Here is another group of photos I rescued from an auction. I could not figure out which group of nuns the woman in the centre belonged to but, Lise from Peche & Poivres in Almonte said it was definitely the Grey Nuns. So after looking through the other 30 photos in the family collection I think I have found her. Mary Malvina Cahill (1892 – ) Sister Austin; in 1925 at age 33 Mary took her vows and joined Sisters of St. Joseph of Pembroke. from the Pembroke Grey Nuns. Photo- Linda Seccaspina’s Photo Collection (Griffin McManus family)

Last year the Grey Sisters marked their 90^th year in Pembroke. The nursing and teaching order, the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception established itself in Pembroke in 1926, taking charge of the Convent of Mary Immaculate, the Pembroke General Hospital (now the Pembroke Regional Hospital), the Continuation School in Eganville, St. Patrick’s Home in Ottawa and the General Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie. It later expanded into new areas, such as the Lorrain School of Nursing, Marianhill and Our Lady’s High School, now known as Bishop Smith Catholic High School.

The history of the Grey Sisters is as old as New France itself. It has its origins in the 1700s in the colony of Ville-Marie, located where present-day Montreal stands. This is the birthplace of Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais, better known as Saint Marguerite d’Youville, who with three companions founded the order in 1737. This was then known as the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, the Grey Nuns.

In 1845, 26-year-old Elisabeth Bruyere, a member of those Grey Nuns, arrived in Bytown, later Ottawa, with five companions to found the Grey Nuns of the Cross, now known as the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa. The Pembroke community came from this Ottawa foundation nearly 100 years later as one of its members Sister St. Paul, convinced of God’s call to begin a Canadian community of English-speaking women who shared in Saint Marguerite’s charism, established the congregation with the steadfast support of Pembroke’s Bishop Thomas Ryan.

Photo courtesy Grey Sisters/Pembroke Daily Observer/Postmedia Network Pembroke Regional Hospital had its beginnings in 1878 with this building, located at what is now 557 Pembroke Street East. It was later relocated to an expanded location at 695 Mackay Street, then to its current site at 705 Mackay. The hospital was one of the institutions which was taken over by the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception when they were founded in Pembroke in 1926.

She and 76 others thus founded the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in 1926.

Besides their duties in health and education in Pembroke, the Grey Sisters undertook service in many places throughout Canada and overseas, such as in China, Japan, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. For years, students and staff from the Catholic high schools in Pembroke and Renfrew have been participating in the Dominican Republic Experience, a yearly opportunity for them to experience the culture and the people while contributing to projects in that country. These days, the work of the Grey Sisters frequently involves partnering with others, supporting projects as volunteers, whether by serving on boards or by personal ministry, or providing financial assistance to enable work that us consistent with their charism and mission in the world.–By Stephen Uhler, The Daily Observer

Mary Malvina Cahill (1892 – ) Sister Austin; in 1925 at age 33 Mary took her vows and joined Sisters of St. Joseph of Pembroke.–Photo- Linda Seccaspina’s Photo Collection-“Dominique with just one prayer–Made him hear the good Lord’s call”