This weekend is the anniversary of the arrival in 1894 of the first Sisters of Charity in Nova Scotia, who would become the Sisters of St. Martha. In this video, Sister Brendalee Boisvert, a Sister of St. Martha, talks about her call and her congregation.

This next video celebrates the contributions of Canada’s women and men religious over the past 150 years.

“The Sisters of St. Martha were formally established as a religious congregation in 1900 after a providential beginning six years earlier. The first members came from a group of women who had responded to a call from Bishop John Cameron of Antigonish , Nova Scotia, in 1894. They were to be part of an auxiliary congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, and prepared for the ministry of household management at St. Francis Xavier College. A surprising change of direction occurred in July, 1900, when, in the silence of a retreat, the sisters were invited to establish themselves as a new and separate religious congregation, and to indicate their choice by standing. One by one, fifteen women stood and together they marked the beginning of an incredible journey into history.”

– from Sisters of St. Martha website

Congratulations to the Sisters from the whole Vincentian Family! For a newly updated list of Vincentian Family Branches, see this link.