Kingston Seedy Saturday says ‘Thank you!’

Kingston Seedy Saturday says ‘Thank you!’

From left: Sister Diane Brennen, Cate Henderson, and Pat Joslin, KSS planning committee chair.BY CATE HENDERSON, SEED SAVER AND GARDENER Sister of Providence Kay Morrell attended Kingston Seedy Saturday for the first time this year, bringing along Sister Elise Nikiema who is a Sister of the Immaculate Conception of Ouagadougou visiting from Burkina Faso, in Africa. She wanted to share with Sister Elise an original Canadian phenomenon, Seedy...

The World Remembers

BY JAMIE SWIFT, JPIC DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER OF PEACEQUEST Just as the schools let out, marking the real start of summer, PeaceQuest held an event in front of City Hall.  It was the official announcement of our November Gathering and concert. We got the news out moments before the skies opened up. City Councillor Jeff McLaren, whose Meadowbrook-Strathcona district includes the Providence Motherhouse, was there in support of PeaceQuest. And, in...

Grieving the tragedy of war – Committed to the promise of peace

Grieving the tragedy of war – Committed to the promise of peace

Photo courtesy: Jolene Simko. Back Row: (from left) Bronek Korczynski, Barbara Linds, Jamie Swift. Middle Row: Ann Boniferro, Pauline Lally, SP, Judy Wyatt. Front Row: Elaine Berman, Michael Cooke. Missing: Laurie Davey-Quantick, Jolene Simko, Administrative CoordinatorBY SISTER PAULINE LALLY, CO-FOUNDER OF PEACEQUEST PeaceQuest was founded in late 2013 as a grassroots organization dedicated to creating conversations about WWI. Our idea was to...

Breaking ground in a historic way

Breaking ground in a historic way

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST On Friday, May 4th the groundbreaking for Hospice Kingston, the first partner in Providence Village, took place on the Motherhouse grounds. There have been numerous groundbreakings on the property before this, as the congregation built and added onto the Motherhouse itself. The first groundbreaking occurred on July 2, 1931, when Archbishop Spratt broke ground for the construction of the Motherhouse. The...

Healing Violence Committee Comes to Completion

Healing Violence Committee Comes to Completion

The final year committee members were (from left): Sister Marie Dundon, Sister Catherine Casey, Providence Associate Carol Groten, Providence Associate Barbara Baker, Sister Margo Shafer, Friar Ed Debono, and Sister Frances O’Brien with Sister Dianne McNamara (pray–er).BY SISTER FRANCES O'BRIEN, MEMBER OF THE HEALING VIOLENCE COMMITTEE On June 2nd, 2018, the Healing Violence Committee commemorated 20 years of work guided by their mandate. We...

Annual Congress on Basic Income

Annual Congress on Basic Income

Technological Unemployment as Thought Experiment presenters Jason Burke Murphy (United States), Sergey Zolotov (Russia), and David Goutor (Canada).BY TARA KAINER, JPIC TEAM The 17th Annual North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress was held this year in Hamilton from May 24 to May 27. The assembly, jointly-sponsored by the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN), USBIG, the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, and McMaster...

Summer at Marillac Villa

Summer at Marillac Villa

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Every summer the Sisters go to the cottage. Here are few fun images from the 1950s of Sisters of Providence at Marillac Villa on Howe Island:Shining shoes – July 1959Enjoying the shoreline – July 1957Catch of the DayAn afternoon on the water – July 1959The Cottage - July 1957A cat visits the picnic! – July 1959

Movies at the Motherhouse

Movies at the Motherhouse

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The Congregational Annals document the major events in the congregation’s history, but they also document smaller happenings in the Sisters’ lives, including what movies the sisters watched. Here are some excerpts from the Annals: September 9, 1952 – Two nice pictures have been shown to the sisters here during the month, namely: “Angels in the Outfield” and “The Song of Bernadette” September 15, 1960 – Another...

Behind the Scenes in the Archives!

Behind the Scenes in the Archives!

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST   The first week of April is Archives Awareness Week in Ontario! With that in mind, here is a behind the scenes peak into the archives of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul. All the photographs used for the Throwback Thursday posts on Facebook and Twitter and all the photos used in the Providence Flashbacks are housed in the Archives. Here is a behind the scenes look at how and where archival...

A Procession and a Story

A Procession and a Story

BY CARMEN ALOMÍA, PROVIDENCE ASSOCIATE The script for the procession with the gifts at the anniversary Mass gave an overview of the mission in Carabayllo, Peru. It was written and narrated by Providence Associate Carmen Alomía who was the emcee at the Mass. We present our work of the last 50 years to the Lord. It is represented by the different generations who have lived, worked and struggled together with the Sisters during all these years. It...

Visit to Peru for 50th Anniversary of Mission

Visit to Peru for 50th Anniversary of Mission

BY SISTER GAYLE DESARMIA   December 6-21, 2017 Sisters Sandra Shannon, Gayle Desarmia and Josephine Doiron experienced a wonderful two weeks in Carabayllo, Peru. The trip was a special one because it included celebrations to mark 50 years of ministry in Peru. Sister Gayle recalls highlights of the trip.The first evening in Peru we accompanied Sister Sara Jiménez to Las Lomas de Torre Blanca for Mass. This Mass was held outdoors on the...

50th Anniversary Celebration in Peru

50th Anniversary Celebration in Peru

BY SISTER SANDRA SHANNON Today is December 10, 2017 and the temperature is 24°C, hot and sunny. How can this be? It is possible as I am in Peru. Today has been a long anticipated day by the Sisters, Associates, people of El Progreso, Carabayllo and yes by Sisters Gayle Desarmia, Joey Doiron and myself, Sister Sandra. We are here to celebrate with everyone the 50th Anniversary of our Sisters coming to this area of Peru. Our Associates took...

Mission in Peru: Reflecting on the First Year

Mission in Peru: Reflecting on the First Year

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The Archives has some wonderful descriptions of the Sisters’ first years in Peru. The Annals of the first year of the mission in El Progreso, letters and reflections written by the Sisters at the time provide a glimpse into their lives and ministries. Here are a few excerpts: December 11, 1967 - A walk around the barriada with Father Duncan. A rather depressing experience. Our inability to converse well – very...

Solving a Small Mystery

Solving a Small Mystery

BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST We came across this photograph from St. John’s School, Gananoque in the Archives. It didn’t have a date, or a good explanation of what is going on in the photograph. Based on the clothes and the cars, it might be the 1920s, and the dignitary is clearly a high ranking church official. Let’s look at a few different sources for clues… According to Sr. Mary Faustina in her history of St. John the Evangelist Parish,...

Holy Family Hospital remembers its roots

Holy Family Hospital remembers its roots

Attendees of the November 29th event. Photo courtesy of Holy Family Hospital.BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST In March 2000, the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul transferred sponsorship of Holy Family Hospital in Vancouver, BC to Providence Health Care. Even though the Sisters haven’t been involved with the governance of Holy Family Hospital for 18 years, and the last Sister to live in British Columbia returned to Kingston five...

Commemorating 20 Years of Healing Violence

Commemorating 20 Years of Healing Violence

BY SISTER FRANCES O'BRIEN Sister Frances O’Brien, a member of the Healing Violence Committee, recalls the great works of the committee. For the past 20 years, a standing committee established by the Sisters of Providence has been working hard to raise awareness about violence and its underlying causes, and to move to concrete actions to eradicate violence especially against women and children. In the first 10 years, we held major conferences...

Alphonse (Al) Meloche, Providence Associate

Alphonse (Al) Meloche, Providence Associate

BY SISTER IRENE WILSON Al Meloche was born in Windsor, Ontario. As a young man he worked for Broughton’s Religious Goods Store in Toronto. He became a married deacon and was very committed to this ministry in the Catholic Church. Al eventually moved to Kingston where he became involved in Prison Ministry. He initiated many workshops both for the deacons of this diocese and those involved in prison ministry. Al and his wife, Rollande became...

PeaceQuest at Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

PeaceQuest at Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

From left: Beth Pater, Sister Pauline Lally and Murray Thompson. Photo courtesy of Joe Gunn, Citizens for Public JusticeBY SISTER PAULINE LALLY “It is rare for a Canadian to be presented with the Nobel Peace Prize,” said Joe Gunn, Executive Director of Citizens for Public Justice and friend of the Sisters of Providence. “It is also rare for women to be the recipient of such an honour.” Along with my fellow PeaceQuester Beth Pater, I joined Joe...

Sacred, Secular, Indigenous Women Gather to Steward Seed Inheritance

Sacred, Secular, Indigenous Women Gather to Steward Seed Inheritance

An historic moment is marked by deep connection “It was truly a wonderful experience to hear the energy and heart in each of the people present who have the life of the seed and its future held gently in their heart and hands.” These are the words of Sister Jeannette Filthaut to describe her experience of a gathering to mark the passing along of a valuable and rare inheritance. For 19 growing seasons the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de...

Sister Muriel teaching at St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing

Sister Muriel teaching at St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing

Sr. Muriel Gallagher teaching anatomy at St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing, Montreal.BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Sr. Muriel taught at Sr. Mary’s School of Nursing from 1955 to 1965. The School was opened in 1925, and the Sisters of Providence ran it from 1943 until it closed in 1972. Stop by the Archives to see our display on the five Nursing Schools run by the Sisters of Providence!