Two hundred years of sisterhood will be celebrated in Masterton next Thursday at the Brigidine Sisters bi-centenary mass.
Four bishops, twenty-four priests and eighteen nuns from all over New Zealand will be attending the order of the Brigidine Sisters celebrations.
Brigidine sister Jean-Marie McErlean said Daniel Delaney who founded the sisterhood in Ireland named saint Brigid as the patron.
"Sister Brigid was from the fourth century and was known for her kindness and generosity to the poor," she said.
Five of the six nuns still living in Masterton have been here for nearly 30 years, sister Jean-Marie said.
"Sister Rose is from Pirinoa originally and her father was the blacksmith there, so she has been here for much longer," she said.
All six of the nuns have spent much of their lives teaching which is significant of the Brigidine order, she said.
"The Brigidine motto is strength and gentleness and also kindness and education."All of the sisters chose the Brigidine order because they said they felt like they belonged and were connected to the vocation.
"It's like picking a partner I guess, it's someone you relate too," sister Jean-Marie said.
Sisters of the original Masterton Brigidine order were invited to the Wairarapa in 1898 to teach and have been doing so up until the sisters' retirement, she said.
Sister Suzanne Grant moved to New Zealand from Australia when she was 18.
"After three years I was committed to the order and my first job was teaching 50 school children at Porirua east at the age of 21."
Teaching was quite different back then, she said.
"Fifty kids didn't seem bad at all because in Australia there could be up to 90 in a class, but that wouldn't be possible now."
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from New Zealand
'Disappointing': 2023 NCEA results show decline across all levels
Overall attainment at all levels of NCEA and UE has decreased for a third year.