This year marks a significant milestone for the Region of the Southern Cross as they celebrate the 140th Anniversary of the arrival of the Little Company of Mary Sisters in Australia on 4th November 1885. On12th November a Mass of Thanksgiving was held, with LCM Sisters, Guests, Volunteers and Staff at St Margaret’s Chapel, Calvary Retirement Community Ryde.
Emeritus Bishop Terry Brady was the principal celebrant with concelebrants Fr Kevin Dance and Fr Greg Morgan, the local Parish priest, and Fr Peter Guy MSC.
The LCM journey in Australia began on the 4th November 1885 when six young LCM Sisters arrived from England in response to an invitation to Mary Potter from Australia’s first Catholic Cardinal, Patrick Moran. Cardinal Moran proved to be a steadfast supporter of the Sisters, providing the land on which they established a Convent, and then a hospital. Known as Lewisham Hospital, it established the groundwork on which the success of the foundation and reputation of the Sisters was built.
Over the decades, our LCM Sisters became deeply embedded in the country’s history, offering compassionate care and comfort to the sick and dying through times of depression, plague, war, and natural disasters. They made significant contributions to Australian health care, with the Sisters amongst the first nurses to sit for the Australian Trained Nurses Association examination in 1906, which was replaced in 1925 by the Nurses’ Registration Board. Two Sisters also earned psychiatric nursing certificates at the local psychiatric hospital at this time. Some of the Sisters were among the early radiographers, pharmacists, physiotherapists and established the first Institute for Sports Medicine in Australia.
The Sisters’ mission expanded beyond Australia, reaching New Zealand, South Africa, Korea and Tonga. Their legacy is reflected in the generations of LCM women who have followed in their footsteps, continuing to bring the spirit of Mary Potter and the healing presence of Christ to communities across the world.
This article by Sr Kathleen Cotterill LCM is reproduced with permission by the Little Company of Mary Sisters