WHO WE ARE
We are a Community of Anglican religious sisters who live, work and pray together combining a life of prayer with service to others. Our outreach and mission is expressed in many ways: parish work, volunteering, working alongside others, retreat giving and spiritual guidance.
The structure of our day and the rhythms of prayer and work, solitude and fellowship, outreach and hospitality seek to deepen our communion with the living God. We seek to keep this balance and variety wherever we live and work in the world.
ENGLAND
CHN began in the parish of St Peter's, Vauxhall. From the beginning CHN has worked and lived in parishes working alongside the local church communities. In 1879 the Mother House of the Community moved to Malvern in Worcestershire where it remained for 100 years, with sisters also working out of various branches houses across the country from Newcastle to Torquay. The community then lived in Oakwood on the outskirts of Derby for 30 years before moving to its present location in Hessle, East Yorkshire.
LESOTHO
CHN first went to Lesotho in 1962 in response to a request to take over the work of another community, St Michael and All Angels who were withdrawing from Lesotho. In doing so CHN joined together with a community that had been set up specifically for the indigenous women - the Community of St Mary at the Cross - to create a multi racial community that was an important witness in the face of the divisive apartheid regime being set up in South Africa just across the border. Eventually the community there became a province in its own right, with its own Provincial, Chapter and Rule.
Lesotho is known as 'The Kingdom in the Sky' -
a land of mountains, and stunning views, a land of friendly people.
The CHN sisters who make up the Lesotho Province are drawn from those welcoming people.
They live their lives for God, through prayer and care for people. Their varied work includes nursing, visiting people in their homes, especially families affected by HIV/AIDS, and looking after secondary school girls in a hostel near the convent.
KWA ZULU NATAL
Three CHN sisters who had journeyed from Kwa Zulu, Natal to join CHN in Lesotho returned home in 1969 to help to set up a Holy Name Community there. The small community quickly blossomed and, as in Lesotho became a Province in its own right.
The convent in KwamaGaza which is near to Melmoth is a place of hospitality and prayer where many find strength and grace. Sisters are often called upon to take part in evangelistic work like missions in parishes.
The sisters work as teachers or nurses in local schools and hospitals.
Like Lesotho, they make vestments for local clergy at a reasonable cost.