A NEW ZEALAND RELIGIOUS ORDER.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 51, 21 December 1899, Page 19

A NEW ZEALAND RELIGIOUS ORDER.

THE DAUGHTERS OF OUR LADY OF COMPASSION.

The year that is so fast drawing to a close was marked by an event that is freighted with many benefits for the Catholic Church in New Zealand. We refer to the holding of the first Provincial Synod of this Colony. But just two months before the date of meeting of that grave and reverend assembly at Wellington there were laid in the same fair city the modest beginnings of a fresh form of religious activity which marks a new departure in the field of applied Christian charity in New Zealand, and promises, under God, to become a permanent and important factor in the applied charity of the Catholic Church in this Colony We refer to the work of the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion, a New Zealand religious Order which was founded some time ago by Mother Mary Joseph Aubert, with the approval of his Grace the Archbishop of Wellington. The scope of this new Order of Charity is limited only by its possibility of doing good, and its ready and practical sympathies go out to every form of human misery and distress. Among its manifold activities, it undertakes the nursing of the sick in their own homes, the care of orphans, and of aged poor of every creed and colour, the providing of food, clothing, etc., for them, visiting the poor in their homes, keeping children from the perils of the streets, sending them to school, etc. Sixteen years ago Mother Mary founded an Order for works of charity among her beloved Maori. The title of the Order has since been altered, but the work remains the same, with this difference, that the colourline has been eliminated, and henceforth the expansive charity of the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion knows no bound or bar save only the limit of its possibilities for doing good.

Some two months before the opening of the Provincial Synod, the new departure in the work of Mother Mary's Institute was inaugurated in Wellington. This was in January of the present year. A small house was rented next St. Joseph's, Buckle street. Four Sisters from Jerusalem, Wanganui River, occupied the little convent. Two others were added at a later date. Later still — in July — three adjoining house 3in the same block were purchased. Possession was taken in September. A fresh impetus was thu* given to the new charity, and the good work has progressed at such a rate that the six Sisters are all too few to meet with the evergrowing demands upon their labours. In a conversation with the foundress of the institute some time ago we learned that their visits, etc., have revealed the existence of a far greater degree of distress amoDg the deserving poor than most people would imagine. In fact, some of their best and most consoling work is that which is done among the very poor who suffer and are silent, unwilling that their distress should come to the knowledge of their neighbours. The womanly tact and evident sympathy and sincerity of the Sisters hive won their way to many a troubled heart and desolate home and brought comfort to many a struggling widow and many a hungry and ill-clad child. When able, the destitute of every age and creed come for relief to the little house in Buckle street. When unable to come, the Sisters go to them, watch by them, ani tend and nurse and care for them in a thousand thonghtful ways.

Mother Mary's needy and deserving institute is still burdened with a millstone of a pretty considerable debt. Among the scores of Christmas appeals we know of none that should strike a chord of true sympathy among Catholics than those among whom Mother Mary's apostolate is cast — her destitute white poor and her beloved Maoris. We may, in this connection, appropriately conclude by quoting the following words, from a current issue of Oar Fernery, the annual published by the Sisters of Mercy, Wellington : ' Our Lady of Compassion.' — Under the heading of ' Beginnings' we would draw the attention of our dear ' old ' girls, and. the public in general, to the poor little convent of the above Order lately established in Wellington. Since the 6th of January, in one of the smallest houses in Buckle street, six Sisters of Our Lady of Compassion have lived and worked, solely for the deserving indigent and sick of the city — irrespective of creed. They are thankful for anything- and everything that is given them to help on their work. Mother M. Joseph Aubert is so" well known by her years of devotion amongst the Maoris of Hawke's Bay. her Jerusalem establishment, and her marvellously efficacious medicine 3, that it is enough to say that she is their head, to elicit sympathy. Friends of the poor and the afflicted ! You who are firmly on your feet, help this beginning ! That fine old Scotch saying, ' Many mickles make a muckle,' is exemplified when the ' wicker' in charge of two of the Sisters, and wheeled from door to door, returns home laden. There, in the little back kitchen, soup and dainties for the sick are made and cooked every day. Garments are also turned and mended. And what may seem to some the most important pomt — homes are visited, the inmates comforted and taught how to make the best of this world's few favours that are t* 1 jirs. The convent rent, fuel, light, furniture, etc., are quite dependent on voluntary contributions. But as other beginnings as lowly have triumphed in the face of hardships and difficulties, so will this, having the Divine blessing and the patronage of a generous and appreciative people. Rev. Mother Mary Joseph Aubert writes from Wellington : — ' It may interest your readers to know that we are putting a large addition to our place here for the reception of those poor incurables whom hospitals will not keep and the charitable homes will not admit. The contract for the bare addition is £700. Including the furniture and other requisites, it will cost between £900 and £1000, for which we have to trust entirely on Divine Providence and the generosity of charitable souls. We expect to open this new home about the beginning of February. There will be a ward for men and one for women, each accommodating six patients. It is an humble beginning, which I hope will be blessed by the Father of the poor and protected by the Comforter of the afflicted.'