The Society of the Sacred Heart
Australia-Aotearoa
New Zealand ,
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The Society of the Sacred Heart
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It is not what you are nor what you have been that God sees with
all merciful eyes,
There is something wanting in education where a child has not had its share of leisure, to be rapt in silence and alone… Janet Stuart rscJ
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France and Scotland have many ties of history, faith and
friendship so when after World War I a Scottish Kiwi so The regulated discipline of the boarding school at Island Bay would have appealed to her serious, orderly mind. She did well in studies and became Head of the School. I was placed beside this big Blue Ribbon in the study room and came to respect her kindly eye and enjoy her little explosions of wrath and indignation. After school she attended the State Teachers’ College in Karori near her home, so that when she reached the noviceship in 1941 she was quite a superior being, who soon became the Beadle in charge and was excused from classes in the Juniorate. Her stern appearance was rather misleading because she was never petty and saw the funny side of things As for most of our generation, her religious life was almost bisected into pre- and post-Vatican II. For the first 25 years she gave herself to both community and school in the prayerful, predictable, structured life that must have suited her temperament well. A born teacher, she instilled into her students at Rose Bay, Baradene and Erskine her own love of literature, languages and history. “She was inspired,” says one RSCJ, “with a passion for art which she nourished all her life.” We remember her tireless work producing those marvelous tableaux of famous art pictures, and her perfect costuming of “London Cries” and many other plays and presentations. Behind the stage scenes, she was professional and demanding but also whimsical and amusing. Afterwards she would emerge in full sail as Mistress of Discipline, marshalling the ranks with impeccable order and precision, quelling the mischievous with one look or remark, arranging rooms and settings with that finish which characterized everything she did. Timid souls were sometimes afraid of her sternness but surprised and relieved at her fun and enjoyment on Feast days. Agreement is unanimous that she was remarkably fair and just, reasonable and judicious.. In community she was unassuming and serious-minded, ready to appraise things and no lover of small talk. She could express disapproval without insisting on it. She always enjoyed a joke and made famous repartees. Her hands were constantly busy with handwork, embroidery immaculately worked, printing and painting, the well-known Caldwell artistry. The “changes “in religious life that came so suddenly in the mid-sixties must have cost her dearly though at first they gave her the opportunity of University study, where she majored in geography and often at Loreto Hall regaled us with tales of her escapades on field-trips, climbing fences and crossing streams in her habited condition. She developed a keen interest in landforms and especially the volcanoes of Auckland. In 1980 the “changes” also brought her the wonderful experience of a Renewal programme at the Villa Lante in Rome, where she exchanged life and ideas with other mature RSCJ from different countries and where she came to know the lay community of San Egidio, which pioneered inspiring works of charity and diplomacy and with which she kept in joyful contact. She compiled a wonderful travelogue and photographic record of the famous shrines, art galleries and museums she was able to visit in Europe. For a few more years she worked as a librarian at Erskine, fiercely keeping her bookish kingdom in order and gallantly maintaining classes as the school moved inevitably to its closure in 1985. Her grief at this must have been profound. The community was engaged in endless meetings, which she found very trying. She had to move into a small community, with all its demands on quiet, regularity and privacy. For a time, like the more communally-minded, she felt at a loss but again her fortitude and her faith kept her balanced and she soon found a new apostolate at the Vincentian Home in Berhampore, to which she devoted herself for fifteen years with increasing confidence, first as a co-ordinator of activities, then as a prayer-group leader, then as a Residents’ Advocate on the staff. She is still remembered with affection there and in Island Bay parish. She gave lectures in art at the local U3A, University of the Third Age. She was a parish bereavement counsellor and did knitting for Pregnancy Help. She loved the Botanical Gardens, taking expert photos which she made into greeting cards. How little in former days could she have imagined herself in these circumstances! How little they seemed to match her earlier expectations of life! She was by nature a person of quiet strength and intelligence, not of shyness but of privacy, and a great reserve that hid a warm heart. God was now to purify that heart by a period of great suffering. When failing health at Island Bay necessitated her move to Baradene before she considered herself ready, she had at first a painful struggle to settle, to accept, to adapt. There were lots of little explosions, fierce but short-lived She would humbly reproach herself and make brave resolutions to be patient. She was truly grateful would smile her thanks to staff, visitors, flowers and all things beautiful. It was not to be for long, only a few months. to the community and carers at Baradene who treated her with such dignity and sympathy. And at the moment we dreaded of her transfer to Mercy Parklands Rest Home, behold! she settled there with peace and contentment. She would gaze for long hours at the icons she loved, especially Rublev’s “Trinity”. She would smile her thanks to staff, visitors, flowers and all things beautiful. It was not to be for long, only a few months. Little by little she withdrew into her enclosed garden and it was there that the Lord came for her quite suddenly on the evening of Friday June 17th. May she rejoice forever in the beauty of His Kingdom. Sr Margaret D'Ath |
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Society
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ldier married the strong
Frenchwoman who nursed him in her convalescent home, it was not surprising that
the eldest of their six children showed the characteristics of both nations, the
sturdy good sense of the Scot and the quick sensibility of the French. Although
the younger ones were somewhat in awe of their tall, proper, dignified sister,
they appreciated also her dressmaking skills, her sense of humour and the
French gift of tears which all their womenfolk shared.