Many Holy Child schools celebrate Foundation Day on October 15. This year it is particularly special as the Society is marking 175 years (and the African Province is celebrating 90 years.)

Mayfield School in Mayfield, England, celebrated Foundation Day with a host of fun activities and performances including Inter-House General Knowledge Quizzes, Inter-House Music, and its first socially-distanced play, ‘Scenes from Alice in Wonderland’ featuring a cast of 37 girls performing in various locations around the School grounds.

Click here to see how they celebrated at Holy Child Model Nursery and Primary School in Otukpo, Nigeria.

Click below for captions and to enlarge the photos from some of our schools in England, Nigeria and Ghana.

Founders Day was celebrated at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child in Summit, New Jersey, USA.

Holy Child Model, Nursery and Primary School Otukpo, Nigeria

Holy Child Model, Nursery and Primary School Otukpo, Nigeria

Holy Child Model, Nursery and Primary School Otukpo, Nigeria

Dr. William Kupiec Girls Academy, Agbaduma

Opening Mass at Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, Maryland, USA.

Cornelia Connelly School of the Holy Child Jesus, Nkasaim, Goaso

Scenes from Alice in Wonderland performed at Mayfield School in England.

Scenes from Alice in Wonderland performed at Mayfield School in England.

Accra community L-R Srs. Elizabeth Mgbaramuko, Atochi Foby Jennifer, Abahi Juliana Omudu, Felicity Amikiya and Rev. Dieu Donne Kofi Davor, an Associate of the SHCJ.

Takoradi Community, Ghana; Srs Joana Duker and Vivian Iboi

Holy Child College, Asa Otukpo, Benue State Nigeria

Holy Child College, Asa Otukpo, Benue State Nigeria

Holy Child College, Asa Otukpo, Benue State Nigeria

At Priory School Edgbaston in Birmingham, England these boys proudly wore their Cornelia Connelly badges in celebration of the Society\'s founder.

16 November, 2020

The event of the 10^th anniversary and opening of the hospital extension of Cornelian Maternity and Rural Health Care Centre took place on 23rd October 2020 at the clinic premises.

Holy Child Sisters working at Cornelian Maternity: SRS Celestina Onyia, Clinic Administrator and Medical Laboratory Scientist, Margaret Odeh, Accountant, Mary Alexander, Nurse, Chidiogo Ezeoko, Public Health Officer.

In his homily the Archbishop affirmed SHCJ for taking the humble bold step of initiating the Cornelian Maternity and Rural Healthcare Centre (CMRHC) for the service of God’s people. Also, he appreciated the effort the Sisters made towards building the extension that will enable them to sustain larger provision of services to the people of God. He blessed the donors who made this extension possible.

He acknowledged the presence of the ‘Cornelian Babies’ referring to babies who were born in the hospital since its inception till date, a total of 775 babies. Among other things he urged the Sisters to sustain their spirit of humility, love, charity and care for one another and others, which is what the world needs in order to continue to bear faithfulness to God.

After the Holy Mass, the hospital was blessed and the plague unveiled.

This was followed by refreshment in the convent for the Archbishop, the priests and religious. Meanwhile other guests had their refreshment served where they were seated. The opening prayer for the reception was said by Fr. Paschal Ononuju, SJ, followed by presentation of Kola and cutting of the anniversary cake. The Clinic Administrator, Rev. Sr. Celestine Onyia, SHCJ, gave the welcome address. Some of the highlights of the day was the narration of the brief history of early beginnings of CMRHC by Dr. Bunmi Mojoyinola, a medical doctor that works at CMRHC.

Cornelian Maternity and Rural Healthcare began in April 2010, born out of the desire to provide medical facility for the Gidan Mangoro local community and its environs, who before now used to receive medication treatment at Loyola Jesuit College (LJC). But as the school population grew bigger, it can no longer accommodate the populace of the Gidan Mangoro, thus in collaboration with the pioneer principal of LJC, the Sisters were able to raise the initial funding to build the clinic. Its pioneer administrator is Sr. Ceclia Nya, SHCJ. At its inception the clinic started with 4 bedded rooms with seven staff and a pharmacy unit. So far, the clinic has successfully delivered 775 live babies.

In 2014, the clinic upgraded its bed space to six and gradually its staff strength has risen to 32 with a standard eye clinic unit. To the glory of God, CMRHC opens its new house today, 23rd October 2020 and the new facility upgrades the bed spaces to 20, with a standard theatre room, an ultra-labour room and standard Pharmacy unit.

Other highlight events of the day were presentation of gifts to the Cornelian Babies and long serving staff. The Cornelian babies grace the occasion with a resounding dance show to the excitement of all who were in attendance. The closing remark by Dr. Ini Okon whilst the closing prayer was said by Sr. Justina Chikezie, SHCJ, the zonal leader, Abuja and Chad.

To God be the glory for all that happened on this day!

Report by Sr Chika Eze, SHCJ.

19 November 2020

Our familiar ways of remembering the sacrifices made in conflicts since the Great War have been sadly altered this year. However, even with the restrictions we have undergone to face this current crisis, ceremonies took place this Sunday and we can still reflect on the hard work and courage shown by those who have experienced war. To mark Remembrance Day this month during the World Health Organization’s Year of the Nurse and Midwife, this article follows the stories of the SHCJ, the women of the Motor Transport Corps and Holy Child Old girls who volunteered as nurses and ambulance drivers in the First and Second World Wars.

In war time school magazines, old girls give accounts of their experiences treating those affected by war. In the Mayfield Review of 1915, there are multiple reports from recent recruits to the Voluntary Aid Detachment and other organisations. Gildie Moran and Christine Lane nursed soldiers convalescing at Monkstown House Auxiliary Hospital in Dublin. Barbara England worked with wounded soldiers, while also helping refugees from Belgium alongside locals at volunteer infirmary dispensary in Glasgow.

Elsie Shute wrote to Mayfield from the Duchess of Sutherland’s Red Cross Hospital and Ambulance Unit based in Dunkirk during 1915. This was an ‘evacuating’ hospital that gave urgent care before sending patients to base hospitals. In her letter, Elsie describes the shelling of Dunkirk by ships that lasted from 7:15am to 2:00pm with shells falling every seven minutes:

the noise is beyond all thought or description. If you can imagine every thunderstorm you have heard rolled into one, it would be something near the noise after about the first two […] after each terrible explosion one wondered if one would be there to hear the next. But there was little time for thinking of oneself

Elsie’s account goes on to detail the careful process of moving patients downstairs away from the glass paneled roof while trying to maintain calm. The staff were ‘terrified’ of a panic which might prove fatal to those whose health was fragile. Elsie praises the fortitude of the French soldiers she treats, describing them as ‘charming to nurse and so patient’ remembering one man smiling and chatting despite terrible injuries. Thinking back to days at Mayfield she sends a message to Reverend Mother General that she is trying to live up to what was promised long ago: to be ‘a credit to you …true children of the Holy Child and the SHCJ.’

In the Second World War a later generation of Holy Child Old girls contributed to the war effort. Their work ranged from gathering harvests and milking cows in the Land Army to technical work in a Dome Teacher for the Auxillary Territorial Service (A.T.S.).

One organisation which was to develop a close relationship with the SHCJ was the Motor Transport Corps (M.T.C.). The M.T.C. was established in 1939 by Mrs G.M. Cook CBE as a voluntary civilian organisation. Its main purpose was to provide drivers for military and British government departments. As a M.T.C. driver, Iris Birtwistle worked with the American Ambulance Corps based the South East of England. In an area where ‘there were many dogfights in the skies’, Iris would transport patients to hospitals. Iris writes in the Layton Hill Magazine 1943 her story of a Polish airmen found at sea and badly injured. The nurse feared he would not survive the journey. He smiled as Iris offered him her Rosary and managed to pull though.

The M.T.C. also worked in multiple capacities in Europe and beyond. The French Government agreed to the M.T.C.’s offer to work in France in December 1939 and 130 members were deployed there. Two M.T.C. women were taken prisoner after the invasion. As this news clipping kept by the Neuilly community relates, Miss Penelope Otto managed to escape and was recommended for a Croix de Guerre.

Once war was declared in 1939, it was clear to the Community at Neuilly that they could not expect students and they would have to find other work to do to support themselves. The French Service Sanitare Automoblie introduced the sisters to the British M.T.C. and 47 Rue Perronet became their Paris headquarters on 8th December. The M.T.C. ladies ‘came to love the atmosphere of the convent’, while the nuns ‘devoted themselves to their comfort and well-being’. One M.T.C. member, Mrs Yvonne Macdonald (née Bell), was a Holy Child Old girl of Mayfield and Neuilly. She proved a stalwart friend to the community in the desperate times ahead.

When the situation for France grew grave, Yvonne suggested to Reverend Mother Mary St Maurice that, once the British embassy ‘gave the signal’ the M.T.C. could arrange for the community to be evacuated from Paris. When Yvonne warned her that the journey would be dangerous, M.M. St Maurice simply ‘put her whole trust in God and accepted’.

Yvonne Bell (second from right, holding camera) seated with (left to right) Anne Murphy, Sigrid Bell and Cecilia Perez as pupils at Mayfield Convent School, circa 1920.

On Sunday 9th June ‘the blow fell’ as a note from the British Embassy military attaché ordered all to leave that night. At 4am the six SHCJ – Mother Mary St Maurice, Mother Mary Rita, Sister Margaret, Sister Dolores, Sister Dismas and Mother St Teresa from the Fribourg community – left Neuilly accompanied by six of the M.T.C. women and two dogs in a convoy of five cars. The keys to 47 rue Perronot were left in the care of a good friend of the Sisters, M. Vidier.

The community travelled south to Bordeaux, where they would take a boat up the Gironde and cross the Bay of Biscay, sailing onto Britain. The sisters stayed for a few days with the Comtesse de Bonneval, a cousin of M. Marie Osmonde. Their hostess – ‘worthy of the noblest traditions of her country’ – lived with her daughter, an M.T.C. worker assisting the 350 refugees from Alsace and Belgium in Bonneval. The Comtesse’s husband and son were both fighting at the front.

On Saturday 16th June, the SHCJ were taken to Périgueux to pick a up M.T.C. member ‘found sleeping peacefully’. The sisters were treated to croissants, butter and milk by kindly and well-meaning hotel staff up at the early hour. They were later informed by the ‘indignant’ proprietor in his dressing gown that these were for his guests. The diarist comments ‘all we could do is regret, pay and go as soon as possible’.

Reaching Bordeaux at 2:30pm, the group found the town populated with a further 500 000 people. After a three-hour search in pouring rain the six SHCJ could find no accommodation. Fortunately, a restaurant owner directed them to the Convent of St Joseph. They could not stay in the school which had become a military hospital, but the community of St Joseph’s made room for the tired SHCJ to rest in their own infirmary. The diarist comments ‘never can we forget the lavish hospitality and delicate thoughtfulness of those dear nuns’.

On 17th June, Yvonne Macdonald reported to the sisters that she had obtained passes for the evacuation of M. St Maurice and M.M. Rita from the British Consulate. This was ‘known to be difficult to secure’ and all were greatly relieved.

The following day the sisters boarded a destroyer that took them out to the Nariva, an ex-cargo boat taking refugees to England. There was little accommodation for the 260 passengers on a boat meant to take 2 passengers and a crew of 50. However, ‘Mrs Macdonald’s powers of persuasion and untiring zeal for our welfare’ secured a steward’s room for four of the SHCJ to sleep. M.M. Rita and Sister Dismas took up a corner of the M.T.C.’s tent on deck.

Danger was ever present during the four-day voyage. Through the nights, four RAF men kept watch and the Nariva’s captain did not go to his quarters for the entire journey. The Nariva paused in the harbour of Royan as a German plane flew towards them before being shot down by French planes. There were also reports that Italian submarines lurked beyond the harbour. A Dutch boat behind the Nariva, also carrying refugees, was hit and none survived. In similar experience to that of Pamela Hussey in 1942, when the ships sailing just before and after the voyage she braved to do her bit were sunk, this must have been a terrible reminder of the grave threat faced by passengers and crew.

As the shores of England were sighted, Major de Linde called for three cheers to be raised for the crew, 41 of whom had given up their beds to women and children. The Major celebrated Mrs Macdonald and the M.T.C. women likewise, since they had ensured all were provided with tea and meals during the long crossing.

All received a warm welcome in Milford Haven from the St John Ambulance workers and girl guides, but the sisters were unsettled when M. St Maurice and M.M. Rita were requested to remain in the town to wait on the Chief Constable’s leave. Both had to stay at the Convent of Mercy but, M.M. Paul O’Connor swiftly resolved the matter the following day. The diarist reflects on this end to their shared experience: a sad and sudden separation for the sextet who had journeyed so far together and shared so many dangers and so many graces.

Her words testify to the ability shown by so many in such difficult times to feel a closer bond, appreciating each grace and every kindness given in the darkest days.

19 November 2020

Siria Ana Rivera – Executive Director, Providence Center

Providence Center is a sponsored ministry of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

Aisha Morales was 9 years old and in the 4th grade when she first joined Providence Center’s afterschool program. Aisha was so inspired by her Teen Leader (high school students we hire every year to work in our afterschool program) that she wanted to come back after graduating from our program to become a Teen Leader herself, and she didn’t stop there. Aisha is now a proud Teen Leader who continually lights up a room with her smile and energy. She says being a Teen Leader has taught her patience, responsibility, and time management.

Aisha has more recently joined our YA! Program as a youth advocate. As a youth advocate, she is currently participating in Providence Center’s Teen Trauma Ambassador Program and will soon help to bring awareness to her community about the importance of being trauma-informed. As a junior in high school she is also preparing for her transition to college with the support of one of our partners, Bright Horizons Foundation. BHF is a program that focuses on college access for underserved youth.

Aisha Morales is a model example of the impact that our programming has on our future leaders. At Providence Center we lead by example and we teach our youth to do the same. We could not be more proud of this young lady and we are positive she is having a big impact on the lives of so many of our afterschool students.

Young child’s drawing of apples inspired by paintings by Paul Cezanne

1ST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be watchful! Be alert!
Mt 13:33

Cornelia Connelly was keen for children – and their teachers –
to look, to draw, to contemplate, to be attentive to the world,
to find God incarnate …

how ordinary
extraordinary things are or

how extraordinary ordinary
things are, like the nature of the mind
and the process of observing
Norman Nicholson

May we look carefully at ‘ordinary’ things and people this week.

14 December, 2020

My heart and my soul ring out their joy to God the living God! was the echo on the lips of our beloved celebrants for this year.  Four tertians; Sr. Maria David, Sr. Doris Gali, Sr. Veronica Ezeakam and Sr. Anne Nwangumah professed the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience but this time around, they pledged to live and die in it.

For the Silver Jubilarians; Sr. Chika Eze and Sr. Justina Ugwu, these past years have been a loving encounter with the Lord. The Lord has carried them on eagle’s wings and loved life into them.

Representatives of SHCJ sisters in the African Province, families & friends of our dear celebrants, the Priests, Religious and lay faithful joined us to witness the auspicious event of this year.

On the Eve of the D day, we had a beautiful and symbolic prayer ritual. The tertians took turns to share their experiences of Online tertianship as pioneer graduands. Amazingly, they were enriched deeply by the various sessions they had.

For our jubilarians who have persevered all these 25 years, prayer and visits to the Blessed sacrament constitute the backbone for a fulfilled Religious life.

The ritual of transition from initial formation to ongoing formation for the tertians were equally powerful.

Sr. Justina Ugwu and Sr. Chika Eze

On the day of the event, Saturday 21^st November, 2020, we converged at the magnificent edifice; the Holy Child College Chapel of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, South West Ikoyi, Lagos Nigeria.

His Eminence, John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja  came all the way from Abuja to officiate the Mass of the Profession and Jubilee. In his homily, he likened religious life in our part of the world to the new Israel depicted in the scriptural readings for the day’s feast, the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Indeed, the gift of vocation strikes a note of joy that fills our hearts today.  The reception after the Mass was simply a merry feast.

Unto the Lord be the glory, great things He has done. May He continue to sustain in his love our dear sisters Maria, Doris, Veronica and Anne and our Silver Jubilarians; Sr. Chika Eze and Sr. Justina Ugwu.

14 December 2020

History has beautifully repeated itself in the Catholic Diocese of Navrongo- Bolgatanga, when twin Rev. Srs, Felicity Amikiya and Perpetua Amikiya made their perpetual Profession of Vows in the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, (SHCJ).

His Lordship, Most Rev. Dr. Alfred Agyenta, Bishop of Navrongo- Bolgatanga Diocese presided at the Eucharistic Celebration which took place at the Sacred Heart Cathedral Bolgatanga, Saturday 5th December 2020.

Rev. Srs. Felicity Amikiya & Perpetua Amikiya

In his powerful homily, Bishop Agyenta addressed the twins directly saying, “This is not a day of celebrating personal achievement neither is it a graduation ceremony when you get a Certificate”. He called the occasion, “a Commissioning: a Day of Commitment”. The Catholic Prelate went further and explained that what Srs Felicity and Perpetua were about to undertake was not a Sacrament but had three concrete elements that gave it lasting sacramental effects. He listed those three elements of commissioning for Mission that guarantees its lasting effects as follows:

• The mission is clearly spelt out.
• The challenges that accompany the mission is clearly spelt out.
• What guarantees the success of the mission are clearly spelt out.

With reference to the three readings of the day including the Psalm, Bishop Agyenta disclosed that all the elements were contained in the readings: Jeremiah was clearly told what to do, the challenges involved and God’s abiding support of him, if only he would do what he was missioned to do. Paul, the bishop said was also commissioned to take the Word to the pagans and he accepted with all the suffering involved. What guarantees the success of the mission the Bishop said, was explained by Jesus who instructed all his disciples to renounce themselves and take up their cross and follow him. As the Psalm of the day stated: “Here I am Lord! I come to do your will”, all that Srs. Felicity and Perpetua Amikiya needed to do was to say yes to God and to ‘walk’ their yes at all times and in spite of all forms of challenges. The same holds true for all who are called, consecrated and commissioned, especially, the priests and the religious, orderwise “we will be on mission without the message”, the Bishop concluded.

At the end of the Eucharistic Celebration which saw the twin Sisters profess their Perpetual Vows in the presence of the SHCJ Provincial (African Province), Rev. Sr. Helen Ebede, and all the witnesses, the Vows were duly signed by the designated authorities including the Bishop. The mother of the Day, Madam Amikiya, relatives and friends of the Amikiya family and the people of Sumburungu, the hometown of the twin Rev. Sisters were visibly present and happy. The Choirs – the Sacred Heart Choir, Bolgatanga and the Sumburungu Choir sang beautifully in both English and in native airs. The priests and people were present in their numbers including the Secretary General of the National Catholic Secretariat, Accra, Rev. Fr. Lazarus Anondee who hails from the area and Rev. Fr. Dieu-Donne Kofi Davor, an Associate in mission with the SHCJ. These with the SHCJs, the Rev. Brothers and Rev. Sisters from other Congregations formed a galaxy of Priests and Religious at the joyful occasion.

It would be recalled that this is not the first time the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese has given her twin daughters to the SHCJ. This Diocese had in the past given to the SHCJ, their equally beautiful twin Sisters in the persons of Rev. Srs. Emmanuella and Evelyn Ekweongo from the same Bolgatanga and the duo were also present at this wonderful Ceremony. This is the reason why this report recalled that history has beautifully repeated itself to the glory of God.

26 January, 2021

From the archives of the European Province….

The 20^th of January marked 100 years since the ceremony where Mother Mary Hildegarde Worsley became the first woman religious to be awarded the full Oxford degree.[1] The ceremony may have marked the end of the degree course she started after her profession, but it also signified the beginning of her work in SHCJ schools and ministries where all she had gained from her studies would be put to good use. As we begin a new year, this article describes how various SHCJ members entered religious life, overcoming their fears, and following their faith.

To celebrate the month of her birthday, this exploration of SHCJ vocations begins with an item kept by the Society’s Foundress herself, Cornelia Connelly’s spiritual notebook labelled ‘Interior life’. Cornelia begins in December 1839 with her resolutions, including ‘not to go one year without a retreat’. 180 years ago, Cornelia wrote an entry on New Year’s Day 1841 where she repeated this resolution. She also outlines that she will ‘Offer all the indulgences to be gained the 1^st of the month in the following order. Fidelity – Fidelity – Fidelity’. [2]

Cornelia’s entry for Jan 1st 1841 in her 1839- 1844 notebook of ‘Interior Life’

An earlier page, where Cornelia recorded the tragic death of her two-year-old boy John Henry on 2^nd February 1840, brings Cornelia’s constancy into sharp relief. This steadfastness to faith, despite bitter suffering and loss, was an attribute of Cornelia’s that allowed her to see through the Society’s establishment. Moreover, it is a quality that can be recognised in the women who became part of the SHCJ in the years to come.

The archives contain many memoirs written by members of the Society. Some volumes are an amalgamation of testimonies relating to one sister whereas others are autobiographical, such as Mother Mary Agnese Duckett’s ‘Reminiscences’. In one chapter, M.M. Agnese tells the tale of her vocation with a frank description of the conflicted feelings she experienced. When it was suggested she might come to St Leonards as a postulant at Christmas, M.M. Agnese recalls herself aged 19 exclaiming “No! I cannot miss all the balls and parties”. This was met with ‘a compassionate smile’ from Cornelia and the date was set at the Feast of the Purification, 1866.

Mary Jane soon found that her real trial would be to see the sadness of her parents at ‘the breaking of this first link of the united and happy family circle.’ She fell ill from exhaustion soon after receiving the hood and while lying in the infirmary overheard two nuns comment that she would ‘never have the health to go through our life’. Disconcerted by this, the young postulant was reassured the next day when Cornelia affirmed “you will get well, you will go through it”. With this encouragement the young woman recovered and went on to fulfil her vocation.[3]

One SHCJ who entered the noviciate in June 1901 remembers the grave anxiety caused by the prospect of taking vows. On the eve of her profession, the vows seemed to Sister Mary Amanda Molina D’Aranda ‘like a huge mountain I had to lift and could not’. Writing in 1972, Sister M. Amanda ‘never forgot’ the gentle words spoken by Mother Mary Etheldreda: “well dear, you are quite free and need not make them”. M.M. Etheldreda’s ‘patience touched me so much […] that peace returned’. Sister M. Amanda faced her nerves with all her strength, but still found she had to pause part way through speaking her vows. The chaplain, a Benedictine named Father Almond, simply waited until she could finish. Later, to Sister Amanda’s relief, Father Almond admitted that he had the very same experience when making his vows.

M.M. Etheldreda Parry and M.M. Theresa Walton at Mayfield, circa 1890.

In the early days of the SHCJ, Epiphany plays were performed in the weeks following the 6^th of January. The 1868-1876 ‘rough’ journal of events contains brief notes regarding these plays and in 1872, it confirms that King Lear was put on.[4] Taking part in this play was to have a profound impact on one pupil and her spiritual life.

Freda Walton as a teenager.

Freda Walton (M.M. Theresa) and Mary Paley (M. St. Raphael) were both nicknamed Cornelia’s ‘ponies’ since they helped to push her bath chair around the grounds of St Leonards. The Foundress frequently remarked she could see both girls had ‘SHCJ written on their foreheads’. Freda’s route to see through her early vocation was complicated by a romance which bloomed when she was 18. After a party where the young man in question was suddenly seen by Freda ‘in a new light’, she broke off her engagement. Soon afterwards, her religious vocation was revived. Freda found, as Cornelia had assured her, that there was ‘always a home waiting for you here’ at St Leonards.

In one of the last plays Freda acted in while still a St Leonards pupil, she had the role of Cordelia in the 1872 Epiphany play. The famous lines from Cordelia to her father the King – ‘I return these duties back as is right and fit/ Obey you, love you and most honour you’ – were ‘felt and meant’ by Freda ‘as spoken to God’. At the end of her life spent as an SHCJ, M.M. Theresa told those around her that she had said these same lines of Cordelia ‘as a prayer all her life’.[5]

Detail from the court scene of King Lear drawn by Mary Caroline Mostyn, a pupil at St Leonards in 1865, from her highest course of drawing book.

Thanks to the work of Sister Christine Carter and the former lay sisters of the SHCJ she interviewed, we have a valuable record of what led them to their vocation as well as the hardships and inequality they had to bear. ‘Impressed’ by the SHCJ nuns and their way of life when she worked as a Children’s Nurse in the Holy Child School in Birmingham, Sister Gemma (Johanna) Lucey knew ‘within myself’ that she was called to join the SHCJ. She also reflects in her interview on the fact that her skills as a nurse, who had qualified with distinction, were not properly utilised. However, she knew that she had been called and was ‘drawn by the Holy Child Spirit’.[6] ‘Despite ups and downs’ Sister Prisca (Ivy Gwendaline) Clench never thought of leaving the society, ‘I made my vows to live and die in the Society and that was a very serious undertaking’.[7]

Sister Isobel (Mary Harriet Hannah) Winder recalled painful memories of ‘disillusionment’ when after her hooding ceremony the separation of choir and lay sisters became clear. Nonetheless, she felt ‘privileged and blessed’ both by her parents and in her religious life. Sister Isobel concludes with an observation perhaps familiar to all those who have known the struggle of living out their vocation, not least Cornelia herself, that ‘religious life is real, not an escape’.[8]

Sister Gemma, Sister Prisca and Sister Isobel.

Helen Forshaw, ‘Significant Events 1911-1940’, SHCJ History, Is. III, 1998, p.11.

[2] Society of the Holy Child Jesus European Province (SHCJ EP) Archives, G/100/25/1, 1839- 1844 Grand Coteau notebook, p. 15.

[3] SHCJ EP Archives, EP/400/2/DUCKETT Mary Jane/1, Reminiscences, pp 154 – 162.

[4] SHCJ EP Archives, G/100/26/4, Journal 1867 – 1876.

[5] SHCJ EP Archives, EP/400/2/WALTON Winifred/1, ‘Mother Mary Theresa (Winifred Walton) SHCJ 1857 – 1932’ Biography by Anon.  pp. 9-18.

[6] Sister Gemma (Johanna Lucey) interviewed by Christine Carter Journey in Faith: Life Stories of Fifteen Holy Child Sisters in the European Province, pp. 28 -30.

[7] Sister Dismas (Isabella Flicker) interviewed by Christine Carter, Journey in Faith, pp. 20-22.

[8] Sister Isobel (Mary Harriet Hannah Winder) interviewed by Christine Carter, Journey in Faith, pp. 42–44.

26 January, 2021

Preston Kendall, President, Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep

Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep is a co-sponsored ministry of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

December normally would find Cristo Rey’s Campus Ministry busy organizing annual community events: All-school TAIZE prayer services; Student TAIZE trips to the Viatorian Province Center; Celebrations of La Virgen de Guadalupe; and last but definitely not least Las Posadas or The Inns, a re-enactment of the Holy Family’s desperate search for accommodations in Bethlehem before Jesus’ birth.

Director Jim Dippold would be finalizing plans for CRSM’s annual cultural exchange program with the students of Red Cloud Indian School (RCIS). Students from Red Cloud typically travel to Waukegan to experience first-hand CRSM and their families, in addition to volunteering and learning about local justice issues. Soon after, a dozen CRSM students would travel to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, to experience the Red Cloud community on the reservation. The friendships and experiences that have resulted can last a lifetime.

Though the pandemic has delayed the exchange program, Cristo Rey and Red Cloud are still connecting. In December, students, alumni, and faculty from both schools participated in a virtual Advent Taize prayer service hosted by Red Cloud. Venecia Rodriguez (CRSM ’18) offered a faith reflection on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and CRSM Senior Fernando Rufino performed a beautiful prayer song. Red Cloud students and staff provided scripture readings, led prayer intentions, and asked Talin, a Red Cloud High School alum, to sing a Lakota prayer.

On campus, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was celebrated virtually. The rosary was led by National Hispanic Honor Society students and was live-streamed on the CRSM Facebook page.

ASH WEDNESDAY

Recently, Damian Howard SJ described FRATELLI TUTTI as an encyclical

“for tumultuous times,
for a pandemic wrapped inside a financial crisis
encased in impending ecological catastrophe”.

The encyclical would make a good Lent book this year.

 
First Sunday of Lent

At the start of Lent we are offered the familiar reading from the Book of Genesis which reminds us of God’s promise:

Photo: Phil Darby

“I set my rainbow in the clouds to serve as a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth.”

This lovely symbol urges us to trust that God’s over-arching and stubborn love refuses to give up on us, as individuals and as a world community. It invites us to respond to opportunities to reconnect with love and justice, “a return to respecting limits, curbing the reckless pursuit of wealth and power, looking out for the poor and those living on the edges” – Pope Francis.

The Venerable Cornelia Connelly    1809 – 1879

 Statement from the Society Leadership Team
regarding the application to transfer part of the mortal remains of Cornelia to Philadelphia

February 2021

In September 2017, the Society received a surprising invitation ¹ from the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Joseph Charles Chaput OFMcap, to transfer (the ecclesial term is ‘translate’) Cornelia’s remains from the chapel at Mayfield to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in the city of Cornelia’s birth. The question had been considered twice before.

There is need to provide some history. On February 2, 1877, Cornelia wrote to John Cardinal McCloskey, ²

If I were not so old, I should ask your Eminence to let me come to New York and to have a Convent close to your beautiful Cathedral, which was twelve or eighteen feet high when I saw it in 1867, and where I thought I should like to live and die.

In her biography ³ of Cornelia, Mother Mary Catherine Gompertz writes of a moment at sunset in the following month, March 1877, when the community was enjoying the view beyond the cemetery at Mayfield and Cornelia expressed a wish to be buried there. Later in the book, Mother Mary Catherine continued, Mother Connelly had often expressed the wish that she might be buried at Mayfield, where she had established the novitiate, and which she had hoped would become the Mother House of the Society. It did for many years, until the 1922 general chapter decided to move the generalate to Rome.

In 1879, Cornelia died at St Leonards and was buried in the convent cemetery in Mayfield and, in 1935, her remains were exhumed and moved to the convent chapel.  In 1959, her Cause for Canonisation was opened and, in 1983, The Positio: Documentary Study for the Canonisation Process of the Servant of God was presented in Rome. In 1992, she was declared Venerable, the step before Beatification.

In 1975, when the school became an independent trust, the Society retained ownership of the chapel and part of the legal Agreement was that any future exhumation of Cornelia would not take place during term time.

In 2017, we, the Society LeadershipTeam, consulted the three province leaders about the invitation, next the three province leadership teams and then the whole Society, before going ahead to investigate the legal, financial and ecclesial implications necessary as part of the discernment prior to a decision.

Cornelia’s direct descendants, Frank’s great, great, great, granddaughter, Simonetta Vanni d’Archirafi, her two sons and her grandchildren were consulted and the information was shared with Mayfield School. Francesco Vanni d’Archirafi said: “As descendants of Cornelia, we are humbled by the extraordinary legacy that she has left us and the international interest in progressing her work and her canonisation.” In May 2019, the family gave its approval for the transfer, dependent on “a significant part” of the remains staying at Mayfield.

In May 2020, in response to a formal request from the Society (through the postulator in Rome, Dr. Waldery Hilgeman), the Congregation for the Causes of Saints gave special permission for the exhumation and separation of the remains, acknowledging the agreement of both Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia as well as Bishop Richard Moth of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints informed us that it is the Church’s practice that the remains or someone declared Venerable – considered for sainthood – be in a place where her life, legacy and her congregation’s charism will become better known. At the same time, a canon lawyer (a woman religious) reminded congregational leaders of their serious responsibility for legacy, archives and graves in parts of the world where numbers of sisters are decreasing rapidly, as in the European province. It was made clear that Cornelia, as an ecclesial woman, is now more than a founder of a religious community or any of her schools. In pre-pandemic times, there were half a million visitors to the cathedral each year.

In the light of all the above, the decision was made to accept the invitation, subject to the relevant law in the United Kingdom. The Society obtained the necessary exhumation licence from the Ministry of Justice. Since Mayfield chapel is a Grade 1 listed building, the next step was to gain permission from the Historic Churches Commission for the initial exploration of the site prior to “the coffin of the foundress, Mother Cornelia Connelly, [being] extracted and later returned through an opening made in the side wall of the chapel below ground level”. In effect, there would be no disturbance at all to the inside of the chapel.

Once the period of consultation required by the Commission is complete, and, if approval were to be given, a certificate would be issued in the name of the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. The exhumation and both the transfer and retention of remains must be conducted discretely. Discussions continue with Mayfield School about the appropriate time this could happen.

Simultaneously, plans were being put in place to receive Cornelia’s remains in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, alongside those of another Philadelphia founder of a religious congregation, Saint Katherine Drexel. The two tombs would have to be in a similar style and appropriate to the setting. The current Archbishop, Nelson Pérez, warmly endorsed the invitation of his predecessor.

The Society leadership team recognises that the proposed exhumation and transfer of part of Cornelia’s remains distresses a number of people. Little did anyone realise that the process would be so difficult and lengthy, yet perhaps it should not be a surprise. Cornelia struggled with legal, ecclesiastical and practical issues, as well as complicated relationships throughout her life, and the same seems to be true in death.

Let us continue to pray, through her intercession, for the grace of a miracle necessary for Beatification.

Prayer to obtain the Beatification of Venerable Cornelia Connelly

O God, who chose Cornelia Connelly to found the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, inspiring her to follow the path marked out by your divine son, obedient from the crib to the cross, let us share her faith, her obedience and her unconditional trust in the power of your love. Grant us the favour we now implore through her intercession… and be pleased to glorify, even on earth, your faithful servant, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Veronica Openibo, Pauline Darby, Cecilia Nya and Marie Ursino

Society Leadership Team 

Notes

1 at a meeting with Sisters Carroll Juliano (province leader) and Carlotta Bartone (unofficial postulator) to ask for the Archbishop’s support for Cornelia’s Canonisation.

2 The letter is in the Archdiocesan Archives at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY. It seems the letter surfaced in July 2008 in connection with the archdiocesan bicentennial (1808-2008).

3 The Life of Cornelia Connelly 1809 – 1879, Foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, by a Member of the Society  (Pages 237 and 246).

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3 March, 2021

Higher Education for Sisters in Africa (HESA) provides opportunities for Catholic women religious in African countries to access undergraduate and master’s level education. The following essays are by Holy Child sisters who have benefited from the HESA.

DREAMS COME TRUE

By Rev. Sr. Pauline Chiamaka Okoroafor, SHCJ

As a human being, I have often found myself in a dream land signifying my aspirations and the goals I would like to achieve in life. As I reflect, I could see how God in his own way has brought my two most important dreams namely my dream of becoming a religious, and a graduate of Education/English into reality.

It all started in 2009 when I sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for the first time with the hope of furthering my education. That same year, I also attended an interview with the Sisters of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ) to begin the Candidacy programme. I attempted the two with the hope of getting one.

However, something interesting happened along the line. I passed the examination very well with a total score of 292. I was to study English Language at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I was also accepted to begin the Candidacy programme that same year. There were two ways now open for me to choose one. I became confused about which way I should follow. To discern God’s will for me at this point became a challenge.

As a young lady, my dream was to become a religious sister. I also had a dream to become an English teacher someday. My idea of becoming an English teacher came after sitting for West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for four consecutive times because of English Language. When I finally got a Credit in English Language, I vowed to study English Language at the university level with the hope of improving myself and helping students who have challenges with the English Language.

After a long battle of discernment, I made up my mind to go for the SHCJ Candidacy programme, letting go of the idea of furthering my education. In 2012, I made my Temporary Profession of Vows in the SHCJ and my first dream became a reality.

As God would have it, in 2015, the African Province Leadership Team of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus sent me a Higher Education for Sisters in Africa (HESA) scholarship form to fill for my further studies. It was like a dream! Through this scholarship programme, I gained admission into Veritas University Abuja in 2016 to study Education English and today, my dream of becoming an English teacher has come true as I was awarded B.A. Ed. in Education English with Second Class Upper Division on the 30th January 2021 to the glory of God.

I am most grateful to God almighty for making my dreams to come true; being a religious sister and now a certified English teacher. My profound gratitude goes to the Sisters of the SHCJ for the opportunity to further my studies. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation and thanks to the sponsors and coordinators of the Higher Education for Sisters in Africa (HESA) for sponsoring my education. God bless you all.

HONESTY IS THE FRUIT OF GOOD LABOUR

Sr. Juliana Okafor, SHCJ

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. In other words, I began my undergraduate degree in 2017 due to my unceasing quest for both secular and non-secular knowledge. I availed myself the opportunity of taking online courses in subjects of my choice across different universities of the world through edx. EdX is an American Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provider created by Harvard and MIT. It hosts online university-level courses in a wide range of disciplines to a worldwide student body, including some courses at no charge. Through edx and other MOOCs such as Alison, Coursera, FutureLearn, Udacit, coupled with an open library, I was able to navigate my way in any online courses. Therefore, when I was asked to go for further studies online for a year at Rosemont College, USA and continue on-site at Veritas University, Abuja, under the auspices of HESA’s fully funded scholarship, my joy knew no bound. It was a dream come true. After my online studies at Rosemont College USA, I was admitted into Veritas University, Abuja to study Education Economics on-site.

Education Economics is my ideal course, and so, specializing in it, is once again a dream come true. What helped me to emerge as the best graduating student in my department was my philosophy of life, which says, “Honesty is the fruit of good labour.” I was honest with my studies and did my very best to understand my subject matter while endlessly helping others to understand those courses in Economics which they had challenges on. I must say, categorically, that it is not easy for one to have “First Class” in his or her areas of specialization. It demands constant studies, dedication to assignments and research; postponement of immediate gratifications by self-discipline; identifying opportunities to attain set goals and objectives, knowing programme requirements and timelines; establishing positive relationships with all and sundry, and bringing a professional approach to studies and interactions. All these means are keys for academic success, which helped to enhance my profound performance in my course of studies.

All glory and honour be to God for his great providence, love, and mercies bestowed on me during my undergraduate degree. It will be a mark of ingratitude if I fail to appreciate the efforts of HESA (Higher Education for Sisters in Africa) for giving me the scholarship to study my dream course at Veritas University, Abuja. I say long live HESA for contributing to the profound education of the African Sisters! I cannot appreciate enough the efforts of my SHCJ family for their sisterly support in all ramifications.  May God keep you all in good health of mind and body.  What is worth doing is worth doing well! While doing that which is worth doing well, do not forget that honesty is the fruit of good labour.

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Thank you very much to the American province for the prayer celebrating the anniversary of Cornelia’s rising to new life.

April 28, 2021

Rose Martin, RSM – Executive Director, Hope Partnership for Education

Hope Partnership for Education is a co-sponsored ministry of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

Schooling at Hope looks a little different these days. Students wear masks, sit at desks spaced six feet apart, and use Chromebooks instead of textbooks. In between math and reading lessons, you might see middle schoolers practicing boxed breathing or taking a virtual nature walk through a lush green forest, each an effort to relieve the anxiety of living in these stressful times.

In the midst of a global Pandemic, Hope students are still “making learning work” in our own school building and beyond. 7^th Graders recently began participating in the Model UN/World Affairs program. Students spent time researching the topic Reducing Illness and Death from Pollution in Iran, Italy, Mexico, Mozambique, South Korea, and Yemen. Middle schoolers had the explored their cultures and learn about the backgrounds of people in their countries of origin. The next time you see a Hope 7^th Grader, don’t be surprised if they greet you in three or more different ways.

While a great deal has changed about the way we learn at Hope, our core values remain intact. In response to a recent journal prompt, “If I had a magic wand, what would I wish for,” a number of middle schoolers expressed compassion for others and a desire to change the world for the better. One student wrote:

“If I had a magic wand, firstly, I would want to change how society is today. I would change it into a peaceful, safe environment for all. Also, I would fix our climate problems and make sure that all children and animals are safe and healthy. Next, I would make all the trash in the world disappear so we can have clean air. Okay, so after that, I would want to make sure I have a stable, successful, happy, safe, and long life. I would make sure that my family and close friends are safe and can also live a happy life.”

28 April, 2021

By Sr. Mary Alexander

St. Joseph’s Parish Mukasa, Gidan Mangoro Abuja had a beautiful Mother’s day celebration.  The event organized by the Catholic Women Organization ( C.W.O) was aimed at rising fund for digging a parish borehole. It was tagged: operation dig the borehole.

Sr. Lena Nwaenyi, SHCJ works with the women as their spiritual adviser while Sr. Rose Okoli, SHCJ is a Marriage counselor in the Parish. Sr. Lena was given an award of excellence and equally recognized as a dedicated and hard-working woman. All the SHCJ sisters were equally recognized by the parish priest and given a golden medal each. Few other members of the  C.W.O were equally recognized at the event and honored with awards of excellence. We thank God for a very colorful and joyful  Mother’s day celebration and ask God’s blessings on all women!

Sr. Pauline Okoroafor speaks to the Catholic Women Organization of St. Felix Parish, Oghara, Delta State, Nigeria on the Theme: “Eliminating Discrimination and Violence Against women.”

By Sr. Pauline Okoroafor, SHCJ

As part of the activities leading up to Mother’s day tomorrow 18th April, 2021, the Catholic Women Organization of St. Felix Parish Oghara, Delta State in Warri Diocese, Nigeria on Thursday 15th April, 2021 had a Retreat on the Theme: Let us Eliminate Discrimination and Violence against Women led by Sr. Pauline Okoroafor.

” The women participated actively and shared deeply on their personal experiences of discrimination and violence against women. They were challenged to be united in the fight against discrimination and violence against women and also to intensify their prayers because it would not be easy. They were charged to begin the fight from home, in the the trianing they give to their male and female children as well as to report any incidence of discrimination or violence against women.

They ended with the slogan “if you see something, say something”.

3 May 2021

From the European Province Archives…

In 1967, standing in a field that was home to nine traveller families, a Holy Child sister stopped and asked a simple question: “is there anything I can do for you?”. When a woman asked to be taught to read, a skill most take for granted, Sister Colette Dwyer invited the group to the convent at Killiney to see what could be done. This month’s article looks at Colette’s life and ministry as an SHCJ, a testament to the remarkable change that one person – with the support of friends like the steadfast Sister Cyprian Unsworth – can make to society. 

Colette was professed 83 years ago, on 22nd April 1938. She was also born this month, on 17th April 1917 in Cork to Walter Dwyer and his third wife Marie Goldie. Although christened Marie Therese, her family knew her as Rosemary. Her name in religion was taken in memory of her sister Colette, who died at the age of 11. Her early ‘carefree’ years were spent near the banks of the River Lee but the arrival of the Black and Tans in Cork meant the family had to move to Blarney. Rosemary’s happy existence continued with her brother Dermot and sisters Maureen and Colette, until the death of her father. 

Sr Colette Dwyer at the Opening of Sallynoggin Community School in 1971.

Rosemary’s mother then married a cruel and violent man. Maureen ran away from home in the early days, but Marie Goldie still endured 18 years of ill-treatment before leaving her abusive husband. This traumatic experience gave Rosemary an understanding of and empathy for children from unhappy and abusive homes which she used throughout her varied ministries.

Rosemary’s introduction to the Society of the Holy Child Jesus came about due to her mother’s belief that the seaside location of St Leonards-on-Sea would be good for Rosemary’s health. While spending a ‘glorious’ year in Rome, Rosemary began to develop a religious vocation that caused her so much unease she became ‘as difficult a student as possible so the nuns would not have her!’. Rosemary still saw through her vocation, initially teaching French at St Leonards, evacuating to Torquay with the children during the Second World war. 

After completing an English degree at Oxford, Colette taught in a secondary modern as part of her training with University College London. She enjoyed encouraging less able children in the schools’ E stream. Despite expressing a desire to continue such work, Colette was posted as a teacher and headteacher in independent schools for the first 32 years of her ministry in education. She soon learned that even children from affluent backgrounds would suffer the effects of broken homes and long absences of parents.

She began teaching at Combe Bank in 1945 and became headmistress there. Colette was aware of some of the difficulties of a large boarding school and the children’s need for mutual support. As a remedy, she introduced a ‘families’ system, so that pupils of different ages could socialise, elder girls caring for the younger girls. During her time as headmistress of Mayfield, Colette established the House system. The School Council was also introduced which gave pupils real responsibility and involvement in Mayfield’s management.

Colette speaking at the opening of Sallynoggin Community School in 1971.

When she became superior of Killiney Convent in 1967, Sr Colette began to reflect on Cornelia Connelly’s original vision for the SHCJ, to teach ‘all classes of Society’. On a walk to nearby Sallynoggin, Colette found that there was only one fee paying school serving the area. Here, Cornelia’s original desire could be realised. Colette made contact with educational authorities and worked to establish Sallynoggin Community School. Through the collaboration of Colette as school manager, the lay principal, and other staff alongside two SHCJ nuns, Sallynoggin soon became a ‘real Holy Child School’.

The fateful meeting of Colette and the Traveller families in 1967, led to regular classes being given to adults and teenagers. The teenagers not only continued to attend but brought younger brothers and sisters. A day school was needed but finding a building for it was ‘a hard and 

discouraging experience’. The prospect of a school for traveller children was met with a reaction of ‘deep hostility’. 

When the initial search had been unsuccessful, Miss Shelia Pim, a committee member, offered two rooms in her own house for the school to use. The following year two prefab buildings were offered by the Marianist Brothers and the number of children increased from 14 to 70. With the help of sponsorship, a site was secured at Old Connaught in 1971, but a series of fundraising efforts was required to keep the school running. 

Two children aged 10 and 8, introduced to art at St Kieran’s, won prizes out of 5000 children in an art competition held in 1972.

With further publicity and support the school continued to develop. Local teenagers from the settled community, including girls from Holy Child Killiney school, took part in events such as sponsored walks. Killiney girls also organised a dance and invited girls their age from St Kieran’s evening classes. One St Kieran’s girl gave the poignant comment ‘for once we were treated as if we really mattered’.  The school was blessed by Archbishop of Dublin, Dr McQuaid – a continuous supporter of Colette, her work and St Kieran’s – in 1972. 

Colette’s work with the Travellers went beyond the establishment of St Kieran’s as did the connection of the SHCJ with the Traveller community. In the 1980s, Sisters Helena Brennan, Mary McManus and Mary Taylor lived on a site for travellers in Clondalkin and set up a training centre for girls on the site teaching English, Maths, Religion and practical subjects. Colette became the National Co-ordinator for the Education of Travellers. 

Sister Colette and Sister Cyprian meeting Pope John Paul II in 1979.

Supporting Colette since she came to live and work with her in 1975, was Sister Cyprian. A fellow novice with Colette back in the 1930s, Cyprian (known as Cippy by friends and pupils), worked at Sallynoggin and supported all aspects of Colette’s endeavours including acting as secretary for associations of teachers and trainers.8 Colette described how Cippy championed, consoled and encouraged her ‘to keep trying’. With such a ‘wonderful companion’, the setbacks, opposition and threats faced by Colette were overcome.

In 1973, Colette started a county by county survey of the education and training of Travellers. The spirit of Colette’s work can be seen in questions she posed in the first report she wrote: 

What do they want? What do they need? […] Have we consulted them enough? Taken the trouble to get to know their real needs and aspirations? 

Colette’s initial investigations in 1973 to 1874 found that only 1,980 traveller children were enrolled in schools and only about 50% attended regularly.10 By the 1990s, Colette’s target for over 90% of all Traveller children to attend primary school was reached.

New, permanent buildings for St Kieran’s were opened on 26th September 1990. Reflecting on the school’s growth in the annual report, Colette states that she had first only hoped for the school to last 10 years, but after 22 years the pupils of the early days chose to bring their children there. In keeping with the SHCJ spirit of valuing the individuality of all, Colette saw the school continue to be ‘full of happy children learning to be proud of themselves and their traveller heritage’.

15 July 2021

Carmen M. Chavez, Esq. – Executive Director, Casa Cornelia Law Center

Casa Cornelia Law Center is a sponsored ministry of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

Casa Cornelia Law Center is delighted to share its 2020 impact report. Last year, Casa Cornelia responded to 1,329 persons seeking legal services through its Asylum, Children’s, and Victims of Crime Programs.

ASYLUM PROGRAM
Since its foundation, Casa Cornelia has represented individuals who seek asylum in the U.S. In 2020, the Law Center responded to 412 requests for assistance from persons fleeing violence and persecution in their homelands around the world.

CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
The long-standing tradition of serving migrant children, detained or resident, in our community also continued. Casa Cornelia provided services to 512 immigrant children ranging from infancy through age 17 (and into young adulthood). Many of these children suffered physical abuse, abandonment, and/or traumatic separations from families.

VICTIMS OF CRIME PROGRAM
During 2020, 405 individuals sought the assistance of Casa Cornelia through the Victims of Crime Program. Of them, 77% were women 26–45 years of age, many of whom are responsible for children. These survivors have often lived in the shadows of society, isolated by trauma, language, poverty, and fear.

Casa Cornelia’s Mission and Spirit are rooted in the tradition of service of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, which founded the Law Center in 1993 to provide free legal services to indigent victims of human and civil rights violations. The Law Center is grateful for the ongoing support of the SHCJ Sisters, who believe in this mission of Justice with Compassion!

15 July 2021

The Bolgatanga and Wallembelle communities came together to celebrate on 13 June in Bolgatanga, Ghana, at the Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish. Our message was that of thanksgiving to God for our years of existence. We were glad because as a Society, we celebrate 175 years, 90 years in Africa, 75 years in Ghana and 50 years in Bolgatanga. The quadruple jubilee celebration coincided with the Feast of the parish. We will therefore be ungrateful if we do not acknowledge what God has done for us. We thanked the parish for a cordial collaborative ministry. We also used the opportunity to ask for prayers for the success of our Assembly and CHAPTERS. We talked more on vocation and invited young women to join us to live out our mission. Our colourful and captivating Vocation Banners and Flyers will certainly yield fruits to the glory of God.

The HOPSANS were not left out. They joined us in the celebration. Their presence spoke a lot about what the society has done. They have benefitted from our education and had become women of substance who have made a great impact on the society. They are proud to be part of Cornelia’s beautiful dream.

The day was a great one. We had a lot to exhibit. We not only told our story of 175 years but had a lot to show for our existence. We thanked God for His Presence in our lives as a Society. We showcased the work of the trainees of the integrated service to the admiration of all.

Their artifacts gave a vivid picture of the kind of empowerment we seek to bring to the young ladies who had no hope of obtaining a future hence their migration to the south to try to get one. There is hope now because they are learning a trade and this obviously will take care of them and enable them live dignified lives. The society of the Holy Child and our collaborators, the Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary [BVM] are offering them liberation. Their exhibits also showed that they are good and creative from the colorful display of woven cloths and dresses they had made.

Many people came around to see and buy some of the clothes on display. We had a lot of suggestions, congratulations and many marvel at the kind of project we were undertaking, a REAL NEED that was left unattended.

11 August 2021

From the European Province Archives…

Today’s article looks at the role of music within the SHCJ schools. It focuses on the lives of several musician-sisters of the SHCJ and the spirit in which they taught.

An orchestra of nuns at the Layton Hill Music Course in August 1948

Having once been a music teacher in Grand Coteau with happy memories of songs around the piano with her own children, Cornelia took this subject seriously. In the section of the Book of the Order of Studies dedicated to the teaching of music, she gives thorough instructions by which key concepts should be conveyed to pupils alongside the gradual development of sight-reading.

The experience of Cornelia and those who helped her author the Book of Studies is apparent in her warning to avoid giving the impression that an octave is five tones and two halves, ‘which children generally first take in, much to their future confusion’. The Book of Studies also makes it clear that music lessons should be enjoyed by pupils, to be ‘made recreative’ by spending time ‘in the exercise of agreeable sounds’. It is better to leave further explanation of musical technicalities to a later lesson ‘as soon as there is an appearance of weariness’ in pupils. It seems important to Cornelia and her collaborators that nothing should be done to discourage children from engaging with music and understanding it.

A Concert at Mayfield in 1921

While Cornelia herself taught at St Leonards, she noticed a particular gift for music in one of the girls. This pupil went on to become Mother Mary Cornelia Poett. As a SHCJ at Mayfield, Mother Mary Cornelia was devoted to the choir and teaching music there. She moved to Combe Bank in 1926 where she carried on her dedication to music. Her necrology states that ‘her last work’ was the preparation of the school choir for the Feast of St Joseph, celebrated only days before she died aged 74.

M.M. Cornelia’s time at Mayfield would have crossed over with another SHCJ with a passion for music, Sister Mary Simeon Grogan. A violinist, during her youth she studied music for four years in Germany and went on to become a member of the London Academy of Music. She came into contact with the SHCJ while working at the Settlement in Poplar. After she entered the Society at Mayfield, she stayed there from 1917 to 1939 working as a class mistress, assisting with the teaching of music and finally becoming the prefect of the school. As superior at Cavendish Square while the Second World War began and a key figure in the establishment of Slynedales School in Lancaster, her hard work between 1939 and 1943 had taken its toll on her health. Nevertheless, when she came to Layton Hill ‘the challenge of a large, understaffed school was irresistible’ and she threw herself into teaching violin, becoming part of the orchestra and teaching scripture to evacuee children.

While Sister M. Simeon was teaching at Layton Hill, the school was visited by a Danish violinist, Henry Holst. He appears to be no relation to the composer of ‘the Planets’ suite but was a successful musician and academic in his own right. Before moving to the Royal College of Music in London, Henry Holst was a professor at Royal Manchester College of Music. He repeatedly gave recitals at Layton Hill, on one occasion bringing his protégé Regis Plantevein in 1946. Keen to sharpen her skills and give her best to the girls she taught, Sister M. Simeon took the initiative to request a masterclass from the Professor. Her necrology states that his teaching ‘revolutionised her technique, to the great advantage of her pupils’.

Sister M. Simeon conducting Layton Hill girls in 1953

An even larger group of sisters were able to brush up their musical skills when from the 29th July to the 17th August 1948, Layton Hill hosted a music course. It was attended by 31 SHCJ. They were joined by Mary Burke, an old girl who had become a Sister of Charity. The Layton Hill house diary records that the sisters had a class in plain chant from Father Lea and went on to sing what they had learnt at a Sung Mass a few days later. There were also films on the instruments of the orchestra and the course ended with the attendees giving a recital including Leopold Mozart’s Toy Symphony.

Further musical exploits by the staff and pupils of Layton Hill included auditioning and being broadcast over B.B.C. Radio in 1949. The author of the notice modestly states that the choir ‘were disappointed’ on listening to themselves but admits that a letter was received claiming the girls ‘sung like Angels in Heaven’.

Nuns attending the Layton Hill Music Course in 1948

Layton Hill’s musical talent was also showcased in the school orchestra and choir classes of the Blackpool Musical Festival from 1933 onwards.9 The orchestra was conducted by Sister Felicitas, (later known as Sister Evelyn) Picken during this period, who not only created two orchestras ‘with untiring energy’ but also ran musical appreciation classes allowing girls to listen and understand music that one Layton Hill pupil states ‘would otherwise not have been within our reach’.10 Sister Evelyn is praised in her necrology for her thoroughness and the way in which all her students improved their level of playing whether ‘gifted’ or ‘average’.

Sister Felicitas (Evelyn) Picken and the Layton Hill orchestra

This very same quality was also apparent in Mother Mary Chrysostom Bates who, as a fellow SHCJ music teacher based at Preston and later Edgbaston, would travel to Layton Hill to work with Mother Mary Wenceslaus and Sister Evelyn, helping to assess the choirs of Layton Hill’s houses. In 1935 she ‘made very helpful suggestions and gave much encouragement’.12 She was able to bring out the best in those she taught with most finding ‘some often unsuspected capability for singing or appreciation of music’. As M.M. Chrysostom’s health began to fail in her last year at Edgbaston, her older students ‘were able to carry on the school music’ due to her teaching.

Musical talent often runs in families. Such was the case for the Picken sisters who shared both a love of music and a vocation for the SHCJ. A year before Evelyn entered the Society, her elder sister Sarita joined the novitiate. In her youth, Sarita was determined to study violin and piano. At the Sydenham Conservatoire, she overcame a lingering weakness in her right hand caused by the infantile paralysis she had suffered as a small child and continued her education. Sarita took the religious name Sister Mary Clotilde possibly in honour of Mother Mary Clotilde Celineau from whom she received instruction before being received into the Catholic Church.

Sister Clotilde’s ministry in music was based at Combe Bank where she too established an orchestra as well as playing the organ in church. She was remembered by past pupils as having a ‘gift for inspiring a love of music’ and being ‘strict but gentle’. One community member described how “she always made you feel that you really mattered”.

When Sister Clotilde became part of the SHCJ community in Hastings, she was still able to teach piano and these lessons continued until her last year, 1981. When her sister Evelyn came to Hastings in 1986, an SHCJ remembered how she too continued the devoted practice of her chosen art and retained a powerful sense of music. Despite her deafness, Sister Evelyn could correct her fellow SHCJ’s playing by sight and vibration during their duets since ‘she had, like Beethoven, the notes in her head’.

Sister Evelyn and Sister Mary Clotilde Picken

Through the lives of sisters who taught music, we can see a continuance of both Cornelia’s comprehensive and thorough approach to education and her emphasis on seeking an individual’s potential in order to nurture it. From Mother Mary Cornelia Poett to the Picken sisters, these SHCJ members not only shared their talent through honing their skills and performance, but also sought to inspire a passion for music in their pupils, equipping them with the ability to express themselves through this complex and technical art. It is, perhaps, one of the most profound acts of love and generosity to share what gives you the greatest joy.

11 August 2021

The day finally came. It was a blessed Saturday, 7^th August 2021. The weather was clement throughout. All roads led to the Catholic Church of the Epiphany, Ologolo, Lekki-Lagos, Nigeria. There, almost all the Sisters of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ) African Province joyfully gathered with the Parish community, invited guests, friends and well-wishers from all over the world, in a splendid Thanksgiving Mass for God’s unconditional love, grace and fidelity to the SHCJ global and her Sisters for the past 175 years.

It was a three-fold Eucharistic Celebration of tremendous thanksgiving, perpetual Profession of Vows of five Sisters and Renewal of Vows of another set of five Sisters, who have lived the life for the past 25 years – the Silver Jubilarians.

Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos was the Principal Celebrant and he concelebrated with a galaxy of priests present. The Congregation was ubiquitous and joyful.

In his homily, Archbishop Martins said that the factors responsible for the SHCJ to be in continuous existence for the past 175 years were the grace of God and his fidelity to those whom he called and chose for his mission. He said that the same grace God gave to the people of Israel in spite of their unfaithfulness was what he granted to the SHCJ Sisters that enabled them to be formidable for the past 175 years and that even today, the people of Israel were still a formidable force in the world. He urged the sisters to remain relevant and committed to the Mission and to community living, to pursue holiness of life and to be constant in prayer.

His Grace said that he decided to ask Google, the name for 175^th Anniversary and Google told him “it is Demi-semi-sept-centennial”. He said that the difficulties in calling out the name of the anniversary symbolized the difficulties the SHCJ must have gone through in the past 175 years of continuous existence.

“Coming to give thanks to God is the very least you can do” he said, and also to renew your commitment to his mission. He reminded the Sisters and all present that the call of God was a call to love God and God’s people and a call to holiness of life.

He wished all the SHCJs a happy Demisemiseptcentennial Anniversary.

Present at the celebration were the SHCJ Leader, Sr. Veronica Openibo and one of her team members, Sr. Cecilia Nya (both from Rome) and other important dignitaries from all works of life, home and abroad.

The Sisters with all present after the ‘Three-fold Thanksgiving Mass’, crossed over to the spacious Arena within the compound of the same Church of Epiphany where the grand reception was held with pomp and pageantry, through the immense generosity of the dynamic Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Benjamin Ekpo, his able Assistant Parish Priest and the entire Parishioners.