Presentation Sisters Union North East Ireland Union of Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
A newsletter to connect everyone who feels drawn to Nano Nagle. A sharing of ideas and a deepening of understanding Nano and her impact on our lives – locally and globally.
Nano’s Echo – A Newsletter of the Friends of Nano
Nano Nagle as boundary breaker
In the September 2022 issue of Nano’s Echo (see below) Caroline Thompson Australia contributed an article where she looks at Nano Nagle in her historical and social context.
“ .. it is clear that she was a woman who was prepared to break boundaries, to challenge existing prejudices and to think differently about the poverty which beset those made poor in Cork. While Nano lived in a very different world from our own, she gifts us ways of thinking and acting which can enrich our way of being Presentation today”. Let’s look at a few of these:
Nano entered the poverty of her time. She didn’t stand at a safe distance, writing letters or donating money – she went into the humble tenements, she walked the dangerous and filthy streets, she embraced the frail elderly, she welcomed the children. She became poor with them and for them. Nano challenges us to be with those who struggle – to go out!
Nano nurtured relationships. Despite the dangers of her educational enterprise, she was protected by those who saw the good in her work. Her family, the merchants and shopkeepers of the city, her benefactors, other charitable groups, her Franciscan friends and many more. Nano reminds us that we are stronger together – to seek out companions!
Nano was grateful for what she had. She didn’t bemoan the limits of her work or her lack of resources. She appreciated the importance of making a difference to one person at a time. Her kindness changed lives. Imagine how the lonely elderly would have felt as they saw her lantern heading towards them in the gloom? Nano insists that presence and kindness are the beginning and ending of all that we do.
Nano knew the power of hope. She couldn’t end poverty, oppression and violence but she could hold out hope for the future. The education of a child, especially a girl, was an investment in hope for an entire family, a community and a nation. Nano places hope at the centre of God’s mission and her work.
Nano was unconventional. Nano saw her world through a different lens. She was unafraid to walk different paths. She cared little for what others thought of her. She shrugged off criticism and hostility. Nano reassures us that being fearlessly countercultural is the Gospel way.
Humble, grateful, hopeful, relational and unconventional. These hallmarks of Nano’s work are guideposts for the Presentation journey in our very different contemporary contexts. Wherever we are in the world, we are called to respond to poverty and other social injustices. Nano reminds us that we are responding first and foremost to people. Keeping the individual human faces of injustice at the forefront of our work will enrich our way of being Presentation today.
May Nano’s way of seeing the world inspire our own Presentation work
Caroline Thompson Australia (Nano’s Echo – September 2022)
Back in circulation
“It has been several years since the last Nano’s Echo was produced. It is a pleasure to re-launch the newsletter where the focus will be for us to tell our stories. We are creating our own history daily by the quality of our presence, the way we live our lives, and the actions and activities we engage in”. So writes Mary-Ann Greaney in the December 2020 Issue which we are delighted to welcome back”!! So writes Mary-Ann Greaney in the introduction to the December 2020 issue. You can download the current issue of Nano’s Echo using the links below.
You can also read the current September issue online below: