Coogee Beach. Sydney, Australia.

Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor, founded in 1913 by Eileen O'Connor and Father Edward McGrath, m.s.c., began another unique chapter in the history of the Australian Church.

Eileen, with very little formal education and no theological formation or training, embodied a distinctive spirituality that was born of her devout Irish Catholic upbringing, her devotion to Mary the Mother of God and a lifetime of pain and suffering.

Her desire to alleviate the suffering of the sick poor in Sydney in the years just prior to the outbreak of World War 1 saw her embark on a journey, with Father McGrath, of a commitment to the poor that was to be embraced in the spirit of the good samaritan of the Gospel. She gathered a small group of like-minded dedicated women to care for the sick poor in their own homes, people who had no means of access to health or welfare support. With child-like simplicity she relied on God's providence to enable her vision to become a reality, and with the generous financial assistance of the Gell family, the small community began its ministry from Our Lady's Home in Coogee.

More than ninety-five years later, the Sisters, lay staff and volunteers continue the traditional care of the sick poor in their own homes in the spirit of the Founders and now minister in the Archdioceses of Sydney and Brisbane and in the Dioceses of Wollongong and Maitland.