Sisters celebrate 150 years

Some 600 visitors from across the world joined in the150th anniversary celebrations with sisters from the Community of the Holy Cross at Southwell Minster and afterwards in the Bishop’s Manor gardens. Visitors included bishops and deans, members of Holy Orders and ecumenical guests from as far as the USA and Trinidad to Norway and Sweden. The sisters, who are based at the Holy Cross Convent at Rempstone Hall, near Loughborough, celebrated the 150th year of the foundation of their Community, by Elizabeth Neal in Wapping, East London in 1857.
The Reverend Mother, Mary Luke, said: “Our main work is the worship of God in the daily Eucharist and the sevenfold office, and in personal prayer and intercession for the world and all its needs. From these spring our ministry to guests and visitors who come for retreats and Quiet Days.” The Community traces its roots back to London’s Docklands where, Mother Elizabeth Neale, among other works, opened up a home for children and women, who, although wild, were respectable and needed shelter