Protecting physical, mental & spiritual health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Sisters playing BINGO. From left: Sister Irene Wilson, SP, Sister Mary Cockburn, CND, and Sister Judith Ann Murphy, SP.BY MICHAEL HAMMOND, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER In January of 2020 an Infection, Prevention and Control Team (IPCT) was established to plan for the case of outbreaks, especially of the seasonal flu, at Providence Motherhouse. The role of the IPCT is to identify and reduce the risks of infections and restrict the exposure to the...
Providence Hospital School of Nursing, Moose Jaw
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The School of Nursing at Providence Hospital in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan was founded in 1917 by Sister Mary Raphael McCann. There were 14 students in the first class. Conditions were crowded and instruction was carried on by the doctors as they went about visiting their patients. The following September, when the new hospital opened on Lillooet Street, classrooms were on the ground floor and living accommodation...
History of the St. Vincent de Paul Hospital in Brockville Ontario
In December 2020 the Sisters of Providence transferred the former St. Vincent de Paul Hospital site in Brockville to the Marguerita Residence Corporation to be repurposed as affordable housing for seniors. St. Vincent de Paul Hospital was the first hospital founded by the Sisters of Providence and marks their entry into institutional health care.
A Lenten Letter
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Mother Mary Clement was General Superior from July 1927 to July 1930. She wrote a letter to all the Sisters for Lent in 1930 that was sent to all the convents and missions. Here are a few extracts: Dear Sister Superior and Sisters:- I notice that all the Sisters are writing to their loved ones, so I thought I would do like-wise. For many reasons, my letter must be short, and for this, I know you will pardon me....
Transfer of St. Vincent de Paul Hospital
The transfer of ownership papers being signed by Sister Sandra Shannon, General Superior, and Sister Barbara Thiffault, General Secretary on October 27, 2020.The Sisters of Providence have always helped the most vulnerable in our communities by addressing the needs of the times. The St. Vincent de Paul Hospital, which had in the past been leased to Brockville General Hospital, found new purpose in a plan to fill an unmet need in the Brockville...
Providence Associates Plan for an Autonomous Future
From left: Barbara Baker, Ann Boniferro, Laraine Corbin, and Bridget Doherty.BY BARBARA BAKER, PROVIDENCE ASSOCIATES DIRECTOR The Providence Associates have known since 2018 that sometime in the future we would need to move away from our dependence on the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul. At our AGEM that year, Sister Frances O’Brien facilitated our gathering as we talked about possibilities for an autonomous future. At that time,...
Dating Architectural Photographs
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Many photographs in the Archives do not have dates, but we can try to use clues in the photographs themselves to establish a date range. I can often narrow down the dates of photographs of Sisters based on what type of habit the Sisters in the photograph are wearing, but this process of using clues in the photographs also works with buildings. When I look at photographs of buildings, I look for architectural...
Teaching in Peru during the pandemic
BY CARMEN ALOMÍA GUÍA, PROVIDENCE ASSOCIATE Carmen Alomía Guía is the Coordinator of the Providence Associates in Peru. She teaches Spanish language and literature at a high school in El Progreso, Carabayllo. Here in Peru the situation is complicated. I think the government is making the right decisions, but the big problem is poverty, the lack of respect for the rules by the citizens and our poor health system, which is not prepared to deal...
The Novice in the Sewing Room
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Muriel Black entered the Sisters of Providence as a postulant in August 1950 and received the Habit in March 1951. Sister Black made first profession in August 1952 taking the religious name Sister Stella Maris. As a novice, Sister Black, as she was known in the novitiate, wrote several humorous articles for the Guardian magazine about life as a novice. The Guardian was a children’s magazine published monthly by...
Campaign for Oxygen in Carabayllo
Persons line up for 2-3 days in order to refill oxygen tanks at inflated prices for covid-19 patients. The Marillac Mission Fund has contributed $10,000 US to this campaign for oxygen in Carabayllo, Peru.BY SISTER SARA JIMENEZ ANGULO & CARMEN ALOMIA GUIA Sister Sara Jiménez Angulo: On Sunday August 16, 2020, the Peruvian Associates met virtually and during the meeting Providence Associate and Public Health nurse, Lourdes Alvarez made a...
Learning Home Economics
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Sister Mary Anita taught Grade 7 Home Economics from 1954 to 1958 at St. Michael’s Academy in Belleville, Ontario. Here are a few photos of her students during those years.
A Summer Outing
A vintage postcard of the Varuna, a passenger steamboat that plied the Bay of Quinte from 1880 to the 1920s.BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST A lovely summer excursion by two Sisters in Trenton to Lake on the Mountain near Picton, as described in the Annals of St. Peter’s Convent, Trenton: August 29, 1906 - Upon a kind invitation extended by Miss L. Coleman to Sister Superior and Sister M. Stanislaus some weeks ago, the latter, accompanied by...
Looking Back to the Smallpox Epidemic of 1879
Postcard of Mill Street, Deseronto, ca.1900. Courtesy of the Deseronto Archives.BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The COVID-19 crisis has been likened to the 1918 Flu epidemic; yet, if we look in the Archives there are also many similarities with smaller localized epidemics of the past. In September 1879, the Sisters of Providence were asked to nurse smallpox patients in Mill Point (later renamed Deseronto). Here is an abridged extract from the...
Celebrating Jubilees During a Pandemic
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVISTCOVID-19 is not the only pandemic in the Sisters of Providence’s history to prevent Jubilees from being celebrated. Historically jubilees were not celebrated altogether annually in June the way they are now. Instead they were celebrated throughout the year as the anniversaries occurred.Sister Mary Aloyisus (left) and Sister Mary Stanislaus (right) were blood sisters who entered the congregation on the same day,...
St. Michael’s Band, Belleville
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST St. Michael’s Band, a rhythm band, was formed in 1934 in Belleville by Sister Mary Mercedes. The students were originally recruited from Grade 1 at St. Michael’s Academy and many of the same children stayed in the band into their high school years. The band played for the King George V and Queen Elizabeth (who we know as the Queen mother) outside St. Mary’s Cathedral during the royal visit to Kingston in 1939....
JPIC Committee goes Virtual
The JPIC Committee meeting held using Zoom video conferencing.BY BRIDGET DOHERTY, JPIC DIRECTOR “The Gospel, our Church’s social justice teachings, the spirit of Vatican II, the congregational constitutions, charism and Mission Statements repeatedly urge us to respond to the needs of the times.” This is how the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Office’s Committee mandate begins. We are called to respond to the needs of the...
Provident Easter planning during pandemic
Good Friday reading of “The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ” according to John. From left: Barbara Baker, Providence Associate, and Sisters of Providence Frances O’Brien and Jeannette Filthaut.BY ANN BONIFERRO PA, DIRECTOR OF LITURGICAL MUSIC, AND ASSISTANT TO LITURGY OFFICE Planning the Triduum liturgies is always a creative process, but this year required more innovation than usual as we adapted to the ever-changing challenges of COVID-19....
Remembering the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
St. Mark’s Convent in Prescott, OntarioBY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The Fall of 1918 was a tumultuous time as the First World War wasn’t over yet, but soldiers were starting to arrive home from Europe bringing with them an unwelcome guest – the Spanish Influenza. In Ontario alone, there were 300,000 cases of the flu and approximately 10,000 people died. The majority of those who died were previously healthy adults between the ages of 20 and...
Women in Science Day
Sr. Mary Cornelia in November 1947 in the lab at Providence Hospital Moose Jaw, SKBY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST February 11th was the International Day of Women and Girls in Science Day. Sr. Mary Cornelia Schauenberg worked in science her entire career, as the Director of the Clinical Laboratory at Providence Hospital in Moose Jaw from 1937 to 1979. Here is an extract from her obituary: After receiving her laboratory technologist...
Spotlight on Peruvian Associates
BY SISTER GAYLE DESARMIA From November 27 to December 13, 2019, Associate Wen Bogues and I travelled to Peru to visit the Sisters and Associates in Carabayllo. A highlight of the time in Peru was the opportunity to visit several Peruvian Associates in their places of work and witness their ministry to those in need.The school where Providence Associate Hector Reyes is the Principal. Hector is standing at the back of the classroom next to the...