PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, SISTERS OF THE

A congregation (PBVM, Official Catholic Directory #3320 for the U.S. foundations, #3330 for the Irish foundations) of religious women begun in 1775 by Honoria (Nano) nagle, in Cork, Ireland. Because the Penal Laws banned the Catholic education of youth, Miss Nagle resolved to devote her life and fortune to the education of poor children. She began her noviceship with three companions in Douglas Street, Cork; on June 24, 1776, they received the habit of the newly established community to which Nano gave the title, Sisters of Charitable Instruction of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. One year later the novices pronounced their vows in the presence of Bp. John Butler of Cork, who appointed Nano, now Mother Mary of St. John of God, as superior of the community, which she directed for seven years.

During her years as superior Mother St. John examined the rules of three orders and, meanwhile, on Oct. 30, 1779, she accepted temporarily the rule drawn up by the curé of Saint Sulpice. Before she reached a final decision in this matter, Mother St. John died (1784) and was succeeded by Sister Angela Collins. Shortly afterward Bp. Francis Moylan and Rev. Lawrence Callanan of Cork drew up constitutions based on the Rule of St. Augustine; these were completed in 1793 and approved by Pius VI; final approbation was granted by Pius VII in 1805. The society was renamed Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The special purpose of the congregation is to educate the young, and to minister to the sick, elderly, dispossessed and marginalized. Each motherhouse of the congregation is independent, but all are united in the observance of the same rule and traditions and in the recognition of the same foundress. The expansion of the Sisters of the Presentation included foundations in England, North America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. The first filiation from the motherhouse in Cork was established in the Kerry diocese, and the second in Dublin. In 1833 the first Presentation establishments were made in Newfoundland and England. Madras, India, received its first foundation in 1841. In 1875 the community was established in Australia, and by 1886, in Tasmania. Other foundations include Zimbabwe (1949); New Zealand (1950); and the Philippines (1960).

The first U.S. foundation was established in San Francisco in 1854. In the U.S., Presentation Sisters are engaged in education, youth ministries, campus ministries, parish ministries, healthcare, nursing, chaplaincies, care of the elderly and disabled, pastoral ministries, social outreach, retreats and spiritual direction. Since 1953 the U.S. Presentation houses have been amalgamated in the North American Conference of Presentation Sisters (Official Catholic Directory #3320). In addition to the U.S. foundations, a number of Irish foundations sent their members to the U.S. beginning in the 1950s to supplement the efforts of the U.S. foundations. In 1989, the Irish sisters established the U.S. Province of the Union of Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Official Catholic Directory #3330).

At the beginning of the 21st century, there were more than 1600 sisters in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Africa, China, New Zealand, the Philippines, Latin America, India, Pakistan, North America, England, Ireland and Slovakia. In 1991, the Society of Australian Presentation Sisters, the Union of Sisters of the Presentation and the North American Conference of the Presentation Sisters established the International Presentation Association (IPA), with its headquarters in New York City, as a vehicle to promote international collaboration in joint projects and sharing of resources.

Bibliography: t. j. walsh, Nano Nagle and the Presentation Sisters (Dublin 1959).

[m. r. o'callaghan/eds.]