The good Sams
Subtitle: Sisters of the Good Samaritan 1857-1969
By: Margaret Walsh
Publisher: John Garratt
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Mulgrave, Vic
Language: eng
Number of pages: 432
ISBN-13: 9781875938520
Subjects: History; Education; Monasticism and religious orders for women; Éducation; Histoire; Monachisme et ordres religieux féminins; Sisters of the Good Samaritan; Catholic Church; Église catholique
Other titles: Sisters of the Good Samaritan 1857-1969
Description: In February 1857, in a derelict former gaol in Sydney's Pitt Street South, a group of five women women donned the habit and began their religious formation, becoming the first congregation of religious women founded in Australia. The Sisters of the Good Samaritan-- the Good Sams-- were established by John Bede Polding, Catholic archbishop of Sydney. While endorsing the main principles of the ancient Rule of Saint Benedict, Polding adapted the traditional rules of enclosure to involve this small group of women in active missionary work caring for the poor and sick. Before long, they were also committed to education, teaching first in orphanages and parish schools, then venturing far into the Australian outback, and later to war-devastated Japan. The Good Sams played a vital role in education, sharing the problems of far-flung communities, bringing music and a feminine, cultured presence to struggling townships and serving as role models for generations of young women as they took leadership roles in an era when women were not prominent in the community.-- Front book jacket flap.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Map: Good Samaritan convents, 1857 to 1969; title: Acknowledgments; title: Preface.; title: Poldling's new institute; title: Of the Order of St Benedict; title: Early welfare initiatives; title: The first schools; title: The helping hand; title: Growth and expansion; title: On mission to teach; title: Full circle and beyond; title: Novitiate formation; title: Towards renewal.; title: Abbreviations; title: Endnotes; title: Index.