16.03.2023
Death of Sr Verity Anne CSJE
It is with sadness that we share the news of the death of Sr Verity Anne Clarendon CSJE on March 7 2023. Sr Verity was the last remaining Anglican nun of the Community of St John the Evangelist.
Before moving to Saint John’s House, Sr Verity Anne and her fellow nuns resided in Saint Mary’s Home and they worshiped regularly in St Bartholomew’s. The Rector of St Bartholomew’s, Canon Andrew McCroskery said: “Their faith, service and witness, both in Dublin and at Saint David’s Cathedral in Wales, has been very special and touched the lives of so many. Sr Verity’s death marks the end of an era for the Community, but we are grateful for all they have done for us in lives that were remarkably disciplined and though all the sisters who gave so much of themselves in service of God.”
The Community of St John the Evangelist celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012. In 1912, the Vicar of St John’s, Sandymount, Fr Le Fanu, established the order of Anglican nuns, the Community of St John the Evangelist (CSJE) at 1 Clyde Terrace. In 1915, the sisters opened St Agnes School for Girls in the next adjoining house on Clyde Terrace. They accepted girls from All Saints’ Children’s Home, Grangegorman. By 1918, with the profession of more sisters, the CSJE became a full community.
The Community agreed to take over St Mary’s, Pembroke Park, Ballsbridge, a home for elderly ladies of the Church of Ireland; it had been a school run by another order of Anglican nuns, the Community of St Mary the Virgin. In 1966 it was decided to close the Convent on St John’s Road and to keep St Mary’s as the Community’s Dublin base with the ‘mother house’ moving to St David’s in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The sisters dispersed: 10 went to St Mary’s and 16 to St David’s. The Community then established a new ‘mother house’ in Bridgend in Wales, which, in turn, closed in 1995–96. The remaining sisters then came back to Dublin to live at St Mary’s.
By the time St Mary’s Home closed on Pembroke Park and relocated in St John’s House on Merrion Road in November 2019, Sr Verity Anne was the only surviving nun.
Archbishop Michael Jackson celebrated the final Service of Holy Communion in St Mary’s Home on Friday November 29 2019. Sr Verity Anne had lived in St Mary’s for many years but was looking forward to the move. Recalling the centenary commemoration of the founding of the Community of St John the Evangelist, which took place in the nearby St Bartholomew’s Church in 2012, she said with a smile: “I’m the only one left”. She added that the demise of the Community was a great loss.
St Verity Anne is loved and remembered by her sisters and brother, extended family and friends.
Sr Verity Anne’s Funeral Service will take place on Thursday March 23 in the Chapel of St John’s House, Merrion Road, Dublin, at 10.30am and afterwards to Deans Grange Cemetery. For those unable to attend the Service, you may join online here: https://Livestream.absentfriends.ie/Sr.VerityAnneClarendon
Additional information on the history of the Community of St John the Evangelist from the Church of St John the Evangelist website.