I was a sophomore in college when my two good friends Allie and Cara decided they wanted to participate in a Le Moyne service trip prior to their May graduation. All I knew was that it meant a trip to New York City, and I had surely agreed to do far sillier things with the two of them (usually against my better judgment). I could not have imagined the incredible people that this trip would lead me to meet.
 
We arrived at a church in the City and were told that a nun was on her way to meet us and take us home to her convent. I naively pictured a strict old woman in a habit coming to take us home. I was shocked when a woman standing at about 5’2” strolled in with the most pep and excitement I’d ever seen in a person. This was just the beginning of what would turn out to be one of the most memorable weeks.
 
The Sisters of the Presentation rolled out the red carpet for us with a warmer welcome than we could have ever imagined. Sisters Elaine, Fran, Laura, and Mary Catherine lived at Visitation House. They are a hilarious group of women with the absolute biggest hearts. They taught us about service, love, compassion, and so much more. They welcomed us in and opened our hearts. While at Visitation House, we also met Sisters Anne and Dale.
 
We left this trip with lifelong relationships. Over five years later, we are still all in touch. Sister Mary Catherine always checks in with cards, calls, texts, whatever it may be. For years after the service trip, Sisters Elaine, Fran, Anne, and Mary Catherine would come to our softball games after Good Friday mass and cheer for us louder than anybody in the stands. We even went to see Aladdin on Broadway together one summer!
 
I always keep this trip on my resume, and I cannot tell you how many employers, etc. have asked me about it and what it entailed. I love to rehash the events of staying with the Sisters of the Presentation. We had so much fun. But more importantly, I truly learned that there is so much more out there than what you see in your normal day-to-day life. There are so many different kinds of people going through struggles you cannot imagine. But there are also so many loving, thoughtful, and amazing people looking to help anyone in need. The Sisters of the Presentation are certainly the latter. Thank you for showing us a little extra light and giving me such fond memories to look back on.
 
-Lexi (Service Saturday Volunteer)

The Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women. We carry out our mission of love and service through our many ministries with God’s people, especially poor women and children.

In 1997, the Sisters of the Presentation of Fitchburg,
Massachusetts, and the Sisters of the Presentation of
Newburgh, New York united to form one congregation now based in New Windsor, New York. Today our Sisters work in education, pastoral ministry, health care, and social services in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. We are part of a worldwide network of 3000 Presentation Sisters and Presentation Associates through the International Presentation Association.                               

                                                                                            Nano Nagle Mural, Dingle, Ireland    

Our Beginnings The Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary were founded in Ireland in 1775 by Nano Nagle. She felt she was called by God to bring the light of faith to the poor children of Cork.  The Penal Laws of the time forbade any form of Catholic instruction in Ireland, but Nano Nagle was willing to risk imprisonment and disgrace for the sake of the Gospel. Visiting the sick and homebound by night along Cork’s cobbled streets, she became known as the “Lady With the Lantern”. In time she gathered other women to form a new society of women religious dedicated to the service of the poor. Nano Nagle’s small band of women, originally named the Society of Charitable Instruction of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, later became known as the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and Newburgh, New York In September, 1874, twelve brave Presentation Sisters from Ireland, led by Mother Joseph Hickey, responded to an invitation to teach the children of poor Irish immigrants at Saint Michael’s parish in New York City. Because many of the children’s parents had died, St. Michael’s soon opened an orphanage on Staten Island, also staffed by Presentation Sisters. In 1884, this became the home of the newly etablished Sisters of the Presentation of Staten Island. In 1886, Mother Magdalen Keating set out from Staten Island with a small group of Sisters to begin a new foundation in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The Sisters eventually opened schools and other ministries in other areas of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. In 1921, Presentation Sisters from St. Michael’s purchased property near the city of Newburgh, New York.  Later this site, Mount Saint Joseph, became the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Presentation of Newburgh.  In July, 1997, after six years of study and preparation, the Fitchburg and Newburgh Presentation congregations became one. 

Administration Office
84 Presentation Way
New Windsor, NY 12553
Tel: 845-564-0513

Mount St. Joseph
64 Presentation Way
New Windsor, NY 12553
Tel: 845-564-6620

Presentation Convent
99 Church St
Leominster, MA 01453
Tel: 978-537-7108