Who We Are

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.

New York City On September 8, 1874, 12 Presentation Sisters from Ireland arrived on the shores of New York City. They came at the invitation of Father Arthur Donnelly to staff St. Michael's School on the West Side of New York City. On Monday, September 28, 1874, the sisters greeted 600 children who were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Irish sisters who crossed the ocean to teach them.

Ten years after the arrival of the sisters in New York, Saint Michael's Parish purchased Frost Farms in Staten Island as a permanent vacation house for the sisters. The summer home for the children was converted into a permanent orphanage for the children in St. Michael's Parish. The sisters then had to split as sisters were needed to staff the orphanage and the other sisters had to return to teaching in the school. On August 10, 1884, the archdiocese declared that some sisters needed to remain in Staten Island and care for the growing concerns of the orphanage. Mother Joseph Hickey appointed Sister Magdalene Keating superior of the small group that remained on Staten Island. This was a very short arrangement as a request for Presentation Sisters to staff St. Bernard's School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, arrived at Staten Island. Mother Magdalene Keating accepted the new foundation and left with a few sisters and postulants to take up the challenge. Sister Theresa Reynolds was then appointed superior of the Staten Island community.

On May 1, 1890, the New York City community became an independent congregation. The spread of the sisters on the East Coast was a blessing as the three congregants were growing with new members arriving every year.

In 1921, Presentation Sisters from St. Michael's Convent purchased property in Newburgh, New York. With time, this site became the motherhouse for the Sisters of the Presentation.

Over time the congregation opened missions in New Jersey, Queens, New York City and the Bronx. As the congregation spread, the ministries of the sisters widened beyond education of children to pastoral care, health care and social service.

In 1991 the congregation began the canonical process of unity. The Newburgh, New York, congregation and the Fitchburg, Massachusetts, congregation were reuniting and becoming one. After six years of work, the unity of the two congregations took place in July 1997 and the name remained the Sisters of the Presentation.