Working Sisters of the Holy House of Nazareth

In a series about the Religious Congregations living and working in the Diocese of East Anglia, Fr Karol Porczak MS, Vicar for the Religious, introduces the Working Sisters of the Holy House of Nazareth in Peterborough.

Working Sisters of the Holy House of Nazareth (SOSCN) in Italian is Suore Operaie di Santa Casa di Nazaret.

“As Working Sisters of the Holy House of Nazareth, we are called to evangelize the world of work through work-sharing, pastoral care and service to workers” (from The Rule of Life).

The Congregation was founded in 1900 by Fr Arcangelo Tadini (1846-1912), an Italian priest of the diocese of Brescia. On April 26, 2009, he was proclaimed a saint by Pope Benedict XVI. At the foundation of his Congregation is the joyful awareness of belonging to Christ and of being called to manifest a particular aspect of His life, namely: Jesus the worker in Nazareth. The sisters live the continuation of the contemporary incarnation of the “Carpenter’s Son’s” life, as most of them are normal employees in factories and other public institutions.

The sisters choose to live in working-class neighbourhoods in small communities. They are present in the various bodies of social and physical employment, deal with internal and external migration and accompany young people on their journey of maturation and work experience. They also support parish pastoral work.

Today, they are about 200 sisters, who mostly live in communities of 3-4 members, in Italy, Switzerland, England, France, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo Mali and Brazil. The Congregation has only one General Government assisted by three Delegations: Europe, the Great Lakes States (USA) and Brazil.

They have been present in Peterborough since the 1960s, when they began co-working with the Congregation of the Scalabrini Fathers who took care of the Italian Mission.

Today, four Italian sisters participate in the liturgical and pastoral life of all three Catholic parishes in the city. They take special care of the families of Italian origin who have remained connected to their all-Italian community.

One sister follows the initiatives of the Jesus Youth movement, which is active at the national level. The community organises monthly meetings of prayer and reflection on social issues open to all, and they take special care of relations with colleagues, families and workers in general, even outside of their working hours.

Pictured above, from left to right: Sr Erica Perini, Sr Raffaella Falco (Superior), Sr Marialaura Gatti, Sr Giulia Bertarelli.

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