Our Stories

Sisters and Associates share ...

Sr. Mary Emerentia

I have been in Trinidad for the past 57 years. As a child I attended a school run by Holy Faith Sisters in Ireland. I loved the sisters but never wanted to become a nun. A bishop, a priest and one of the sisters at different times asked me would I become a sister. My answer to each of them was 'never'!

But God had other designs! When I was 16 years of age, while doing the Stations of the Cross before Mass, I got a great desire to become a Holy Faith sister. It was a tremendous grace, particularly as I was an only child and my mother was a widow.

The following year [1940] I entered the convent and in 1951, when I was 28 years of age, I was sent to Trinidad. I had never thought of the missions, but that was God calling again. My ministry in Trinidad was spent in teaching primary school children until I retired from government service in 1983 and I then went to our private secondary school in Penal to do secretarial work.

I have been extremely happy in Trinidad. My staff colleagues were always very co-operative and all the people are very friendly. As my sight deteriorated after an operation, I now help with parcels for the needy folk and I do the accounts for the house. I always wanted to live in a land of sunshine!

Sr. Marie Young

As a teenager going to school, I attended St. Theresa’s Intermediate School in Woodbrook (now a primary school). There I met the Holy Faith Sisters. They were not the first sisters I knew as I had an aunt who was a Joseph of Cluny sister.

It was always assumed by my family that I would become a nun ... don’t ask me why as I was not particularly “holy” and was one of the wild ones of our family of eleven! But there was this persistent small voice calling to me. I felt God luring me to himself. At this time, around the age of fifteen/sixteen, the story of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower had a profound influence on me. I wanted to be like her.

I joined the Holy Faith sisters quite simply because they were the ones who asked me what I was going to do with my life. So here I am! The still small voice of God still persists, still calls, still beckons.

God’s grace given to me to respond to the circumstances of my life, both interior and exterior, has caused me to grow and mature - perhaps I am no longer one of the wild ones of the family! My goal in life now is to make use of and create circumstances where faith development can happen.

I do this mainly through my work as the Catechetical Co-ordinator for the Eastern Vicariate and through my role as 'formator' for our congregation, which involves journeying with those who are becoming Holy Faith sisters.

Anne Marie Frederick

I was one of the initial set of Holy Faith Associates enrolled by the late Archbishop Pantin on Saturday, 11th October, 1989, the feast of Margaret Aylward. It was a very rewarding experience for me to have been considered by the Holy Faith Sisters as suitable to be an Associate and that morning I felt like I was on cloud nine!

Being an Associate is an enriching experience. We have had both spiritual and fun sessions, which have deepened my spirituality through group sharing, lectures and spending time with the Sisters.

Over the years we have had weekend retreats, one-day retreats, Christmas luncheons and sharing with the Sisters in our own areas among other things. Associate life is very meaningful, in my opinion, and it is great to be part of it.

Ian Amoroso

I have always held the Holy Faith Sisters in high esteem. This is due to the various ways in which they have made, and continue to make, a positive influence on the community-at-large by their work. It is also due to their willingness to take often unpopular public positions on social issues, such as the death penalty.

Being an Associate gives me a great sense of pride and purpose. It helps me to live my life striving to be a Christian disciple. It challenges me to live simply in faith.

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