Two extraordinary Australian Daughters

John Freund, CM
October 24, 2013

dc-australiaSisters Maeve O’Brien DC tells the story of ‘’The Tall  Woman ‘’ and ‘’ The Mother  of The  Mothers in Labour  ‘’ She writes

Dear  Fam Vin  Friends  ,

Stories of the lives  of  two  wonderful  , rather  unusual   missionary   Daughters  of  Charity have  been written  recently  .

‘’The Tall  Woman ‘’  presents  the  life  of  an  English  Sister,   Gabriel  Cubitt   D.C.    O.B. E .  She  spent  the   first  fourteen  years  of  her  missionary  life  in  China ,where  she  was  imprisoned   by  the Japanese and then by the Chinese communists.

From  there  she  escaped   to  Egypt   for  two  years  .  For  the  next  thirty -two  years  she  was  missioned  to  Ethiopia  .   The  great  love  of  her  heart  were  the  people  with  leprosy ,  whom   she   called   the  outcasts  of   the  outcasts.   She visited them  weekly  in   a  large   cemetery  in  Addis  Ababa  ,  where   they  eeked  out  an  existence .   During   the  Great  Famine   she  was  missioned  to  Mekele  in  the North  of  Ethiopia where  hundreds  of  people  died  in  her  arms  .   She  lived  through  the  horrors  of  the  Ethiopian   Revolution  and   the  Civil  war  .  She   died aged ninety-two and  is  buried   among   her  beloved   poor   in  Mekele .

‘’ The   Mother  of  The  Mothers   in  Labour  ‘’  gives  a  vivid   description   of  The  Great  Famine  in  Ethiopia  ,  followed  by   the  Communist   Revolution  .  Sr.  Francoise  Juramie  ,whose  life  was  often  in  danger ,  was   able  to  minister  to  the  mothers  and  babies   who  were   very  malnourished in very remote areas.   Before   she  trained  as  a  Daughter  of  Charity ,  she   named  her  qualifications  as teacher of ballet and gymnastics, and a parachutist.  She had a heart on fire with love for those very poor people who lived and died in a very remote part of Ethiopia.  Alitena was ten hours by mule into the mountains from the nearest town.

Both of these books have been published privately.  Enquiries can be made to Sr. Maeve O’Brien at   maeveobrien28@hotmail.com

Gabriel 999
Sr. Gabriel Cubitt                                                                 

franc_0001 (2)Sr. Françoise Juramie

Daughters  of  Charity

4  Koorong  St

Marsfield  2122

Australia 22nd  October  2013


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