| Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Littlehampton |
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Convents
| Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Littlehampton |
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Convents
| St. Joseph's Littlehampton |
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| St Joseph’s Convent began as a Home for boys and girls in August 1898. Please see our history page for further details regarding events and changing times in our development which led us to create St Joseph’s Nursing Home. The Generalate was officially established in St Joseph's and is today the Mother House of our Congregation..
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St. Joseph's Convent - Littlehampton |
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The Garden - St. Joseph's |
The
Generalate, Tel: 01903 714039 Registered charity number: 232931 e mail: fmsl@franciscan.co.uk |
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| St.
Anthony's Bradford
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| Rt. Rev. John Carmel Heenan, Bishop of Leeds and Father Russell, parish priest of St. Williams, invited the sisters to open a convent in Clayton, Bradford, and teach in the new Catholic school (St Anthony's). This School was opened and blessed on 27 April 1954. Sister Raphael was the first headmistress, and she remained there for twenty nine years. Today there are no Sisters teaching in the school, but they continue to be very active in the parish and the school. They are enthusiastically involved in many forms of pastoral care, and their dedication and witness strongly reflect a community of God’s people. |
St.Anthony’s Convent - Bradford |
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| Their
community House gives home to foreign students studying in the Bradford
area. St Anthony’s Convent is also the first posting for our prepostulants
and postulants. It is here that our postulants build on their induction
from our Mother House and experience life in community. It is here that
they decide whether our life is for them. If it is, they request to move
to the next stage – the Novitiate, which is based at Canterbury
in Kent. |
The
FMSL Community,
St.Anthony’s Convent, Bradford Road, Clayton, BRADFORD West Yorkshire BD14 6HW Tel: 01274 882167
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| Monte
Bré Canterbury |
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Monte Bré Convent - Canterbury |
The
Sisters have had a religious house in Canterbury since 1973. They have
been in their current house Monte Bré, since December 1974. They
moved to Canterbury to assist the Franciscan Friars when they opened the
Franciscan International
Study Centre, adjacent to and in good relationship with the
University of Kent. The Franciscan International Study Centre (FISC) is
in partnership with Lampeter University of Wales. |
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| The
Franciscan Sisters, |
Today
the Canterbury community still provides vital assistance to the Franciscan
Study Centre in many ways. Not only do they provide crucial administrative
support, they provide essential accommodation and hospitality to the students.
It is the Novitiate House where Novices follow a programme of study at
the Franciscan International Study Centre (FISC). Likewise our Junior
professsed Sisters reside here and follow Higher Studies at the FISC. |
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| St.
Mary of the Angels, Knock, Ireland |
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| At
our General Chapter 1990 (the year of our Centenary celebrations) it was
decided that the Sisters would go to Knock Shrine as a way of saying "Thank
you for God’s goodness to us".
In
1978 Knock had celebrated the hundred years since Our Lady appeared there
in 1878. While on Pilgrimage some Sisters spotted a house for sale about
a mile from the Shrine on the Airport Sligo Road. Sterling was very strong
against the punt so it was a good time to buy. Negotiations took place.
With the ecclesiastical side and business side completed, the house was
opened on the 11 October 1991. The first Mass was celebrated by our then
Bishop Cormac Murphy O'Connor (now Cardinal). Joseph Cassidy of Tuam offered
a Thanksgiving Mass there on the 11 February. The house became known as
St Mary of the Angels. |
St. Mary of the Angels Convent - Knock |
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Sisters at St Mary of the Angels - Knock |
St Mary of the Angels became a house of hospitality for our own Sisters and for Pilgrims to the Shrine. The Sisters are also involved in the life of the Knock Parish and give great support to the local Cenacolo Community nearby. This community in turn support the Sisters and maintain the Convent garden. The
FMSL Community
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St.
Anne's Burgess Hill |
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| St
Anne’s Convent was given to the Sisters, as a gift, from the Stonor
family in 1956. The Stonor family wanted the house to be used as a rest
home for elderly ladies. Today the convent is a Residential Care Home
for the elderly and disabled. The Sisters employ a Nurse Manager, to help
them run and maintain the Care Home. |
St. Anne's Convent - Burgess Hill |
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The Chapel - St. Anne's Convent |
St Anne’s
Franciscan Convent Tel:
01444 233179 |
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Copthorne |
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The Copthorne house opened in 1942 as a refuge from the bombs for children from St Joseph’s, Littlehampton. It became known as Bethlehem because most of these children were babies. A school was started to educate these children. The older children moved to Sunningdale with some sisters for security. Gradually the Catholic
children of the area came to join the school along with the boarders.
In 1961 a school hall was built. More classrooms were added, more children
came and the school grew. The chapel became a Mass Centre for the area
and Sisters were involved in parish activities. Times and needs brought
changes and when Diocese decided to change the system to Middle schools
in 1993 we decided to close our school because of the difficulties that
changing the system would mean for us and Copthorne. |
Copthorne Convent |
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The
Franciscan Missionary Sisters FMSL Borers Arms Road Copthorne CRAWLEY West Sussex RH10 3LN |
Instead we developed a Retreat Centre where people came for a break and to recharge their batteries. Some people used the accommodation en route from Gatwick to the Shrines abroad. This was one of the good things about the site. It was only five minutes away from Gatwick Airport.
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Santa
Rosa, Lima, Peru |
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Sisters
Anne and Ignatius had been assisting the Leeds Sisters of Mercy in Lima
Peru since 1980. In 1982 the opportunity for the FMSL to open their own
Mission became a reality. The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary withdrew
from Santa Rosa, due to the lack of sisters to serve. Bishop Alfredo personally
invited the Littlehampton Sisters to take over the Franciscan Missionaries
of Mary mission house and ministry. After the formalities were completed
the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Littlehampton opened a Mission in
Santa Rosa de Puente Piedra, Lima Peru. They undertake work in health,
education, and pastoral care. Today the Santa Rosa mission is served by
Sister Anne and Sister Eugene. Santa Rosa is now established as a Parish
with its own Peruvian Priest. Our Sisters vacated the ground floor of
the house to allow the new Parish Priest his space. They moved to the
next floor with their own door and telephone! |
Sisters Anne and Barbara in Peru |
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St
Francis - India |
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Our latest Convent was opened in India in 2005. We had received numerous enquiries from overseas and following prayer and discernment, decided to open a mission in India. Sister Anne Joseph left for India in September 2005 with the task of finding a house suitable for the sisters' needs. Sisters Anastasia and Barbara visited Sister Anne Joseph in November 2005 for the final negotiations. They were all present for the blessing of the new convent, St Francis, on 24 November 2005, the anniversary of the Littlehampton foundation. We
began in India with a house of formation. The Apostolate is secondary,
but it is evident that the presence of our Community has sent a ray of
hope to all in the locality and above all to the poor. It is easy to become
one of the poor in India. |
St Francis Convent, Mysore, India |
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St Francis Convent FMSL
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