The Good Samaritan Sisters, together with St Scholastica’s College and Good Samaritan Education, gathered on 16 October this year to mark 125 years of presence in Glebe, writes Congregational Leader Sister Catherine McCahill.
On 16 October 1901, in the presence of a small crowd of Sisters, clergy, friends and relatives, Toxteth House in Glebe was blessed by Cardinal Moran, then Archbishop of Sydney, as the new Mother House for the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. That same day, he blessed the foundation stone for St Scholastica’s College.
The 125 years of Good Samaritan presence on this site is worthy of celebration. However, for me, it is more important to reflect on the significance of these years and look forward.
Since 1857, the Mother House had been in Pitt Street, Sydney. Our founder, Archbishop Polding, had acquired disused government buildings for a women’s refuge. There the Sisters of Charity and lay women established the House of the Good Shepherd for the significant number of women seeking refuge. The need in Sydney in the middle of the nineteenth century was great.
With fewer Sisters of Charity available to run this refuge, Polding made the decision in 1856 to found an Australian congregation of religious women. Mother Scholastica Gibbons, who kept her commitment as a Charity Sister, was appointed Superior and assumed responsibility for forming the new congregation and running the refuge. She remained in this role until she resigned in 1876, enabling the Sisters to elect their own Superior.
Initially named Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Polding changed the name in 1866 to Sisters of the Good Samaritan, indicating their purpose in the Rules he wrote:
This Congregation of Religious is designed for the practice of the spiritual and temporal works of charity, under the guidance of holy obedience, according to the Rule of St Benedict. Therefore, as directed by their Superiors, the Sisters are ready to teach in schools, to visit and assist the sick in their own homes and in hospitals, to instruct ignorant persons in the faith, to conduct orphanages, to reform the lives of penitent women, and to apply themselves to every other charitable work.
The name sufficiently indicates the scope, since the Religious are called to imitate the charity of the kind Samaritan who was moved to pity the poor wounded man and, having poured oil and wine into his wounds to heal him, afterwards conveyed him to a place of security. In like manner, the Religious will use all gentleness and compassion for the unhappy whom they are to tend, and all fervour of charity in restoring souls to the fold of Jesus Christ.
This group of women, my Congregation, was from the very beginning formed in the Rule of St Benedict, the basis of its prayer and communal way of life. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is the other pillar of our shared life, impelling us to ’be neighbour’ in all the contexts of our lives.
In the following years, with generous donations from the people of Sydney, the Sisters made significant improvements to the buildings at Pitt Street and new expansive buildings were added. From there they sent Sisters to Parramatta (Catholic Children’s Orphanage), various inner-city suburbs of Sydney, rural communities in New South Wales as well as South Australia and North Queensland. In 1889, a new and larger refuge was established at Tempe, on the southern side of Sydney. The first five Sisters had grown to 300.
The Sisters were well known in and around this southern side of central Sydney. The title of the land, however, was never acquired, so when a decision was made to locate Sydney’s central railway station on this site, everyone had to move. Toxteth House in Glebe was purchased with compensation paid by the government.
As we – Sisters, students and staff of St Scholastica’s College, staff and governance personnel of Good Samaritan Education – gathered to mark 125 years of presence on the current site, I reflected on the meaning of the day.
I wondered what it was like to move from the from hustle and bustle and somewhat cramped space of Pitt Street to Toxteth House. I am sure that some of the Sisters were sad, some were excited, some were worried. I wondered also what it was like for all the students in the school. They had to go to other schools in Haymarket and Forest Lodge until the new building was constructed and ready for occupancy in 1902. Some girls went to other schools and did not come to Glebe. So, friendships were disrupted.
In planning for the occasion, the current principal, Laetitia Richmond, and I wanted a combined event. Every day, there are well over a thousand of us on this site. Some of us live here all the time, some of us come to school each day, some of us board here, some of us work here. Whatever our reason for being here, we are all here together, being neighbour to each other.
I ask myself, and I asked those gathered, am I a good neighbour? Am I interested in and concerned about the other people on this site? Am I interested in and concerned about these beautiful grounds and buildings? Am I contributing to the spirit of kindness, hospitality, learning, prayerfulness, and stewardship here on this site.
On such an occasion, we could tell stories of a glorious past, of the students, the Sisters, the events, the celebrations, the achievements, the disappointments and so much more that have been part of our shared story over 125 years. However, I believe it is more important to focus on the now.
The past is important because it shapes us; we can learn from it. However, I hope that standing in this moment in time, we can look ahead. The light from the past illuminates a path in front of us. I hope that all of us might see the light from the past showing us the way forward.
Over the years, this site has served as a centre for many aspects of Good Samaritan life: a community or home for our Sisters, aged care for our frail and infirm Sisters, a Teachers’ College, a primary school (phased out), girls’ secondary school, boarding school and Good Samaritan Education offices. From here, the Sisters have been sent to many parts of Australia, Japan (1948), the Philippines (1990) and Kiribati (1991).
Life in Glebe today is different from that of our Sisters in 1901. The social, economic, educational, and ecclesial realities have changed and continue to change. These days, we no longer have homeless people knocking on the door and being given meals. The students and teachers don’t encounter the Sisters as often. We Sisters don’t spend as much time walking the streets. My hope is that here on this site we practise neighbourliness and that we go out from here to be neighbour.
Sometimes, the Good Samaritan Sisters have failed to be good neighbours. For that I apologise.
One aspect of life for the Sisters living on site is unchanged. Every morning and evening, they gather to pray. They are not praying for themselves but for all of creation. As Benedictines, this is our first work. I assured the College community that, as our nearest neighbours, they can be sure of our prayerful commitment to them. I hope they pray for us sometimes.
The light from our past continues to light the path ahead for all Good Samaritans.
