Summer has arrived at St. John’s Convent: the trees and gardens have given forth their full flower, the sun is high and bright, and mid-afternoon brings a drowsy heat even to the shadiest corner. Summer is the season of growth and verdant life. Yet it’s brightness and heat remind us always of the coming of autumn, and for us Canadians of the chill of winter soon to come. As with all seasons, it is replete with beginnings and endings.
As many members of our community have already learned, our beloved Sister Anitra Hansen passed into eternal life on Saturday, June 27. She was in the forty-second year of her life profession. For those who were unable to attend the Requiem Eucharist celebrating her life and service on July 4, or unable to watch the livestream, the service is available to view here, along with the homily.
Sister Anitra joined the Convent in 1977, on her birthday, October 25. She was born in Regina, Saskatchewan to Danish parents, and raised in the Lutheran faith, converting to Anglicanism after being introduced to the Anglican Church by a friend. Sister Anitra’s vocation is a testament to the Lord’s timing: although her first contact with the Sisterhood came in 1962, she did not enter the Order until her forty-first birthday.
Before joining the Sisterhood, she developed a number of different artistic skills: pottery, sculpture, weaving, metalwork, painting, and drawing, gifts she brought with her to her life in the Sisterhood. Many visitors will have seen her artwork adorning the walls of the Convent and the painting here of the Convent shows her skill in watercolour.
Sister Anitra served for many years in our Branch Houses: St. John’s Priory in Edmonton, St. John’s Rehab next to the Convent, St. John’s House in Montreal and in Victoria, and Cana Place in Toronto. Within the convent she worked in kitchen, housekeeping, and laundry, as Librarian, in the Archives, as a Retreat Director, and as Guest Sister. She led retreats and became a Spiritual Director, served as an Assessor for ACPO, and was the Spiritual Care Sister at St. John’s Rehab.
For those who wish to pay their respects to Sister Anitra, the Sisterhood has asked that in lieu of flowers, In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sisterhood of St John the Divine, 233 Cummer Ave, Toronto, M2M 2E8. Donations can also be made online or by contacting the Fundraising Office.
Just two short days after the Requiem Mass for Sister Anitra, a small group of sisters, clergy, and volunteers gathered at St. John’s Rehab for the formal deconsecration of the chapel. Bishop Andrew Asbil was in attendance. The deconsecration of the chapel marks the formal end of the Sisterhood’s ministry in the hospital after nearly one hundred years. It was former Reverend Mother Dora’s call to open a convalescent hospital in Toronto in 1933, with her calling on prominent Toronto businessmen (including Vincent Massey) to contribute funds to purchase a plot of land on Cummer Avenue for the purchase. On May 22, 1937, the hospital was opened with capacity for sixty-four patients.
Initially, the Sisters used the land around the hospital for farming, but eventually transformed the land into the tree-filled gardens standing today. More land was bought in 1953 to supply housing for the Sisters and staff who worked in the hospital. D Later, when it came time for the Sisterhood to find a new home in the early 2000s, what remained of this later purchase of land was turned into the current convent garden and grounds on which stand the mother house today. The house for the hospital Sisters and staff became the Guest House, and thought it underwent total renovation starting in 2023, it’s original facade remains today.
The ways in which the Sisters’ ministry and service at St. John’s Rehab Hospital, especially over the last twenty years, shaped and impacted the lives of both Sisters, friends, and the community is difficult comprehend. How do you put a ministry to rest? How do you leave behind a form of service? Life is long, and memory longer: the Lord God is eternal. As time was altered down to its roots by the death and new life of Christ, history- history that has been and history that will be- is changed by loving service. Love of God and his creation, the call to serve, carries on the holy gift offered to the world from the cross. So grace is an eternity. Thanks to grace there are no real endings.
Or, to say it in the words of the late Carrie Fisher (there is a book on the Jedi for sale in our book room, after all), “Nothing is ever really over…just over there.”
In the midst of all of this great change, Women at a Crossroads has returned for the first time since 2023. The Guest House welcomed around a dozen women to begin three and a half weeks of discernment with the Sisters, seeking the Lord’s guidance in how best to respond to their baptismal call. Our participants range from teenhood to maturity, each bringing a unique passion and charism waiting to blossom. It will be a joy to see where the next month leads them in their spiritual journeys.
Wishing peace and blessings to all at the height of summer- and stay cool out there!