teaching.
Picture:
Top Row from L to R:
1. Sr Ethna Donovan with some of her young pupils, 1967
2. Srs Hazel Buckley and Philippa Crofton Sleigh receive their American degrees, 1960s
3. Holy Spirit School 1962
Middle Row:
1. Sr Carmel Spratt with a group of pupils at the School's Silver Jubilee, 1987
Bottom Row from L to R:
1. The pioneers land in the USA, Srs Fidelis Shepherd, Philippa Crofton Sleigh and Ethna Donovan, 1962
2. The Community in 1980, Srs Norah Rohan, Felicity Scanlon, Fidelis Shepherd, Carmel Spratt, Mary Readman
