Sister Ann celebrates diamond jubilee as nun

After 60 years in service to God, Sr Mary Ann Bradshaw feels nothing but gratitude to Him and those who supported her over the decades.

Sr Ann, 81, celebrated her diamond jubilee of religious profession with a celebratory mass at the Rosary Monastery Chapel in St Ann’s on November 11, with joint homilies by Archbishop Jason Gordon and Bishop Clyde Harvey. They spoke of her maternal love, ongoing prayers, her devotion and the impact she made on many priests and seminarians of the archdiocese.

Sr Ann is a nun of the Dominican Order – the only nun at the Rosary Monastery and the only surviving RC nun in TT. The only other was Sr Mary Thomas who died in March. A nun is a religious woman who lives a contemplative life praying and working within in a convent or monastery, which is usually cloistered or semi-cloistered. Sisters, on the other hand, live "active" or "apostolic" lives, and are engaged in ministries out in the world, although they also engage in contemplation.

Sr Ann told WMN she never thought she was good enough to be a nun, but always felt God was her best friend.

She said her mother, Carmelita Bradshaw, was very religious, but her father, Victor Bradshaw, was anti-Catholic. Every day Carmelita would pray and sing hymns with her 13 children at their home in Point Fortin and later in Diego Martin.

She said during Holy Week, Victor would keep a strict vigil to ensue no one went to church, but friends would pass and throw palms over the fence for Carmelita and her children.

She recalled when they lived by the sea in Point Fortin, the siblings would go to bathe at the beach on Good Friday and return to find their mother had prepared a “Good Friday spread.” She ensured there was red wine available to remind them Jesus spilt his blood for them.

Growing up with 12 siblings, Sr Ann said she would often be involved in fights and get into trouble at school. When she was ten, she played a prank on a beloved teacher and her mother promised she would “get licks” in front of the entire school population the next day.

“That night I didn’t sleep. I was not repentant, but I asked God, ‘Please don’t let Mom make me ashamed in front of everybody. I’ll do anything. I’ll be your best friend.’

“The next day, she forgot. And from that day, God has been my best, best friend. I gave plenty trouble and caused plenty ruction, but God has been my best friend.”

She recalled before she entered the monastery, her mother, showed her the graves of the nuns at Lapeyrouse Cemetery and told her that was where she would be buried, indicating that her decision would be final and eternal.

But, from her earliest memory, she had been interested in the concepts of God and eternity even though she could not express it. She knew she wanted to be a nun.

On May 5, 1962, in the week of her 20th birthday, she entered the Rosary Monastery. She recalled her mother handing her a large bouquet of white flowers and hugging her. She received the habit and began her novitiate on November 5, professed Simple Vows in the Dominican Order and was accepted to profess her Solemn Vows on November 9, 1963.

Sr Ann said in those days, that was the average age women would enter the monastery.

“There are slim hopes of people coming from other countries, because of immigration and the policy we have for admittance. But I just know God has a plan for this place that I can’t dream of.”

She said the start of the reduction in the number of religious sisters began with the Second Vatican Council of 1962. She believes before the council, almost every RC girl would have thought of becoming a nun at some point.

That council “updated” the church, proposing the presentation of teachings and practices in a more understandable and relevant way to better connect with people in an increasingly secularised world.

After the council, she said, there was an exodus from all the convents and monasteries.

“People found it was not relevant. You can serve the poor, you can teach, you can nurse, you can pray, you can be a great contemplative without entering a convent or a monastery. It hit other denominations also, because the social life of the world was changing. People were becoming more selfish, only thinking of themselves.”

She said people could do anything an active sister could, so she believes convents felt the effects more than monasteries when it came to numbers. But, she said, people were once again contemplating monastic life, especially in the US.

Although she was a mischievous and vivacious youth, Sr Ann said monastic life was never challenging for her, as she enjoyed living and interacting with the other sisters.

One of her few challenges was when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 45 and the doctors did not think she would survive.

“People were panicking. All I could say is they went crazy.”

She said those in the monastery were dour around her or avoided her because they did not want to talk about her illness. And those who visited with her would cry. But she was sent to the US for a CT scan and treatment, and stayed at a house with lively young people, to her amusement and enjoyment.

Her mother was very ill around the same time and she regretted Carmelita died knowing her daughter had cancer. Sr Ann returned to TT when her mother died.

Although she does not often leave the grounds, Sr Ann is not alone and is rarely lonely, as there are staff at the monastery, and sisters from other communities visit on retreat or for meetings. She also sees others at the daily mass at the monastery chapel and when it is used for confirmation classes, first communion, catechist and other celebrations. And the telephone keeps her connected.

She has also travelled abroad several times to study programmes, conferences, and as an ambassador to cancer patients at various monasteries.

She said the highlight of her religious life was in 2016, when she was asked to represent the nuns of the Dominican Order at the celebration of the 8th centenary of the order in Rome.

She said on the last day of the celebrations, November 9, Pope Francis said the closing mass. What made it even more special was that it took place at the Basilica of St John Lateran on the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica, on the same date she made her profession 53 years earlier.

Children of God

Sr Ann said despite the increase in crime and violence, and the decrease in family values, the one thing she was positive about was the youth.

“I really admire the young people, and I want to put that in capital letters, because 99 per cent of them are very, very good, very caring. They think about others and they are willing to reach out.

"And I wouldn’t even write off the other one per cent.”

She added that people who go to mas at the monastery look out for her, and their joys and sorrows are hers. Interacting with “the people of God” has built her spirituality.

“Another thing is, a lot of things we read about in the news, we always knew. People would always confide in us. What they wouldn’t tell a priest, they would tell the nuns. Yet I’ve never heard the sisters talk about it. They are very trustworthy.

“People confide in you, you have a right to go to God for them, not to tell other people. And because of that, people would always unload on us. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking.

“Right now, I could identify with the people in Gaza, in Israel, in Yemen, in Guyana, in Haiti. My heart bleeds for them and I turn to God for them. I look at myself as kneeling before the cross with the sins of the world on my back, carrying these people on my back to Jesus. So that, if you want to say, is the image of spirituality – helping Jesus to carry his cross, feeling the pains of the people of God.”

Sr Ann said she has dealt with a lot of prisoners over the years and recalled a grandmother bringing her grandson for prayers while he was out on bail after cutting off a man’s hand.

“As I prayed, the fella started to shake and sweat, and I could see him just melting. And something told me to prepare him for jail.”

He was sentenced to ten years and when he came out, he visited her and he eventually reformed himself.

“The listening part is the big thing. Do not judge. Just listen, love and pray. It’s not often you can follow up.

"My business is not to ask them, ‘How you're doing? What you're gonna do?’ My business is to love them. The basis of it is that we are all made in the image and likeness of God. So there's this spark of the divine in everybody. Everybody! The Holy Spirit is the one who is in charge.”

She said that was the idea behind Pope Francis’ acceptance of people of the LGBTQA community and why the church had to reach out to them.

“We are not changing our Christian values – the same values of the Muslims, Hindus and others. We are reaching out to these brothers and sisters because they are God’s children. The image of God is in them.”

She compared the situation to the time black men were not welcome in churches, as they were considered apes. But a Peruvian Dominican brother, St Martin de Porres, was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonised in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He became the first black saint of the Americas and people were incensed.

His canonisation, she said, "was a twist, a turn in the secular thinking of the world. Likewise, this LGBT thing – we recognise them as brothers and sisters in Christ, but we do not accept their bad lifestyle. So this gay parade, living together and gay marriage is totally out.

“But I know gay people. One died of pneumonia and he was a very virtuous man.

"God loves the sinner but not the sin.”