Our Trip Down Memory Lane this month brings us to British Columbia in Canada. This article was first published in Mercy Live newspaper in June 2004. The author of this article, Sr. Alphonsus Sheehy passed on the 12th August, 2015. Sadly, Srs. Gonzaga Whearty (RIP 27th October, 2011), Anthony Barlow (RIP 29th August, 2016) and Peter O’Callaghan have also passed to their heavenly reward. Sr. Clare Sexton has returned to Callan, Co Kilkenny.
British Columbia Welcomes Sisters of Mercy
“I feel I struck oil“, were Bishop O’Grady’s words as he shared his dream with the Sisters in St. Mary’s, Callan in March 1957. He wanted to open fourteen Catholic schools in British Columbia, Canada. He had no money so he hoped to recruit Sisters and lay volunteers to run them. Was it faith or foolishness? Mother Juliana was deeply moved by his trust in God, so a decision was made to send five Sisters to British Columbia.
In August 1957, Srs. Anthony, Clare, Gonzaga, Peter and I left Shannon airport for a little village called Fort St. James in the interior of British Columbia. We were both lonely and excited. Before we boarded the plane that night, Mother Juliana called me aside and said: “You won’t be able to keep the holy rule as you did here so when you go out there use your own discretion.”
Bishop O’Grady welcomes the Sisters at Prince George.
Left to Right: Alphonsus Sheehy, Gonzaga Whearty, Peter O’Callaghan, Anthony Barlow, Clare Sexton
Our journey was long and tiresome. We received a rapturous welcome in Vancouver, where we rested and did sightseeing for four days. We then flew to Prince George. Bishop O’Grady officially welcomed us there and had photographers and a journalist to meet us. We continued our journey by car. Shortly after leaving Prince George we were out in the wilds – a dirt road and acres and acres of forest on either side. I panicked and said, “What have we got ourselves into?” We were welcomed to Fort St. James by the Sisters of St. Joseph, the local Chief and the Pastor. Our house was not ready so we stayed with the Sisters for a few days. Then a man lent us his house until we moved into our own ‘home’. That was some shock! We made the best of a bad lot and used our ingenuity to improve our conditions.
School opened – a wooden structure with a basement. We taught grades 1 – 8 in two classrooms and kindergarten in another room. Music and singing were taught and the house was improving by the day. The aboriginal people, for whom we came, accepted us and visited us regularly. They were deeply spiritual people and had a beautiful simplicity. Their Chief spoke to them in their own language after Mass every Sunday. He explained the homily to them and often admonished them. They shared what they had with us – fish from the lake and moose meat. Until our plumbing got sorted the people left containers of water outside our house before work, every morning. When we went to collect our mail on Saturdays, the lady in the Post Office invited us in for ‘real’ coffee with a little spirits to warm us. She advised us to get rid of the habits and dress for the cold.
It was a blessing to work with the people of British Columbia. We learned a lot from them.
Alphonsus Sheehy lives in Callan, Co Kilkenny.
Alphonsus Sheehy
Southern Province
