THE PRESENTATION SISTERS IN INDIA – THE STORY BEGINS…
The early beginnings of the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM), in the vast Indian Sub-Continent is a story of courage and commitment of the pioneers and those who followed them through days of light as well as of darkness. The journey began In September 1841 at with the invitation of Dr. John Fennelly to the Presentation Sisters in Ireland to serve primarily the children of the Irish and British soldiers stationed in Madras. His call was answered immediately by Mother Xavier Curran of the Rahan Presentation Convent. She was joined by Sr. Regis Kelly, Sr. Ignatius Healy and Sr. Martha Kelly two of them being choir nuns and one a lay sister, all from the Convent in Maynooth. They arrived in Madras on 13 January 1842, they received a warm welcome and a magnificent reception by the people whom they had chosen to serve.
Dr. Fennelly immediately handed over to the Sisters the convent, orphanage and school in Georgetown, then called Black Town, which had been run by Mrs. Smith, a pious widow and her two companions all of whom had taken private vows. They continued to work with the Sisters and helped them to acclimatize to the conditions of work and weather in India.
In the early history of the Presentation Sisters in India, Mother Xavier Murphy (d.1939) stands out as a person with vision and insight into the needs of female education which was badly neglected. Her pioneering zeal found expression in purchasing some tumble down houses in Georgetown and erecting St. Columban’s High School. With a sense of purpose and insight and with the help of Archbishop Colgan she went on to purchase the property in Church Park on the outskirts of Madras. In 1909 she built the Convent and the Sacred Heart High school for students of the Anglo-Indian community and of the high caste Indians. Mother Xavier’s missionary zeal knowing no bounds, she established more schools at Royapuram (1905), Perambur (1911), Egmore (1913), Royapettah (1916), Kodaikanal (1916), Golden Rock, Trichy (1928-1942) Periyakulam (1933-1936), and Theni (1933).
The decree to allow Sisters to be Midwives from Rome (1936) fulfilled the dreams of Mother Xavier who promptly built the first Maternity Hospital ever to be run by Religious in Theni.
In 1944 the Sisters realized the need for indigenous vocations for the future of Presentation life in India. There has been a steady number of young women joining the Presentation way of life from different states in India. The novitiate in Church Park, which started in 1940, was transferred to Carmelaram, Bangalore by 1963 due to growing members.
The amalgamation of different independent communities under one Superior took effect in 1921. Mother Xavier was elected as its first Superior General in 1925 of the amalgamated convents of Georgetown, Church Park, Royapuram and Kodaikanal.
Archbishop of Salisbury, Rev. Chichester, a direct descendant of the Nagle family of Cork invited the Presentation Sisters in Madras to Africa, Southern Rhodesia. Mother Josephine O’Connor and Mother Bernard Ryan led a group of Sisters to take over the school at the Mount Mellary Mission in 1949. Further schools were started in St. Killian’s mission, in Salisbury and in Marandella. A school as well as a hospital was started at the Avila Mission. In 1955 the Congregation in Matlock responded to the invitation to open a school in Sacramento, California, USA.
PAKISTAN AND NORTH INDIA
The Presentation Mission in North India was started by Mother Ignatius McDermott who was a member of the Presentation Community in San Francisco, California. On 8 September 1895 ,the Presentation Sisters established themselves in Rawalpindi in the house vacated by the Sisters of Jesus and Mary.
Like Madras, the Sisters started a school for the sons and daughters of the British and Irish soldiers stationed in Rawalpindi, and the teaching of the Catholic faith was given first priority..
A Presentation school and a Women’s College was started in 1913 in Peshawar, in the NWFP, and a boy’s boarding and day school for boys and girls in Murree at the foothills of the Himalayas in 1917. In 1936 the sisters opened a school in the heart of Rawalpindi city for the many poor Indian Christians who were educated, fed and clothed and in Kashmir. The sisters took over St. Therese’s School planting the charism of Nano in Delhi, the capital of India. Presentation foundations were established in the Portuguese colony of Goa, in the village of Orlim in 1957 and in the seaport of Vasco in 1958.
Like the Sisters in Madras, the Sisters in North India faced the same problem about the Constitutions of 1805 which was designed for independent houses, not for the small communities in India which could not exist independently. In 1951 the communities in Pakistan and North India were amalgamated under one Superior General.
Responding to the call of the Vatican II to all the religious to “go to your Founder and go to the Source" the Presentation Sisters came together to form the Union of Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As part of this Union the two independent Regions of the Presentation Sisters in India merged as one Province. This also marked the Bicentenary of the founding of the Presentation Sisters in Cork, Ireland in 1775.
As the number of members increased and mission spread to different States it became difficult for one Major Superior and Team to meet all the challenges of administration and animation. Following the Direction of 1991 Chapter a call to Decentralization and experimentation of Administrative Structure for the sake of life and mission, the then Provincial Team took initiative to meet the challenges of the time. A unanimous decision was taken for delegation and formation of 4 Circles with Leadership Teams in 1998. While this structure enhanced the growth of the Province in terms of membership, new communities, better financial management and stronger identity of the members, it caused certain canonical and constitutional concerns. Hence in 2010, a process of consultation to look into the possibility of forming 2 provinces (Units) in India was initiated. In 2015 after further consultation with the sisters in the province, a decision was taken by the Congregational Leadership Team for India to become 2 Provinces (Units), still upholding the vision of venerable Nano Nagle and the Chrism and spirit of our Congregation to spread the fragrance of the Gospel in the Indian soil and beyond.