AUSTRALIA : SISTER CELEBRATES 109 BIRTHDAY MADELEINE LAWRENCE



ARCHDIOCESE OF CANBERRA REPORT: Sister Madeleine Lawrence sits among the presents on her 109th birthday.The oldest Australian Sister of Mercy, Sr Madeleine Lawrence, has celebrated her 109th birthday.

Sr Madeleine received letters of congratulation from the Queen, the Prime Minister and the Governor General.

Born in Victoria in 1902, Sr Madeleine joined the Goulburn Sisters of Mercy when she was 17.

She taught in schools and orphanages in many areas including Goulburn, Galong and Jerilderie, and says she still keeps in touch with most of her students.

“They write me letters and I always write back,” she said.

“I have watched them get their jobs, settle in life, marry, have children of their own, and their children have married, so I have seen them along the line.”

Sr Madeleine currently lives at Mt St Joseph’s Home in Young, where she has been for nine years.

She says she likes to keep busy: an ordinary day usually consists of prayer, Mass, reading, writing letters and a game of scrabble.


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