SAN DIEGO — The Sisters of Nazareth are celebrating 100 years of service in the United States –– a national legacy that began in San Diego.
The religious congregation, founded in Hammersmith, London, England, came to San Diego in the spring of 1924 at the invitation of the bishop.
Today, they continue to have a strong local presence, where their primary ministries include Nazareth House San Diego, an assisted living facility that currently has almost 100 seniors, and the nearby Nazareth School, a Catholic elementary school with nearly 280 students located next-door to historic Mission San Diego de Alcalá.
“We work at both ends of God’s creation,” said Sister Rose Hoye, regional superior. “We welcome children into the world, and we see residents out as they start their journey into eternal life.”
On Nov. 15, to mark the centennial, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy celebrated a Mass of Gratitude and Thanksgiving in the chapel at Nazareth House, with Auxiliary Bishops Ramón Bejarano, Michael Pham and Felipe Pulido and concelebrating priests. Local Sisters of Nazareth were joined by sisters from throughout California and from the congregation’s motherhouse in Hammersmith.
“It is wonderful that we are all gathered here in the name of the Lord in thanksgiving and in witness to the heroism and the sacrifice, the love, the mercy and the compassion of generations of sisters and also their collaborators and staff who have brought us to this moment,” the cardinal said in his homily.
As local Sisters of Nazareth reflected on their centennial, a common refrain was “gratitude.”
Sister Vera Chan expressed gratitude for the courage of her forebears who arrived a century ago, and pride for “all their goodness to all the people through the 100 years in San Diego and the rest of the U.S.”
The Sisters of Nazareth came to San Diego at the invitation of Bishop John Cantwell of the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego. The initial group of four sisters left their motherhouse in Hammersmith on April 5, 1924.
They traveled by train from London to the docks at Southampton, sailed to New York aboard the RMS Aquitania, and then traveled by train to San Diego, arriving on April 23.
The newly arrived sisters immediately began their ministry by caring for children at an orphanage on Georgia Street.
In early November 1924, construction began on the first Nazareth House in America, a children’s home located adjacent to the historic Mission San Diego de Alcalá. In July of the following year, the sisters and the orphans left Georgia Street for their new home.
The first school year for children in the care of Nazareth House began in September 1925.
By July of 1949, when sisters celebrated their 25th jubilee in the United States, Nazareth House San Diego had cared for more than 1,400 children.
The site ultimately evolved into the present-day Nazareth School, which opened in September of 1970.
The Sisters of Nazareth’s long-standing dream of developing a home for the elderly in the diocese was fulfilled in January 1975, with the dedication of the present-day Nazareth House San Diego.
Though the Sisters of Nazareth have expanded to other dioceses, including Los Angeles and Fresno, San Diego continues to hold a special place in their hearts.
“This is where we started,” said Sister Loreta Matila, who serves in pastoral care at Nazareth House San Diego.
See photo gallery of Mass.
