Holbeach has made Sister Maria Clarissa welcome
A Nigerian-born missionary Sister says she’s been made to feel at home in Holbeach - with residents showing a great interest in her work.
Sister Maria Clarissa (57) moved into the ex presbytery in Foxes Lowe Road a few weeks ago, taking up a role of Parish Sister and pastoral assistant in the Catholic parishes of The Most Holy Trinity, Holbeach, and The Immaculate Conception and St. Norbert, Spalding.
She will be joined by two fellow Nigerian Sisters - often colloquially known as ‘nuns’ - and the trio are The Sisters of The Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Christ, an international religious congregation helping people worldwide.
Sister Clarissa, who has lived in England for 17 years and says she is used to our cold weather, said: “The people are fantastic - they are lovely. They have welcomed me and now I feel at home.”
She added: “It’s a small place - but mighty. It’s a very beautiful area.”
Sister Clarissa previously served communities in Liverpool, London and Birmingham.
She will become a foundation governor at St Norbert’s Primary School and help with ‘Project St Thomas’ to transform the former Methodist chapel next to St. Norbert’s Catholic Church on St. Thomas’s Road into a community hub.
She will also help people with their ‘spiritual journey’ and explained: “Especially at this time we are in need of prayers. I am here to support and help. There are areas where prayers alone cannot cover and I am here to help.”
Parish Priest Father Jim Burke said: “I think we are all suffering from the effects of the pandemic, the Sisters arrival has brought great joy to our parishes, and I believe to our towns, from those who have already encountered the Sisters.”
The Sisters stand out in their bright blue habits and veils - and one local resident reportedly did a double take upon seeing the Sisters and drove back around the block to check what he’d seen. He then stopped to have a friendly chat.
Father Jim said: “If you see the Sisters ‘out and about’ - it is pretty hard to miss them! - please feel free to say ‘hello’.”
Holbeach previously welcomed Sisters Veronica and Theresa Anne in 1994 and the popularity of ‘The Holbeach Sisters’ caused Father Jim to invite a new congregation to the area.
Father Jim added: “Sisters Veronica and Theresa Anne were amazing. They were amongst the first Sisters certainly in the Diocese of Nottingham if not the country, to take pastoral responsibility for a parish; they were very popular and respected by all who knew them or worked with them.”
