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The day dawned bright and sunny despite the fact that we are in the rainy season. We gathered in Couva with Associates and friends to celebrate Margaret Aylward Day. Almost 70 persons were present.

Our celebrations began with Morning Prayer led by Mary Anthony. She played a few bars of gentle music to evoke a sense of prayer. Mary chose a portion of The Deer's Cry. There was a sense of quiet presence of the Holy Spirit as we listened to the music. This was followed by spontaneous prayers of thanksgiving. Morning Prayer ended with a prayer of blessing for each other.

Immediately after Morning Prayer, three Sisters, Columba, Rosario, Mary, and the Sisters of the Woodbrook Community, each gave a reflection on the virtues of Faith, Simplicity, Charity and Humility, virtues which we Holy Faith Sisters try to live. The talks gave a flavour of the spirit of Holy Faith which was passed on to us by our Foundress Margaret Aylward. Each person present received a sunflower seed, a symbol of Faith, Humility, Simplicity and Charity, to plant and nourish. Judging by the chit-chat during the coffee break, the input from the Sisters was deeply appreciated by the Associates and friends.

The high point of the day was the Liturgy celebrated by Fr. Michael Cockburn. He chose to say the Mass of Our Lady and centered his homily around Faith and saying "yes" to God's will in our lives. There was a deep sense of joy as a young woman took the first step in becoming a member of our Congregation. Rachel's parents were present to witness the simple ceremony of acceptance. Both Associates and friends promised to support Rachel with prayer as she continues to search for God's will in her life.

We had a delicious lunch after which we had a few announcements with regard to the fortieth anniversary of Holy Faith Convent School, Penal, the fifteen years in existence of CREDO Retreat House and, of course, the sixtieth anniversary of the arrival of the Holy Faith Sisters in Trinidad.

On October 10th 1865, Miss Margaret Aylward, with a few of her companions,  took possession of Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland. The following is from the Ninth Annual Report of the Institute.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Sr. M Cecilia Donovan who was put in charge of the schools at West Park Street. From the day of their opening, 23rd October 1865, she kept two very interesting journals, one for each school, in which she kept an account of all important events, including premiums given to the pupils, like books, statues, beads and articles of clothing. She has recorded also the formation of sodalities, lists of adults instructed for the reception of the sacraments, and lists of parcels of food sent home with needy pupils at Christmas time.

Every day each child got a hot meal and it is interesting to note that these meals were provided in the Coombe school until the end of 1939 when the standard of living improved for the people as a whole.

Margaret Aylward passed on to her Sisters the great respect she had for the poor. She helped them to retain their dignity by giving them a means of livelihood. For poor widows she provided 'baskets' consisting of clothes or fruit or various trinkets to set them up as 'dealers'. She cautioned the Sisters to show respect to the poor. 'No matter how poor they are, our people are naturally sensitive. They strongly resent degradation.'  She resented the title 'Poor Schools'. She named them 'St Brigid's Catholic Schools', and to impress this on pupils and parents special copybooks were provided with this name printed on the cover. In these schools the children were helped to attain a deep self-respect and a sense of dignity based on the consciousness of the divinity within.

Note: the schools in West Park Street were later transferred to The Coombe.

Excerpts from the School Journal, West Park Street Schools, kept by Sister Cecilia Donovan

1865    Opened 16th October,  104 children present.

1869    Sodality of Holy Angels established Oct. 29th.

1870    Congregation of the Children of Mary Dec. 8th.

1871/72  Christmas vacation extended by thirteen days as great numbers were sick.

1874    Girls received the  scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the  scapular of the Immaculate Conception.

1887    Saint Brigid's Schools of the Holy Faith, 117 The Coombe, blessed by Father Gowan, April 24th, Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel.

1889    Margaret Aylward, our dear and beloved Superioress and Foundress, died today, October 10th* R.I.P.  The children were dismissed at 12 o'clock, having said the Rosary.

1890    March 4th  Visit of Archbishop Dr. Walshe to the schools, 117 The Coombe. Revd. J. Gowan gave a most interesting account of the trial and imprisonment of Margaret Aylward.

1893    November 16 Dr. Walshe visited the school at The Coombe and blessed the site of the New Convent and placed the chief stone in the front wall bearing the motto of our congregation, 'Unus Dominus Una Fides'.

*Margaret Aylward actually died on October 11th 1889.

Excellence in Family-School Partnerships

The focus of the Holy Family's award winning family-school partnership was the implementation of an indigenous reading program based on linking Aboriginal culture and literacy. At the core of the program was a high level of involvement by the Indigenous parents, guardians and families. The school has successfully worked together with their community to promote a literacy rich environment in which all students can flourish.

Excellence in School Improvement

Holy Family's award for Excellence in School Improvement was presented for its substantial improvement in the language skills of students. Through careful assessment, planning and intervention, the school has facilitated significant learning progressions. Testing has indicated that 18 per cent of students have improved from severely disordered language levels  to scores within normal limits, and more than 50 per cent of students who were initially funded for language difficulties have improved to a "non-fundable" level. Reading levels have improved for all students at the school, with 52 children improving by more than five levels.

Executive Director of Schools in the Parramatta Diocese, Greg Whitby, said the awards were a great achievement for a school which is only in its fourth year of operation.

Information courtesy of  http://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/

Holy Family School Website: www.parra.catholic.edu.au/holyfamily

4 March 07

29 March 07

16 April 07

On Tuesday 8th May, 2007 there was a fire at the Credo Centre, 19 Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain.  It destroyed the third floor and loft of that building which included the Centre’s dormitory, office and storage areas.  The young men resident at that Centre have been relocated temporarily to our transitional facility – Aylward House – in Belmont.

Credo Centre was opened in June 1997 in partnership with with the Ministry of Development. The aim of the Centre is to reduce the number of children who live and work on the streets of the city. 

Unfortunately, as I write this in 2006, I cannot pick the brains of  my wonderful pioneer companions, since so many of them have died. The eight Holy Faith Sisters, the pioneers in Trinidad, were to teach in St. Theresa's Intermediate School in Woodbrook, Port of Spain. However, before we were assigned to classes, it was thought necessary to have one Sister in the house full time. Magdalena was assigned to the job and took on household duties and the management of Clarice the 'cook' and Peter the 'houseboy'. She kept an eye on the kitchen, the larder etc., and did all in her power to provide us with the kind of food we were used to until we would have to get used to, and later get to like very much, real Trinidadian food.

We got accustomed to rice as a vegetable. The longed for bacon and cabbage was replaced by crab and kalaloo. Whenever we got what we considered a normal dinner, the plates were sent back with little mounds of salt/pepper/mustard. The following day our food was served saltier and spicier and more peppery until we realised that Clarice had interpreted the mounds of salt and pepper as a comment on her cooking. We had been insulting her by adding our own flavouring.

Magdalena was often exasperated trying to order groceries by phone. This was due to unusual words or phrases being exchanged between the Irish orderer and the Trinidadian trader. The French Dominican Sisters had similar problems with Hi-Lo, the grocery shop we dealt with. One of the French Sisters who was left short of supplies was heard to exclaim; "You only sent us one sardine each and this is the Feast of our Holy Founder Saint  Dominic when each Sister gets two sardines".

Our mentors, the very kind and solicitous St. Joseph of Cluny nuns , had advised Mother Monica that  she should see that the Sisters had a hot milk pudding every night at tea time. Dishes of rice, sago, tapioca, grits or the like were produced ad nauseam. We all got fuller figures before we finally put an end to that fare! At that meal we were all squeezed around the kitchen table, each of us having carried in the one chair available to her at the time.

Fruit was plentiful, cheap and delicious. As seasonal ones arrived we were introduced to them all but, at the odd time, when apples came in from abroad, we were thrilled to get them. Oranges were green when delivered and we were slow to peel them until we were assured that they were 'full' , i.e. ripe. Bananas we loved and there were tiny ones that the Trinidadians called 'figs'.

Peter, the house boy, got some extraordinary jobs besides hoovering and polishing. We had the services of a washer and an ironer. Our clothes, when washed and wet and still soapy, were put in a bleach, a huge sheet of aluminium. Peter kept them sprinkled with water while the bleaching process was in operation. Then they were rinsed and hung out to dry.

On the question of clothing: There were eight Sisters going to Trinidad and all would need white habits! Imagine what that meant for de Paul who was responsible for the making of all habits in her 7' by 7' 'depot' with wide shelving on both sides. The habits were exactly like the black ones but in white, lighter material. Plyline guimps and bonnets had just been replaced in Ireland but even those would be too hot for Trinidad. Actually, linen was still being worn, especially by the novices, but starching them was a difficult task. The linen bonnets were impossible to manage in our new home. We did not have the specially made shapes on which to mould the bonnets as we had in Ireland. Looking at a photo taken on Christmas Day in 1947 we certainly look stiff enough after dressing with great care, but it couldn't have been long before the sides of the bonnets almost touched our cheeks and the collars of the guimps were wet with perspiration.

We soon discarded the big sleeves, which were only worn on certain occasions, but we had to request capes to wear. The black leather cinctures proved unsatisfactory also and, here again, Martha came to the rescue. She used her much -valued knitting machine to make new woollen cinctures for us. Aprons, worn as part of the habit in Ireland, were starched and pleated in Trinidad. However they insisted on staying in a standing position when we knelt down, so we discarded them also.

Another little problem we did not foresee was the transparency of clothes in sunlight. Undergarments, that traditionally could be pink or white had to be worn only in white. The children, who didn't really know any better, decided among themselves that the nuns who wore laced shoes were the men-nuns and the sandal-wearers were the women nuns. Our black habits were stored carefully in the trunks we brought from home. It must have been three years before they were needed for the Sisters returning to Ireland. We found that bees had been using that cosy place and the habits were destroyed with honey.

So much of what we wore was troublesome, but changes were in the air at home and abroad and through trials and tribulation we finally eased out of that form of torture. I, personally, always considered the wearing of the habit as one of the greatest penances of religious life. The changes and relief after Vatican II came to us unsought but happily accepted!

Couva Holy Faith Convent gained 11 scholarships with one in the "Open  Category" on the basis of this year's CAPE and Cambridge Advanced Level Examination results. These are excellent results from a school founded by the Sisters of the Holy Faith, of whom there are just 11 nuns in the country.

The Holy Faith Trinidad story began at the end of 1947 when eight Sisters arrived from Ireland at the request of the then Archbishop, Count Finbar Ryan, to help in the ever-increasing work of education in the Archdiocese and were attached to St. Teresa's Intermediate School in Woodbrook.

The Sisters closely follow the spiritual heritage left by  their foundress Margaret Aylward and live the virtues that characterise the spirit of the Holy Faith Congregation, humility, faith, simplicity and charity.

The head of the Order, Sister Janice Tam, who is also principal of St. Bernadette's Private Primary School in St. Anne's, lives in Couva with Sister Mary Anthony, who does work in the prison and teaches Religious Education at the Couva Convent; and Sister Teresa Vialva, a teacher at the convent.

Sister Columba Byrne, an Irish nun, who is Directress of Catechetics in the Archdiocese, lives in the Siparia Convent with Sisters Emerentia and Pacelli, who provide support for Holy Faith Convent in Penal.

Sister Roberta, also Irish, is Director of Credo Foundation in Nelson Street which provides for children at risk and lives at the Woodbrook Convent with Sister Juliet, who teaches Catechetics in the North.

Sister Denise Thomas is a teacher at the Diego Martin Catholic Primary School. Sister Marie who teaches Catechetics and Sister Rosario Hackshaw director of HOPE (Helping Ourselves Develop Economically) reside in Valentia.

In 2000 Sister Rosario, a retired school teacher, visited Bangladesh after reading about economist Muhammad Yunus' success in setting up the Grameen Bank, a grassroots organisation which makes funds available to the very poor in his country. When his efforts to involve regular banks in extending credit to the very poor failed, Yunus set up Grameen which means "village" to give credit to the poorest in Bangladesh, especially the women, so that they would be independent and self reliant by starting small businesses without the collateral. The micro-credit system has been copied in more than 100 nations.

When the Sisters first came to Trinidad in 1947 they established themselves in communities where they could offer opportunities to those "forgotten". The work of Credo Foundation for Justice with street children and all the other works of charity done throughout this land, quietly and without fanfare, reflect the spirit of the foundress - a woman of deep faith who spent six months in a cold prison, falsely accused, and emerged without cameras or media hype and quickly resumed her work with the few who remained faithful. The Congregation she founded was to be marked by this simplicity. The Congregation today remains 'low profile', engaged in a simple lifestyle, doing what must be done in the service of faith.

Information courtesy of Newsday www.newsday.co.tt     Reporter: Angela Pidduck

From the Chapter Statements 2005:  'With the Trinity as our model, we will be open to various ways of living community for mission.'  Sisters came together in the new accommodation in Clontarf to celebrate Imbolc, the Eve of St. Brigid's Day, which was the ancient Celtic first day of Spring. It is traditional to make St. Brigid's Crosses with rushes on this day. These crosses were believed to provide protection for homes and farm animals in rural Ireland. The Sisters came together for prayer, a meal and a demonstration, by Sr. Bernadette Murray, of how to make these crosses.