In October
1876, through the zealous efforts of Father Kennedy three sisters were
sent to establish this mission. Sister Mary Jerome (Crimmen) was Superior,
and had for assistants, Sister Mary Corniela (Tynan) and Sister Mary Philippa
(Melanson).
It
was not long before the people felt the influence of the sisters, and became
greatly attached to them. The Sisters immediately took charge of
the schoolhouse. The attendance gradually grew, and soon it reached well
nigh one hundred. The children were well trained, not only in the
ordinary subjects of grammar school, but also in the knowledge of their
holy religion. here is where the sisters played an important part
in the upbuilding of the faith at Prospect. Without the sisters'
training, very little about their Creator, Savior and final Judge would
have been taught to the children, as the circumstances of this parish did
to permit the priest to accomplish all he would.
Nor
were their labors and influence confined to the classroom. In Prospect
and Lower Prospect (then including Terence Bay) the sisters had a large
field of the exercise of charity. They Spent much time and effort
in caring for the sick, consoling the afflicted and helping the poor.
Indeed they were sisters of charity. They also has many opportunities for
the practice of poverty and self-denial on account of the sisters were
nearly drowned whilst sailing in a skiff to Lower Prospect to teach catechism.
It
affords the writer much pleasure in bringing to light, in a general way,
the hidden deeds of noble character performed by these ever zealous, self-sacrificing
and holy sisters, who labored so faithfully for the spread of the faith
in this historic parish. Today the Sisters of Charity, in their virtuous
and unpretentious way, are carrying on this work wherever they are. (taken
from "Fourteen Decades in Prospect 1794-1929")
Since the writing of the
history of Prospect Perish in 1929 as contained in the first half of this
book, several matters of historical interest have taken place.
On
one of those pages we made a modest reference to the Sisters of Charity
of Halifax (seen above). In concluding this reference we expressed
the hope that they would again be sent here. That hope has since been realized
-- thanks be to God.
At
the end of the school year 1930, the parish priest called a meeting of
the parishioners to consider inviting the Sisters of Charity to return
to Prospect, the twelfth mission to be opened by this Religious Community.
The meeting deemed it fitting and proper that the parish priest be asked
to open negotiations with the Sisters and take the necessary steps to the
prosecution of this purpose.
On
July 1, 1930 he betook himself to Mount Saint
Vincent to approach the Reverend Mother Mary Louise about this
important matter. It was a very embarrassing mission, due to the
fact that the Sisters had lived in Prospect for thirty years and were forced
to close the mission. However, with confidence in Mother Louise he
approached her and placed the request before her. After due deliberation
with the members of her council Mother Louise returned to the parish priest,
who was still waiting in the building for the answer, to give him a most
favorable reply.
Consequent
to this reply, and to show their appreciation for it, the parishioners
decided to build a convent for the Sisters. So on May 1, 1931, the first
sod was turned by the parish priest for the new convent. The convent
was completed for the fifteenth of August. All this was accomplished most
gladly by the parishioners at a great sacrifice.
On
August 15, 1931, as a result of this decision, three Sisters, Sister M.
Beatrix, as the Sister Superior, with Sister Marie Edwina and Sister M.
Jovita were sent to Prospect to re-open the mission closed just twenty-five
years previously. It was a very happy day for the pastor and the parishioners
of this historic parish. (Taken From "The Sesquicentennial Celebration
1794-1944" )
The Sisters of Charity Convent in Prospect,
Nova Scotia
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Convent, Prospect, Nova Scotia, Canada.
-October 1876
Sister Mary Jerome Crimmen
Sister Mary Cornielia Tynan
Sister Mary Phillipa Melanson
Sister Mary Berchmans Walsh (later Mother
General)
-Superiors 1931-1959
Sister Mary Beatrix MacDonald
(1931-1934, 1950-1956)
Sister Mary Laurentia MacNeill (1934-1940)
Sister Ellen Vincent McManus (1940-1944)
Sister Francis Cecilia McCarthy (1944-1950)
Sister Mary Clarita McNeil (1956-1958)
Sister Mary Charles McDonald (1958-1959)
-Sisters 1931-1959
Sister Mary Jovita Kennedy (1931-1933)
Sister Marie Edwina Meagher (1931-1934)
Sister Mary Germaine Poirier (1933-1934)
Sister Catherine Clare Harris (1934-1936)
Sister Mary Rene Vienneau (1934-1939)
Sister Mary Geraldina Spray (1936-1941,
1956-1959)
Sister Mary Thomasita Buchanan (1939-1940)
Sister Mary Almida Desmond (1940-1942)
Sister Rose Genevieve Alsop (1941-1943)
Sister Mary Lydia Gillis (1941-1943)
Sister Maria Carmel Shaughnessy (1942-1943,
1957-1959)
Sister Mary Georgiana Connors (1943-1944,
1945, 1948)
Sister Agnes Columba Geohegan (1943-1947)
Sister Mary Aeneas McMullen (1943-1949)
Sister Mary Winifred Dalton (1944-1945)
Sister Maria Mercedes O'Donnell (1946-1947)
Sister Mary Claudina Donnellon (1947-1949)
Sister Mary Teresa Mailloux (1947-1948)
Sister Agnes Josephine McDonald (1948-1957)
Sister Agnes Mercedes O'Regan (1948-1955)
Sister Maria de Pizzi Keilty (1949-1951)
Sister Maria Agatha Walker (1949-1951)
Sister Celilia Anna Alder (1950--1954)
Sister Marion Florence McSweene (1951-1952)
Sister Leo Stephan Addicott (1953-1956)
Sister Mary Ancilla MacEachern (1954-1957)
Sister Mary Lucille Miles (1955-1956)
Sister Teresa Loretta Doucet (1956-1957)
Sister Mary Edna McDonald (1958-1959)
Sister Mary Dorothea McIntyre (1958-1959)
Sisters of Charity who taught at The Atlantic Memorial School from December, 1959 to 1976
Sister Mary Ellen Murray
Sister Leo Alice McCraith
Sister Catherine Celine Hector
Sister Anne Benedict Lancaster
Sister Sophie O'Neill
Sister Agnes Louise Mahar
Sister Helen Balch
Sister Angela do Lourdes Macdonald
Sister Noreen Trainor
Sister Mary Ida McInnis
Sister Anita Gagnon
Sister Leo Kevin Fahey
Sister Francis Josephine Kelly
Sister Patricia Kelly
Sister Cecile d'Entremont
Sister Joan O'Keefe
Sister Madeleine Keating*
Sister Mary O'Neill
* Sister Madeleine Keating who was the last nun teaching at the school retired in 1976, thus ending Apostolate of the Sisters of Charity in the Prospect area.