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The Sisters of Charity

In October 1876 , through the zealous efforts of Father Kennedy three sisters were sent to establish this mission. Sister Mary Jerome (Crimmen) was Superior, along with assistants Sister Mary Corniela (Tynan) and Sister Mary Philippa (Melanson).

It was not long before the people felt the influence of the sisters, and became greatly attached to them. The Sisters immediately took charge of the schoolhouse. The attendance gradually grew, and soon it reached well nigh one hundred. The children were well trained, not only in the ordinary subjects of grammar school, but also in the knowledge of their holy religion. The sisters played an important role in the upbuilding of the faith at Prospect. Without the sisters' training, very little about their Creator, Savior and final Judge would have been taught to the children, as the circumstances of this parish did not permit the priest to accomplish all he would.

Nor were their labors and influence confined to the classroom. In Prospect and Lower Prospect (then including Terence Bay) the sisters had a large field of the exercise of charity. They spent much time and effort in caring for the sick, consoling the afflicted and helping the poor. Indeed they were sisters of charity. They also had many opportunities for the practice of poverty and self-denial on account of the sisters nearly drowning whilst sailing in a skiff to Lower Prospect to teach catechism.

It affords the writer much pleasure in bringing to light, in a general way, the hidden deeds of noble character performed by these ever zealous, self-sacrificing and holy sisters, who labored so faithfully for the spread of the faith in this historic parish. Today the Sisters of Charity, in their virtuous and unpretentious way, are carrying on this work wherever they are (taken from "Fourteen Decades in Prospect 1794-1929").

Since the writing of the history of Prospect Parish in 1929 as contained in the first half of this book, several matters of historical interest have taken place.

On one of those pages we made a modest reference to the Sisters of Charity of Halifax (seen above). In concluding this reference we expressed the hope that they would again be sent here. That hope has since been realized -- thanks be to God.

At the end of the school year 1930, the parish priest called a meeting of the parishioners to consider inviting the Sisters of Charity to return to Prospect, the twelfth mission to be opened by this Religious Community. The meeting deemed it fitting and proper that the parish priest be asked to open negotiations with the Sisters and take the necessary steps to the prosecution of this purpose.

On 1 July 1930 he betook himself to Mount Saint Vincent to approach the Reverend Mother Mary Louise about this important matter. It was a very embarrassing mission, due to the fact that the Sisters had lived in Prospect for thirty years and were forced to close the mission. However, with confidence in Mother Louise he approached her and placed the request before her. After due deliberation with the members of her council Mother Louise returned to the parish priest, who was still waiting in the building for the answer, to give him a most favorable reply.

Consequent to this reply, and to show their appreciation for it, the parishioners decided to build a convent for the Sisters. So on 1 May 1931 , the first sod was turned by the parish priest for the new convent. The convent was completed 15 August . All this was accomplished most gladly by the parishioners at a great sacrifice.

On 15 August 1931 , as a result of this decision, three Sisters, Sister M. Beatrix, as the Sister Superior, with Sister Marie Edwina and Sister M. Jovita were sent to Prospect to re-open the mission closed just twenty-five years previously. It was a very happy day for the pastor and the parishioners of this historic parish (taken from "The Sesquicentennial Celebration 1794-1944").

Sisters, October 1876

• Sister Mary Jerome Crimmen
• Sister Mary Cornielia Tynan
• Sister Mary Phillipa Melanson
• Sister Mary Berchmans Walsh (later Mother General)

Superiors, 1931-1959

• Sister Mary Beatrix MacDonald (1931-1934, 1950-1956)
• Sister Mary Laurentia MacNeill (1934-1940)
• Sister Ellen Vincent McManus (1940-1944)
• Sister Francis Cecilia McCarthy (1944-1950)
• Sister Mary Clarita McNeil (1956-1958)
• Sister Mary Charles McDonald (1958-1959)

Sisters, 1931-1959

• Sister Mary Jovita Kennedy (1931-1933)
• Sister Marie Edwina Meagher (1931-1934)
• Sister Mary Germaine Poirier (1933-1934)
• Sister Catherine Clare Harris (1934-1936)
• Sister Mary Rene Vienneau (1934-1939)
• Sister Mary Geraldina Spray (1936-1941, 1956-1959)
• Sister Mary Thomasita Buchanan (1939-1940)
• Sister Mary Almida Desmond (1940-1942)
• Sister Rose Genevieve Alsop (1941-1943)
• Sister Mary Lydia Gillis (1941-1943)
• Sister Maria Carmel Shaughnessy (1942-1943, 1957-1959)
• Sister Mary Georgiana Connors (1943-1944, 1945, 1948)
• Sister Agnes Columba Geohegan (1943-1947)
• Sister Mary Aeneas McMullen (1943-1949)
• Sister Mary Winifred Dalton (1944-1945)
• Sister Maria Mercedes O'Donnell (1946-1947)
• Sister Mary Claudina Donnellon (1947-1949)
• Sister Mary Teresa Mailloux (1947-1948)
• Sister Agnes Josephine McDonald (1948-1957)
• Sister Agnes Mercedes O'Regan (1948-1955)
• Sister Maria de Pizzi Keilty (1949-1951)
• Sister Maria Agatha Walker (1949-1951)
• Sister Celilia Anna Alder (1950--1954)
• Sister Marion Florence McSweene (1951-1952)
• Sister Leo Stephan Addicott (1953-1956)
• Sister Mary Ancilla MacEachern (1954-1957)
• Sister Mary Lucille Miles (1955-1956)
• Sister Teresa Loretta Doucet (1956-1957)
• Sister Mary Edna McDonald (1958-1959)
• Sister Mary Dorothea McIntyre (1958-1959)

Sisters of Charity who taught at Atlantic Memorial School from December 1959 to 1976

• Sister Mary Ellen Murray
• Sister Leo Alice McCraith
• Sister Catherine Celine Hector
• Sister Anne Benedict Lancaster
• Sister Sophie O'Neill
• Sister Agnes Louise Mahar
• Sister Helen Balch
• Sister Angela do Lourdes Macdonald
• Sister Noreen Trainor
• Sister Mary Ida McInnis
• Sister Anita Gagnon
• Sister Leo Kevin Fahey
• Sister Francis Josephine Kelly
• Sister Patricia Kelly
• Sister Cecile d'Entremont
• Sister Joan O'Keefe
• Sister Madeleine Keating ¹
• Sister Mary O'Neill

1. Sister Madeleine Keating, who retired in 1976, was the last nun to teach, thus ending Apostolate of the Sisters of Charity in the Prospect area.

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