She sent an angel

26 May 1913

Theresa (Cissie) McLaughlin entered Our Lady’s Home and became Eileen O’Connor’s first volunteer nurse. Cissie was born at Sodwalls, near Lithgow, NSW, in 1890, and educated by the Good Samaritan Sisters at Rosebank College, Five Dock, NSW. Cissie was introduced to Eileen O’Connor by her cousin, Rev. Alphonsus Coen cp, who had asked if she’d like to meet ‘a saint’.

Recalling the events several years later, Cissie says that a tremendous joy settled upon her as she waited for the tram after one of her early meetings with Eileen – and that this joy for ‘The Work’ never left her. Eileen replies that she had sent an angel to guide Cissie back to Coogee.

Cissie became Eileen’s loyal deputy and helped to keep the fledgling community of nurses together during Eileen’s long trip to Europe in 1915. She was loved by all for her gentleness and compassion. Cissie became the congregation’s first Superior in 1953 and its first Mother General, the position she retained until her death on 28 March 1965. Cissie had served the sick poor for over 51 years.