Sue Seconi

On Wednesday 19 June 2019, parishioners of St Mary’s Church Whanganui gathered to mark Venerable Suzanne Aubert’s 184th birthday.

The celebrations began with midday mass.

“I believe that Mother Aubert was no social worker, but rather she was a Jesus worker: she worked for Jesus, she worked for the Church,” said Fr Nathaniel Brazil in his homily.

“With this in mind let us ask the Lord that, like our dear Mother Aubert, we may be able to see the bigger picture, to love the less fortunate, for the sake of the Kingdom of God.”

Mass concluded with Fr Chris Skinner’s song ‘With our Mother Suzanne’, and a poem by Eileen Duggan called ‘A Tribute to Mother Suzanne.’

After mass, parishioners were invited to the home of  Sr Lusiana for a shared lunch and a DVD about Mother Aubert.

Suzanne Aubert arrived in Whanganui from Hawkes Bay in 1883. She often visited the old St Mary’s Church on Victoria Avenue when in town on business.

Image: from left, Sr Lusiana DOLC, Anna Thompson-Fraser, Kathleen Orsborn, Pat Rhodes, Karen Calman, Sr Litia DOLC, Dale Greenbury, Helen Codlin, Maria Sutton

Photo: Sue Seconi