Click photo to enlarge
Srs Adrienne (left) and Madeleine entered the convent
together in 1948. Photo by Sally Rae.
Four Dominican Sisters will mark a special milestone in
Oamaru today.
Srs Madeleine (80) and Adrienne (82), who live in Oamaru,
will be joined by Srs Catherine (Mosgiel) and Genevieve
(Auckland) to celebrate 60 years since they made their
profession (commitment for life).
The four entered the convent together in 1948.
At least 20 Dominican Sisters are expected to attend a
function being held to mark the occasion, with the Catholic
Women's League organising a meal and the St Vincent de Paul
Society providing a cake.
The Dominican family was close-knit and, when sisters got
together, there was a lot of laughing involved, Sr Madeleine
said yesterday.
Sr Madeleine, who grew up at Warrington, got to know the
Dominican Sisters while attending St Dominics in Dunedin.
Two of her sisters were also Dominican Sisters and she had a
brother who was a priest, so entering the convent was "always
on the cards".
Her parents were very supportive of her decision and, in
those days, it was not so uncommon, she said.
Asked why she chose to enter the convent, Sr Madeleine said:
"I'd been given life, so I needed to use it properly".
Sr Adrienne, who grew up in the North Island, had wanted to
be a nun since she was a young girl.
She remembered two Dominican Sisters coming to school one day
and she thought they were "so wonderful", she wanted to join
them.
Sr Madeleine has lived in North Otago for 20 years - "I
wouldn't live anywhere else" - while Sr Adrienne is in her
10th year in Oamaru.
Sr Madeleine, who taught at schools in Auckland,
Invercargill, Dunedin and Oamaru, has maintained a close
association with St Kevins College.
She taught at the school and, after leaving, spent 11 years
on the school's board.
She had retained friendships with many of her pupils,
describing them as friends, not ex-pupils.
