Elizabeth Brown, a senior at Moore Catholic High School on Staten Island, alongside her peers, places lanterns at the base of a shrine to Venerable Honora “Nano” Nagle, foundress of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Moore Catholic hosted a Mass Nov. 18 at Our Lady of Pity Church on Staten Island in honor of Venerable Nagle’s 300th birthday.
Mary DiBiase Blaich
Auxiliary Bishop John O’Hara, who served as principal celebrant and homilist of the afternoon liturgy, acknowledged Sister Janet Dunn, P.B.V.M., who taught at many schools on Staten Island. To the right of Bishop O’Hara are Msgr. Peter Finn, dean of Staten Island and administrator of Blessed Sacrament parish; Msgr. Edmund Whalen, principal of Msgr. Farrell High School, Staten Island; and Father Soju Varghese, chaplain at Moore Catholic.
Mary DiBiase Blaich
Students from various schools where the Presentation Sisters served gathered with Sister Janet at the end of the Mass, which recognized elementary schools influenced by the sisters dating to the 1900s.
Mary DiBiase Blaich
A portrait of Venerable Nagle is displayed alongside a lantern. She was known to carry a lamp through the alleyways of her native Ireland late into the night on visits to needy families and friends of impoverished children she taught during the day, bringing them food, medicine and comfort. For this she was also known as “the Lady of the Lantern.”