Contact Person and Address:

Sister Sandra Cooke
Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Martha
145 Shore Road
Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia
B1V 1A6
Telephone:1-902-736-9653
Fax:1-902-736-0632
e-mail: Sr. Sandra Cooke CSM

Mission and Spirit:

. We Sisters of Saint Martha, in response to God’s love, offer ourselves totally to Christ and His mission.

. We share in the mission of Jesus and seek through him a deepening faith relationship with the Father, who is the source of all life.

. The spirit of the Sisters of Saint Martha is generous love for God, a gift which leads and inspires us in all our relationships.

. We work for the development of persons, for the improvement of human and social conditions, with special concern for the poor, so the world and its peoples may continue to grow in Christ.

 

Our Charism:

. We are called to a deepening faith relationship with God and a realization of our gift of life nurtured in a community of caring women.

. Moved by our pioneering spirit, by our hospitality, simplicity, humanness and celebration, we respond in loving service to present needs in the mission of the Church and continue our tradition of concern for priests.

 

Service:

. We serve people in need whever the Spirit may lead us.

Qualifications/Requirements: . Age: 20-40

. Pre-Novitiate: live-in experience with a local community of the Sisters of Saint Martha for the mutual benefit of the community and the person

. Novitiate: an experience to evoke the development of an authentic Martha apostolic spirituality in relation to the spirit and mission of the Sisters of Saint Martha

. First Commitment: immersion into the life, mission, spirit of the Sisters through continued community guidance and direction in the areas of apostolic ministry, community living, spiritual life and personal development.

 

Martha Associates:

This Association is a community experience of Marthas and Associates who assist one another to live more fully their baptismal commitment in their respective life situations.

This process invites single women and men, priests and married couples. It provides an opportunity for lay people who share goals, values and ideals similar to those of the Sisters of Saint Martha to join in prayer faith development, hospitality and friendship.

 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT MARTHA OF ANTIGONISH, NOVA SCOTIA

The Sisters of Saint Martha of Antigonish were formally established as a religious congregation in 1900 after a providential beginning almost a decade earlier. The first members came from a group of young women who responded to a call from Bishop Cameron in 1894. These women received their formation from the Sisters of Charity of Halifax. In 1897 a group of sisters, known as the Sisters of Saint Martha, came to Saint Francis Xavier University; they were still under the direction of the Sisters of Charity. In 1900 Bishop Cameron expressed a wish to establish a separate congregation for Saint Francis Xavier University from among the sisters of the Antigonish diocese who had entered and trained in Halifax.

On July 16, 1900, the first volunteers arrived in Antigonish. From the very beginning, the sisters regarded the work for which they were founded as cooperating with the University in the Christian education of youth and the training of young men for the priesthood.

Within a few years of the founding, the sisters were called to respond in loving service to other needs of the Diocese of Antigonish and in the dioceses of central and western Canada. They embarked on each new venture in a spirit of faith, with courage and trust in God. The first departure from the work of household management came in 1906, when the sisters were invited to open their first hospital. Care of homeless and neglected children began in 1917, followed by care of unmarried mothers and, later, by family social services. Teaching in rural schools began in 1925. In later years the congregation extended its service to include diversified forms of social work and pastoral ministry.

Within twenty years of its founding, the sisters also responded to a call from the Bishop of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to assist him in the foundation of a similar institute in his diocese.

An important event in the life of the congregation was the opening of Bethany in 1921, the new motherhouse and novitiate on the outskirts of Antigonish. Bethany is named after the village of the congregation’s patroness, Saint Martha.

As the new millennium approaches, there is great reason for the Sisters of Saint Martha to rejoice. On July 16, 2000, they will celebrate 100 years of service to God’s people. The Sisters of Saint Martha continue to respond where God calls them. At present they have communities in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and in St. Kitts in the West Indies.