For all of my life, the Sisters of St. Martha have been a comforting presence.
In the small town of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, the Motherhouse, known as Bethany, was a quiet, constant beacon on a hill overlooking the harbour, just on the outskirts of town. The large, brick building was a favourite place to meet a Sister for tea in one of the visiting parlours. The austere look of the building from the outside was no match for the kind-hearted, jovial and welcoming Sisters on the inside.
The St. Theresa Garden, just behind the convent, was another special spot where a Sister or two could be found walking the trail, often with rosary in hand. One of the first activities in spring, when our kids were younger, was to take them up to the garden and search the pond for frogs. We could never leave before making a visit to the statue of Our Lady of Fatima or walking the outdoor Stations of the Cross.
The Marthas, as they are affectionately known locally, founded the regional hospital, other community hospitals, a nursing school, the largest nursing home in our town, the local radio station, and led many other educational and community-based initiatives. Their lives of service, modelled after the New Testament story of St. Martha serving Christ himself, not only had a profound impact on my own faith story but on the faith stories of so many others far and wide.
The Sisters have been celebrating their 125th anniversary this past year, having arrived at the Antigonish train station in July 1900. The small band of women, dressed in those days in full black habits complete with veils, had been invited by the local bishop and the rector of St. Francis Xavier University to provide housekeeping and food services for the all-male student body at the school. The Sisters, several of whom were originally from the Antigonish Diocese, had left their convent home with the Sisters of Charity in Halifax, to begin a new order and certainly a new adventure.
Within six years of their arrival, the townspeople asked the Sisters to open a hospital, which led to a long and admirable legacy of service not only to the world of education and nursing but also to medicine in general. My oldest sister is a graduate of the St. Martha School of Nursing, which has since closed but graduated hundreds of nurses over several decades. The Sisters also helped staff the School of Nursing at St. Francis Xavier University, from which two more of my sisters graduated.
The Sisters were part of so many aspects of life in rural communities in our diocese that their contribution is impossible to measure. One indication of their impact is that their reputation was of such renown that they were asked to serve beyond Nova Scotia, including for many years as housekeepers at St. Augustine Seminary in Toronto, and as nurses, teachers and facilitators in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Massachusetts and, later, Northern Quebec and the Island of St. Kitts in the Caribbean. They ran a mission in the Diocese of Kamloops from 1984-90.
Now, 126 years later, the Sisters of St. Martha are much fewer in number, but no less strong in commitment, kindness and community outreach. The Bethany Motherhouse has been dismantled, brick by brick, and a memorial garden is in its place. Many remaining sisters live adjacent to the old Bethany property in a new building that also provides assisted living and nursing care spaces for elderly community members. Several other sisters live in smaller houses in neighbourhoods throughout our small town.
In 1996, the sisters transferred ownership of the St. Martha’s Regional Hospital to the provincial government, but kept a 30-year mission agreement in place to ensure the hospital operated with the same Martha values and under the consultation of the sisters, who continued to provide spiritual care at the facility. The Congregation recently announced that the mission agreement will end this coming September and the name of St. Martha will be removed from the hospital — a sad day for our community.
This Congregation of women has meant so much to so many people over the last 125 years. Looking back on their history (much more to see at themarthas.com), it is clear that the Holy Spirit had a firm hand in raising up the Marthas to fulfill many needs and gaps that existed in rural Nova Scotia, and beyond, in the 20th century.
It should also be noted that the Sisters’ presence and example inspired many vocations of both sisters and priests, including my father’s first cousin, Sr. Rose Carmel. One of the main charisms of the order has been care for priests, and most of the priests of our diocese happily tell stories of how the Marthas have enhanced their priesthood.
On July 29, the Memorial of Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus, the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Martha, will celebrate the end of their anniversary year with a special Mass at our diocesan Cathedral. If you can, say a prayer for the close to 50 Sisters who remain. Pray in thanksgiving for the gift of their vocation in our Church.
Lazzuri writes from her home in Nova Scotia, where she lives with her husband, three of her six children, and her mom. She can be reached at [email protected].