Following In The Spirit And The Charism Of Nano Nagle
The Congregation of Presentation Sisters was founded by Nano Nagle in Cork, Ireland, in the year 1775. The founding of this Congregation was the fruit of her loving and compassionate service to the poor in Ireland, her sensitive heart heard the call of God, in the cry of the poor who were ignorant, ridden in superstition and had no faith in God. Nano responded to this call and in doing so, discovered a whole new reason for living. She dedicated the rest of her life to the cause of Catholic education and the elimination of social ills. Nano believed that education was a powerful means of transforming society and hence, began her mission among the poor, in the little school in Cove Lane, Cork.
From these small beginnings, the Presentation Sisters spread to many towns in Ireland and thence, all over the world They came to India in 1842. During the first hundred years, schools, dispensaries and hospitals were opened in Tamil Nadu, Goa, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir. Since 1976, a new dimension has been added to the Presentation Mission as Sisters were assigned to some of the rural areas and city slums.
The History Of The Congregation Of Presentation Sisters
Venerable Honora Nagle, known informally as Nano Nagle, she was the founder of our School and also she was a pioneer of Catholic education in Ireland despite legal prohibitions. She founded the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM), commonly known as the Presentation Sisters, now a worldwide Catholic institute of women religious. She was declared venerable in the Roman Catholic Church on 31 October 2013 by Pope Francis. Nano Nagle was born in Ballygriffin, in the parish of Killavullen, County Cork, Nagle's first school opened with about 30 students.
The French Petites Écoles provided the model on which to base her schools, but she was to develop her own system of education. She described in a letter her ideas for education. Nagle
She went from hovel to hovel each day to gather the neediest people to teach. Night-time ministries to poverty-ridden elderly and sick in her hometown gave Nagle the nickname The Lady with the Lantern. The lantern later became the symbol of the Presentation Sisters worldwide.