Sisters of St. Ann

Little Flower Academy is an independent, registered, charitable organization, owned and operated by the Jane Rowan Society. The Society was established in the early 1990s, at the beginning of the process of the Sisters of St. Ann winding down their operations in BC. 

 

The Sisters of St. Ann are the pioneer congregation of Catholic educators and health care providers in British Columbia. The community, founded in 1850 by Blessed Marie Anne Blondin in Vaudreuil, Quebec, sent Sisters as missionaries to British Columbia in 1858. Over the next 160 years the Sisters of St. Ann opened and operated schools, hospitals and care facilities throughout British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.

 

The name of our school is taken from the affectionate title given to St. Theresa of Lisieux (1873 - 1897), the young Carmelite Sister known as St. Theresa of The Little Flower who was canonized by the Church in 1925.

 

St. Theresa, the patroness of our school, taught that "everything is grace" – God’s face and presence could be experienced in every person. St. Theresa has been acclaimed "the greatest saint of modern times". Pope John II declared St. Theresa a Doctor of the Church. Her feast day is October 1st.

The Sisters of St. Ann
You can read more about the congregation, their history and the work they're actively engaged in today on Sisters of St. Ann, Pacific Northwest website.

 

On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation / Orange Shirt Day (September 30th), the Sisters of St. Ann recognize with deep humility the intergenerational survivors, family members and community members of all those impacted by the dark legacy of Indian Residential Schools. We acknowledge this day as one of personal reflection, prayer, listening and learning with open minds and open hearts.

 

In the early 2010’s when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission held hearings and began the journey of creating the Calls to Action based on the courageous testimony of survivors of residential schools, the Sisters of St. Ann shared records of our involvement as staff at some of those institutions with what is now the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation; and now, over a decade later, we are again sharing our records, through a Memorandum of Agreement signed with the Royal BC Museum; and also through a developing collaboration with the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at UBC.  We recognized then, as we do now, that reconciliation begins with truth, and that our contribution towards greater understanding of what took place is an essential contribution towards truth, reconciliation, and – we hope – towards restorative healing.

 

We are humbled and inspired by the courage and resilience of all Indigenous peoples impacted by this dark time of colonial history. We grieve with, pray for and honour the survivors. And we are grateful to be able to journey forward towards healing, hope and wellness.

 

The Sisters of St. Ann acknowledge, with gratitude, the unceded, ancestral and traditional homelands of the Lekwungen speaking peoples, the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.

As a school community, the devastating news about Indigenous children in the summer of 2021 informed an immediate response in our teaching and learning to build a more just and compassionate society. It is our responsibility to teach the truth about the residential school system; to deepen our collective understanding of the inter-generational harm that the residential school system caused; to acknowledge the role of the Catholic Church within these schools; to contribute to the process of reconciliation and healing; and, to take action against the societal injustices that continue within our communities today.