The Religious of Jesus and Mary (RJM) – in Felixstowe

In his series about the Religious Congregations living and working in the Diocese of East Anglia, Fr Karol Porczak MS, Vicar for the Religious, introduces the Religious of Jesus and Mary, based in Felixstowe.

The Congregation was founded in 1818 by Saint Claudine Thévenet 30 March (1774-1837), in Lyon, France. Claudine was deeply affected by the French Revolution during which she witnessed two of her brothers violently killed by the revolutionary fighters during the failed defence of the city.

The misery which followed in Lyon and elsewhere convinced her that this could not be the meaning of human life and that her own experience of the goodness of God was the key to transforming lives. She was sure that people, especially children and youth, could be helped to a better life by being introduced to this active goodness of God, and so she began to do just that with a group of companions who became the first Religious of Jesus and Mary.

Shortly after Claudine’s death in 1837, the Sisters responded to a call from India, and set off for Agra. By 1860, when they arrived in England, they had already begun communities and schools in Canada and Spain. It is from these early foundations that they are present today, through their mission of education and work with young people, in Asia, Europe, Africa and North and Latin America.

When they originally came to Ipswich, it was a very anti-Catholic town, and the opening of a school was beset with resistance and problems. However, the congregation’s presence developed there and elsewhere in England, with the opening of a school in Felixstowe in 1907. Both of these schools, in Ipswich and Felixstowe, are no longer in existence, but during Covid the need for Catholic education in Felixstowe became apparent, and so they opened “Little JeMs Nursery” in their community house there.

Today, in the Diocese of East Anglia, their house in Felixstowe is one of welcome and openness. The Sisters are elderly, but are all imbued with the great missionary spirit that has marked them from their origins. Many of them have spent years in the Middle East, or in Pakistan, as well as in France, Italy and Romania. While they are no longer able to venture too far afield, they welcome groups from the town, the parish and young people who wish to spend time with them to reflect on the meaning of life.

Like Claudine, whose last words were “How Good God Is”, the Sisters, her followers,  feel the same too.

Report by Sr Helen Mary Haigh RJM

Pictured are the Sisters in Felixstowe: Standing left to right: Daniella Concessio (lay member), Carol Charles (lay member), Sr Sheila Gosney RJM, Sr Joan Hunter RJM (Superior), Sr Penelope Hanley RJM, Sr Sitting Foukx RJM and Wiktoria Wodz (lay member); Sitting left to right: Sr Catherine Ross RJM, Sr Margaret Pole RJM, Sr Judith Cuff RJM, Sr Nuala Kelly RJM, Sr Mary Hunter RJM, Sr Mary James Donohoe RJM, Sr Mavis Langmead RJM, Sr Sheila Mary Handley RJM and Sr Benedict Jouning. Missing from the photograph: Sr Lucy Skaf RJM.

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