The Sisters of Charity have been serving communities all over the Americas for 150 years and last month saw the celebration of, not only this, but the anniversary of 110 years since the group first arrived in Bermuda.

It was in February, 1890 that four Roman Catholic nuns boarded a steamer in Halifax, Nova Scotia bound for a small and isolated Island in the North Atlantic.

The Sisters of Charity in Halifax, who had been serving the community already for over 40 years, had been singled out by the then-Archbishop O'Brien, to travel to Bermuda and found a school there, the aim being "the preservation of the Catholic Faith through the education of the rising generation''.

One result of that trip was the founding of Mount Saint Agnes Academy, a school which is still going strong today, headed up by one of the women responsible for carrying on the tradition that was so boldly entered into upon that steamer's arrival in Hamilton Harbour, almost 110 years ago.

MSA principal Sister Judith Marie Rollo described the Sisters of Charity's role in Bermuda as it stands on the threshold of a new Millennium.

"Basically, our call is to serve the people of God in whatever capacity possible,'' she said.

"Most of our work is taken up in the teaching that goes on at Mount Saint Agnes,'' Sister Judith Marie continued, "which, incidentally, is a full time job. However, we serve the church ministry by visiting the sick, teaching in the women's prison and just trying to be as supportive in making the mission of Christ visible in whatever ways possible.'' The celebration of Sisters of Charity week, between November 21 and 26, included an afternoon of prayer, reflection and discussion, an open house at Mount Saint Agnes Academy and a solemn Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Theresa's Cathedral.

The events made some attempt to put across to the public some of the rich history that accompanies the charity in its efforts to serve God.

The seeds for the Sisters of Charity were planted in Halifax in 1849.

The first members of the group arrived in the Nova Scotia town from New York, recently having left another charitable organisation called Elizabeth Seton's daughters.

From there, it spread its roots into regions all over the American continent, including the rest of Canada, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Peru and, of course, Bermuda.

An recently published commemoration booklet for the Sisters' 150th anniversary describes them simply as "ordinary women teaching, healing, loving, risking, praying, supporting each other, serving the church''.

Bermuda's history with the Sisters began 40 years later when it was decided that the Roman Catholic church on the Island was "struggling'' due to its isolation.

The four original sisters who made it there mission to preserve the Catholic faith were Mother Cleophas Connors, Sister M. Phillipa Melanson, Sister M.

Blanche Dunphy and Sister Maria Agnes Precourt.

Weeks after their arrival they opened a private school for girls, which received the name of Mount Saint Agnes Academy, due to the then-Archbishop's great devotion to the Child Martyr.

Over the space of time between then and now, the Sisters underwent many ordeals and hardships but despite them, the school has flourished into the well renowned educational establishment we know today.

Today's Sisters of Charity see their teaching as just part of the dimension of care for the community which has been part of their lives for so long. And no doubt the next few years, and indeed the approaching Millennium, will see these tenacious women continuing in their best efforts to help those in need and, in the words of Sis. Judith Marie, "helping to make God's love visible to the world''.