A new book was launched in Brisbane recently to commemorate the sesquicentenary of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.

In the late afternoon of a hot Sunday, around 70 people attended the launch of Heroic Women: The Sisters of Perpetual Adoration 1874–2014, written by Sr Mary Cresp RSJ and published by ATF Press.

(Back) Marie Dowling rsj, Narelle Hickson rpa, Elizabeth Bargenquast rpa, Raphael Mizzi rpa, Monica Cavanagh rsj (Front) Helen Alfrey rpa, Xavier Woods rpa, Mary Cresp rsj, Archbishop Mark Coleridge. PHOTO: Sisters of St Joseph website.

Sr Mary knew the Sisters well as she had been their Canonical Congregational Leader from 2006 to 2009.

The five Sisters of Perpetual Adoration — Sisters Narelle Hickson, Elizabeth Bargenquast, Raphael Mizzi, Xavier Woods and Helen Alfrey were all present at the event which was MC’d by Sr Josephine Dubiel RSJ.

Congregational Leader of the Sisters of St Joseph, Sr Monica Cavanagh RSJ, welcomed all present, including Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge and family and friends of the Sisters. She explained that since 2009, the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have been aggregated with the Sisters of Saint Joseph, both groups being co-founded by Father Julian Tenison Woods.

Archbishop Coleridge launched the book, encouraging the audience to discover as he did, many things about the Sisters’ story generally unknown. He expressed gratitude for their ministry over the years which had involved hard work and many sacrifices. The Archbishop then spoke as a biblical scholar on the title of the book, Heroic Women. He contrasted the conventional heroism found in the pagan classics with those of the Bible:

He said the only true hero in the Bible is God. The heroism of God emerges in the New Testament as the anti-heroism of Jesus crucified and risen. On the Cross, Jesus looks anything but heroic. Calvary is the epicentre of biblical anti-heroism. Yet the self-sacrificing love which comes to its fullness on the Cross is the only true heroism to which the human being can lay claim. Any other supposed heroism is false.

Archbishop Coleridge said the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have been heroic not in any conventional way but with the anti-heroism of the crucified and risen Christ.

In her response, Sr Mary Cresp RSJ pointed out the relevance of Religious Life to all who follow the Way of Jesus Christ. It was only because the Sisters fell in love with Jesus that they could do the seemingly impossible. Present-day discipleship calls for the same: ‘Though you have not seen him, you love him’ (1 Peter 1:8).

She thanked all who had helped in the writing of the book – archivists, editors, interviewees – and all those present at the launch, particularly the organiser Sr Marie Dowling RSJ, and hoped the book would now play “a small part in inspiring its readers to bring to our Christian mission the same courage, belief and heroism that has marked the story of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration”.

Finally, Hilary Regan of ATF Press thanked all involved in the production and launch of the book.

This article is drawn from an article by Hilary Regan published on the website of the Sisters of St Joseph.