Sister Ann Catherine
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Our Patroness - Sister Ann Catherine:
Sister Ann Catherine (Mary Matilda Bates) born in 1908 and died January 26, 1995.
Father William born August 28, 1869, died September 10, 1955.
Mother Catherine A. Howley born 1871, died August 9, 1960.
Excerpts from the following article: THE CHRONICLE-HERALD THE MAIL STAR Saturday, April 1, 1978
First person singular by Basil Deakin Her service "a matter of providence"
I feel myself that I`ve had a very ordinary life. It is only, perhaps the time factor that makes it extraordinary. At this stage of my life I don`t know that I particularly care for publicity about it. But then I thought, perhaps I ought to do this`` (consent to be interviewed) ``for the sake of the people whose lives I`ve probably touched in some ways. Some of these people are in the process of doing something rather special for me, a special reception or a special mass. So I thought I should do this, not for me but for them, and perhaps for my religious organization the Sisters of Charity, because whatever I may have achieved has been through the congregation of which I am a member. Providentially, I was placed in very favorable conditions, and anybody else placed in those conditions would probably have achieved what I have done. I feel that, very sincerely ...
The ordinariness of Sister Ann Catherine Bates` life is clearly disputable, though not its simplicity and dedication.
Next Saturday, April 8, 1978 will be the 50th anniversary of her profession as a member of the Sisters of Charity. It will be to commemorate this record of service and devotion, and no doubt to recall the 40 years, from 1929 until 1969 that she was principal of St. Thomas Aquinas school in Halifax, that a mass and celebration in her honor will be held at St. Thomas Aquinas church on Sunday, April 16.
Sister Ann Catherine was born at Glace Bay and attended St. Anne`s School.
"My first affiliation with the Sisters of Charity was that I was a pupil in their school. It was a case of hero-worship and from the very earliest years I felt that I should join them. And I thought about it very early in life. It was probably in grade five or six, and that pursued me up through the years. And I did at the age of 17."
"It`s hard to explain. I thought the sisters were marvellous people. And we used, off and on, to go to the convent to visit them. And they were very dedicated. I recall in my high school years they would always be there half-an-hour ahead of time in case anybody needed extra help. I remember that if you were getting a bit behind in some subject you`d go early and there`d always be somebody there. I admired their dedication. It was a bit of hero-worship, I guess!
She came to Mount Saint Vincent at the age of 16 for completion of her high school education.
"I had two sisters but one died in early infancy. My other sister is still living in the same house in Glace Bay. My father worked for the Dominion Coal Company as a scales inspector. He was born at a small place near Louisbourg called Bateston. And that happens to be my name - Bates."
At the time that she made her religious profession on April 8, 1928, Sister Ann Catherine was studying for her degree at Dalhousie University. After making her profession and joining the Sisters of Charity, she remained at the Mount for a further year and completed her senior undergraduate year studies at Dalhousie. The sister who was teaching at Saint Thomas Aquinas School - she`s still living at the Mount, Sister Marianita, became sick before the school year had finished. The sister in charge noticed that I had just got my degree and asked me to go there as a substitute teacher.
Sister Ann Catherine went to St. Thomas Aquinas school at the end of June, 1929. And in the following August she was asked to return for the new school year. And I was there for 40 years.
I had a very happy life there . When I went there, there were four classes. It was a little bungalow, one floor and four classrooms. There were four sisters there at the time, and I was the principal. She recalled that the school was in what was then a new, young area of the city. Many of the present homes were not there then. There were fields in their place. At that time, the chairman of the school board, said that the school ought to be enlarged to meet the demands of a growing area. The next thing we knew they were planning on building. So the next fall there were eight rooms. Looking back on the teachers at St. Thomas Aquinas, Sister Ann said it seemed that everyone of them who came there in the early days stayed on and spent the remainder of their teaching careers at the school. That gave the school a sense of solidarity. In those days, St. Thomas``was the only school where there was, in the teaching staff, a mixture of sisters and lay teachers.
"There are a lot of people here in the same situation I`m in, celebrating their 50th anniversary. They worked just as hard as I did. But it`s just, I suppose, a matter of providence. The Lord puts one here and another there ... I should think as a teacher, you have influenced so many people`s lives, probably more than one-supposes? Yes, and I suppose we spend a long time in one place. There`s a kind of an in-built loyalty. While I was at that school I not only taught the children. It was sometimes not only their mothers and dads but their grandparents too!"
As a teacher, a sister, a practising and exemplary Christian, as a woman of forthrightness, integrity and personal charm, Sister Ann Catherine has indeed touched many lives. She has quietly influenced a host of Canadians and others who have been enriched by the experience.
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