HISTORY : OUR CONGREGATION

In 1944 Alice Carroll, Joyce O'Brien, Gwen Morse and Kath Moore responded to the vision of a young priest and began a community of religious women in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. Their rule was simple, allowing for freedom of action necessary for their missionary work. They left convents, drove cars and went into the outback. At a time when religious life was traditional and more restrictive, this community had an Australian pioneering spirit which responded to the needs of the times. Originally called the Home Missionary Sisters of Our Lady, the community began to manage a bookshop and library, set up correspondence courses for children in remote areas, visit isolated families and prepare children for the sacraments. Initially, they called each of their homes Rosary House. The sisters stayed in church sacristies, if needed, and would eventually obtain a mobile caravan pulled by a utility truck for their outback missions. Other Australian dioceses invited the sisters to work in their vast rural areas. Communities expanded into New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and would eventually be known as the Missionary Sisters of Service. Catechetical ministry began in Singapore/Malaysia in the 1990's. With the changing face of Australia the sisters have adapted to new areas of need. Sisters are involved in pastoral care of parishes, religious education, counselling and retreat work and work with young adults, aboriginal people, migrants and asylum seekers. They have developed a strong network across great distances and this connection enables them to express the spirit of the Congregation in the different regions of Australia and beyond. In contemporary Australia and Singapore, the Missionary Sisters of Service are called to go into the highways and byways, meet the needs of the people they serve and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all by their words and deeds.