On the morning of Saturday 26 April 2025, there was an air of excitement around St Joseph’s Baulkham Hills (now Mary MacKillop Spirituality Centre, Baulkham Hills), as Sisters of Saint Joseph, Mary Queen Sisters and ex-novices from three groups greeted each other with hugs and laughter, having gathered to recall the events that had happened there 50 years ago.
Only a few days before Saigon fell in April 1975, the Josephite novice-mistress, Sister Patricia Duffy, had received a phone call from Marist Father, Tony King asking if she could accommodate a group of 34 Sisters of Mary Queen who were flying into the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) Base Richmond, outside of Sydney from war-torn Vietnam. “Of course,” replied Sister Patricia, and then, as beds were hurriedly being prepared, it dawned on her that she had better inform the Superior General Mother Denis of this fact!
Sisters Joanne Linh Le and Maureen McDermott had done a mammoth job preparing for this event. The process they devised now took everyone back to their feelings of 50 years ago and to the workings of God in the aftermath. Zoom connections enabled three Mary Queen Sisters from USA, Jacinta Tran, Irene Dinh and Margaret Anne Nguyen, and also Josephite Christina Neunzerling from New Zealand, to join the table groups in the process.
Stories recalled the gratitude, wonderment and sadness of those days. Josephite novices had cried with the new arrivals when they heard the fate of Vietnam. They had tried to lift their anxiety of never seeing loved ones again by teaching words in English – ‘Moo! Moo! Cow!’ A combined choir soon had the glorious sounds of the Alleluia chorus echoing through the chapel. They found themselves enriched by the gifts of each other’s culture, and strong friendships were formed.
Some years later, when bushfires destroyed the convent at Lawson (in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney), the Mary Queen Sisters sought out the Sisters of Saint Joseph once again. In 1975, they had arrived at Baulkham Hills with only a small bag of personal belongings. Now they came back with nothing. Josephites rallied to provide necessities from their storage cupboards, including white nightdresses big enough for two of them to fit into. Some went back to Lawson to rummage through the ashes, and rejoiced when they found underneath the black, scorched soil that the potatoes had survived.
In her observations of the morning’s proceedings, Sister Monica Cavanagh reiterated the reasons for which both the Sisters of Mary Queen and the Sisters of Saint Joseph gave thanks to God. The maturing of years meant some of those gathered at Baulkham Hills in 1975 had taken different pathways. In particular, the transfer of a small number of Mary Queen Sisters had been a blessing to the Sisters of Saint Joseph. The bonds formed in 1975 were strong and enriched both Congregations.
In the afternoon, 46 Josephite Sisters from the New South Wales Region and Marist Fathers Paul Sullivan and Andrew Murray, representing Fr Tony King sm (deceased), joined the group. More memories were shared, a lovely afternoon tea enjoyed, and Eucharist was celebrated– a fitting thanksgiving to God whose providence had brought us together and whose Son had declared, ‘I call you friends’ (Jn 15:14).
Mary Cresp rsj