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Obituary: Sister Giovanna FSJM

17 January 2025

© Chris Chapman

Sr Giovanna (left) with Mother Hilary, in the market garden at Posbury

Bridget Gillard writes:

DURING the spring of 1958, Jean Salter, a doctor’s receptionist from Paignton, in Devon, had a life-changing experience when she attended a series of talks given by Mother Teresa, the founder of the Order of the Franciscan Servants of Jesus and Mary (FSJM), at her local church.

The FSJM were a unique Order who firmly rejected many of the conventions of Religious life. They referred to themselves as Sisters, never using the word nun and, their home was a community, not a convent. The vision of their founder, that the Sisters should follow a life of work and prayer inspired by the spirit and life of St Francis, took many years of development before it ultimately came to fruition deep in the mid-Devon countryside on a former small estate at Posbury.

Here, the small group of women — there were never more than a dozen — created through sheer hard work and faith a place of almost other-worldly beauty and peace. With a respect for nature ahead of their time, they farmed the land, raised livestock, created a fully productive market garden, and restored the elegant features of the historic landscape. This combination of rural living and prayer greatly appealed to Jean and she felt drawn to the Sisters and, in particular, the charismatic Mother Teresa. Her own mother, however, was not in good health and she felt unable to abandon her duty as carer. Instead, she joined the Sisters as an Extern (the equivalent of a Tertiary), staying with the community for retreats and attending significant religious festivals.

After her mother’s death in December 1970, Jean came to Posbury to test her vocation, her only passing regret being the relinquishing of her beloved Vespa. After six months as a postulant, she received the habit and took the name Sister Giovanna, named after one of the companions of St Clare. In her late thirties, Sister Giovanna was one of the youngest members of the community and, consequently, was immediately deputed to assist the horticulturalist, Sister Mary, in the garden. Her skills as a sacristan, learnt at her church in Paignton, were also greatly appreciated.

Over the years, she learnt a great deal from Sister Mary, working alongside her with Sister Agnes, with whom she shared tasks and jokes. On sunny summer days, summoned by a cowbell, they would sit on the steps of the chapel to say the office of sext, dressed in simple brown dungarees with brown hoods over their white headbands and workman’s boots. In 1987, Sister Giovanna featured in an episode from the BBC series Through the Garden Gate, reflecting that, at Posbury, she had found religion, work, and friendship, and enjoyed every minute of her life there.

As the years passed, life for the FSJM became increasingly challenging as the older Sisters died and no further women joined. Sister Agnes left to found her own Order and, by 1997, only Mother Hilary, who had succeeded Mother Teresa as Reverend Mother, and Sister Giovanna remained (Feature, 30 September 2022). Remarkably, they continued for 15 years to hold retreats, host open days, and maintain the house and grounds as best they could with the help of Externs and friends. Such was the enduring image of the good life they had created at Posbury, in 2001, they were photographed picking peas for a permanent exhibition entitled “A Positive View of the Third Age”, hung in the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

Mother Hilary died in February 2019. Not long afterwards, Sister Giovanna moved out of the main house at Posbury into the former tractor shed, which had been converted into a pleasant one-bedroom bungalow. Here, she would sit looking out over the fields to St Luke’s, reading, knitting, and enjoying the occasional ride on her friend’s motorbike. Eventually, her declining health necessitated a move into nursing accommodation in Exeter.

Despite choosing the life of a Franciscan with its vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity, Sister Giovanna had a great love of children and took a tremendous interest in the offspring of her family and friends. Perhaps equal in measure was her love of animals. She recalled when she first joined the FSJM her joy at rising early in the morning to walk Max, the community’s dog, before mass. She relished her husbandry of the hens and was an accomplished beekeeper. Finally, in her latter years, her most constant companions were a succession of beloved cats.

Sister Giovanna FSJM died on 13 December, aged 93, the last surviving member of the Franciscan Servants of Jesus and Mary.

A history of the Franciscan Servants of Jesus and Mary by Bridget Gillard will be published by Sacristy Press in March. More details are available from the Posbury St Francs Trust at: admin@psft.org.uk

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