The Show Must Go On

SISTER BERNADETTE of the Sisters of Mercy sat in her office in the little school of St Monica's in Ballymore, County Mayo.

Her thoughts were on preparing the children for the nativity play.

Outside her door she could hear low voices and giggles and then the sound of young voices singing.

"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat! "Please put a penny in the old man's hat.

"If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do. If you haven't got a ha'penny, God bless you." Bernadette got up quickly and went to the door.

The smiling faces of three girls looked up at her.

"That was a nice surprise," she said. "Now, let's see what I've got."

She put her hand in a pocket of her habit and produced a penny.

“What want you to do, girls, is to take this over to the church and light a candle for me. Yes?”

“Yes, Sister,” the girls said together.

Sister Bernadette put her hand back in her pocket and produced a sixpence.

“Then you can go and buy some sweets. What will you get?”

She got three answers of pear drops, dolly-mixtures and little gems before they were off with the penny to church and the sixpence to Mrs Ryan’s House-shop.

As the girls pelted across the playground she saw two substantial ladies walking purposefully towards her.

Mrs Sheila Donovan and her mother, Mrs Finney.

Both wore hats secured by fearsome hat pins.

Sister Bernadette could guess what this was about.

Every year, the problem of casting the nativity play was a major headache: persuading boys who wanted to be soldiers to become shepherds; persuading St Joseph to put his arm protectively around the shoulders of the girl who played Mary.

The biggest problem of all was choosing the girl who would be Mary herself.

Two weeks ago, Mrs Donovan had turned up at school with her husband in tow, carrying a brown box.

He’d placed it on Sister Bernadette’s desk and stepped back sheepishly.

His wife opened the box.