Historical Information

She really hated her name Lucy and was always called Noel. She was born on the feast day of St Lucy on the 13th of December, and her middle name was Noel, as it was close to the Christmas season. She was very happy when she was given the religious name of Sr Mary of Jesus at the time she received the Carmelite habit as a 22-year-old.
She wanted to become a Carmelite Nun early in life around 15 years of age and desired to join the order straight after school. However, our grandparents would not give her permission and so she had to wait until she was an adult at 21 years of age. She worked as a clerk before joining Religious Life.
She applied to join the Carmelite Monastery at Kew in Melbourne. However the monastery was full, so she was sent to Auchenflower in Brisbane as they had space for new postulants. That was a long journey by train in those days and took her 3 days to arrive. She stayed at the People’s Palace in Brisbane overnight before travelling to Auchenflower and beginning a new life at the Carmelite Monastery that would eventually move to Ormiston by Moreton Bay in 1965.
She took her Solemn Vows as a Nun and remained in the Monastery until her death in 1994.She had lived her life as a Carmelite Nun for over 55 years. She left the Monastery for the first time in 45 years when she attended my Ordination in Canberra and had a wonderful family reunion at the Connors in Stawell St Turner.
She had to learn to drive a car and took responsibility for transporting the nuns first in a Kombi Van and then later in sedan cars. She was small in stature and only had one car accident and lucky that was with an Anglican priest who wouldn’t dare argue with a Carmelite Nun. She was extremely practical and knew everything about the electrical and plumbing system of the very large Monastery and farm.
She was a very strong woman in character and quite stoic. I met her for the first time as a seminarian in 1975. After that time, she organised a home for me on the farm of the monastery and the nuns became family to me, as they are today. She had a great sense of humour and was very kind and loving. She looked just like her sister Kath and shared a similar personality.
She was deeply respected by the local community and sought after by many people
for her counsel. That was evident by the packed monastery church at her funeral in July 1994.
She suffered severe health setbacks with ongoing systemic Lupus that affected her face and resulted in her losing her bladder.
She loved us her family and was a wise and just woman of charity and prayer. I am
indebted to her.

Frank Jones