Columban Sisters(founder:Fr Edward Galvin &Fr John Blowick)

The Missionary Sisters of St. Coulmban, more popularly known as Columban Sisters, were founded in Ireland in 1924.

They are a small, international group of women who have dedicated their entire lives to God by religious vows. As an expression of this commitment, they make themselves available to be sent on mission beyond boundaries of language, culture and belief. They accept the challenge of insertion into ways of living that this involves. Together with those whose lives they share the sisters endeavour by their presence and their service to proclaim God’s love for the world.
They belong to the Family of the Missionary Society of St Columban, which includes the Columban Fathers as well. Both Missionary Societies were born from the same vision of two young Irish priests, Fr Edward Galvin and John Blowick.

In particular Fr Blowick played a pivotal role in the founding of the Columban Sisters.

They came into existence in response to a call to help the people of China, especially the women and children.

This call was heard by many women among them Frances Moloney, a young widow searching for a way of life that would make a difference to the most needy.

Frances Moloney

Beginnings of the Congregation

On an October evening in 1917, Frances Moloney went to a talk given in Dublin on the need for missionaries in China. Frances, recently widowed, was devoting much of her time to helping the poor in the city of Dublin. But in her quieter moments, she often wondered where life was leading her.

The talk that evening was given by Fr. John Blowick. A few years previously he, together with Fr. Edward Galvin, had founded the Columban Fathers to do missionary work in China. Fr. Blowick spoke of the urgent need for women collaborators in this new missionary venture. Frances’ heart was deeply touched by what she heard. She felt that in this invitation lay the answer to the question of what she would do with the rest of her life. She would devote it to serving the people of China.

Gradually, the idea grew that this new missionary outreach called for a new Congregation of Sisters. Working together, Frances Moloney and Fr. Blowick gave shape to the dream that was inspiring them. In 1922, a group of women began their training for missionary religious life. Two years later on September 29, 1924, the first Columban Sisters made the commitment of their lives to God and to the Chinese Mission.

The China Dream

It was the needs of the poor in China that touched the hearts of the first Columban Sisters and inspired them to try to respond. Despite the enormity of the challenge that such an undertaking presented, the sisters were willing to do what little they could and so set out for China.

On the morning of September 13, 1926, the first group of Columban Sisters left Ireland by boat for China, 13,000 miles away. Symbolically, it was but the beginning of a journey that would eventually reach out beyond the scope of the original dream and take the Columban Sisters to many lands and cultures.
During all the years spent in China, the sisters’ medical and educational work was being carried out in a situation of great political instability and heart-rending natural disasters.

2a.

Eventually in 1950, the sisters were forced to leave the country.

The prophetic words that Fr Galvin spoke in 1920 to the first Columban priests and sisters in China were a source of inspiration for all missionaries who had to leave China.

“You are not here to convert the Chinese; you are here to make yourself available to God.”

The Columban Sisters were ready to make themselves available to God, wherever God wanted them to go.

Just prior to that pivotal event the sisters had opened a hospital in Hong Kong for the needs of the many thousands of refugees that were coming over from the Mainland. The Columban Sisters were at the vanguard in the fight against tuberculosis. They succeeded in controlling and eventually defeating the deadly disease.

In 1939 the Columban Sisters had already gone to the Philippines. In 1947 they went to Burma.

Then the call came from Korea where medical expertise was urgently needed. In the 1960’s, the sisters went to Peru in South America and a few years later to Chile. In the meantime, Burma had suffered a major political upheaval that resulted in all missionaries being asked to leave the country.

In 1990, the sisters went to Pakistan. It also became possible for the sisters to return once again to China but in a professional capacity only. During this same period, houses were opened in England and Scotland. In March 2003, the sisters were allowed to re-enter Burma, now known as Myanmar.

The Columban Sisters today

As the future unfolds, the Columban Sisters continue to listen to the voice of God’s Spirit who never ceases to call them forth along new paths and lead them into new missionary ventures.
From the beginning of the congregation, cross-cultural mission has been a defining element of the life of the Columban Sisters. It still continues to be an essential part of their identity as missionary sisters.

3a.	Each sister is available to be sent on mission to another country and/or culture. There she may be exposed to a new language and a faith tradition different from her own. This way of life calls for an openness and flexibility that allows the sister to learn from all these new experiences and from the people with whom she has come to live and work. Underlying all expressions of missionary work is the realization that the one who goes on mission does not take God to people. God is already present in all cultures and among all peoples. The role of the missionary is to help reveal, by means of dialogue, the God of Jesus to the world. At the heart of the Columban Sister’s way of life is her total dedication of herself to God for the sake of Mission. This is a life-choice made in response to God’s loving invitation.
3b.	For the Columban Sisters, the “community” is always at the service of Mission. Thus, because of the different realities in which sisters may find themselves, the day-to-day living out of community can be quite varied. Sharing life together as sisters is both challenging and rewarding. The interactions of everyday life and the special times of sharing together in prayer and celebration help to deepen the sisters’ dedication to God and their awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses. It is also within the context of community that the sisters clarify together the focus of their mission in a particular place and support each other in the living out of that commitment.
3c.	As missionaries, the Columban Sisters often live in places of pain and suffering. In their hearts they feel the deprivation of the poor and the isolation of those marginalized by society. Their eyes witness the destruction of our planet for monetary gain. Their ears hear the words that pave the way for discrimination and violent exclusion, particularly of the most vulnerable. But in those places of pain and struggle the sisters also meet God. They see his love and care lived out by those who are willing to give their lives in the service of others. And there, too, they experience the life-giving effects of an outreach to others undertaken with love and respect. Today, as it was at the beginning of their founding, the needs of the poor and marginalized of our world continue to speak to the hearts of the Columban Sisters. Generally, the sisters make their home among the people they serve and they share in their joys and sorrows. In their missionary outreach, the sisters endeavour to work with the people rather than for them. In this way, the people are encouraged to take responsibility for the solving of their own problems and the creation of their own future
3d.	The Columban Sisters are present today in 12 countries. Their work ranges from visiting people in their homes, in prisons, in hospitals or wherever there is suffering and people in need of support, to the quiet ministry of helping to create understanding with other faith traditions and with indigenous people. In their education work, the sisters’ work takes many forms: from teaching theology and Scripture to early childhood education; from teaching English as a Second Language to working in schools and centres for mentally and Physically challenged persons. In the medical field, the sisters serve the basic health needs of the poor. They provide programmes for people suffering from HIV / AIDS and they work with the elderly and the terminally ill. The sisters work both in special programmes and in parish settings with people who desire to deepen their relationship with God and better understand their faith. They run religion classes for children and their parents and for youth. In all their teaching and sharing, the sisters endeavour to deepen in people an appreciation of the Baptismal call to mission that is given to each one. The social services offered by the sisters include such things as counselling for people suffering from abuse; programmes that support women exploited by the illegal entertainment industry; services for people caught in the grip of addiction; working with migrants and with the elderly. The sisters support those who struggle for their basic human rights. They involve themselves in issues that affect the human dignity of individuals and groups. They provide education and information on the realities of global inequality and invite people to participate in the missionary work of the Columban Sisters.