THE HISTORY OF THE FORMATION OF THE ORDER OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE - ADELAIDE HOUSE
The Adelaide House of the Order Of Perpetual Indulgence was founded by the Ancients of the Order, Mother Myopia of the Second Wise Monkey (Dr. Gary Rogers), Sister Kylie Elieson (Peter Hamilton), Sister Genni Flect (Iain Henderson), Sister Matic Indoctrination (Richard Black) and Sister Pre Madonna (Bill Mansfield-Bennett). A sixth sister, Sister Mary (Mark Phillips) was also involved in the inception, but subsequently never manifested with the order.
The House was formed in June of 1992 at the instigation of Mother Myopia, supported and advised by Mother Abyss (Fabian Loschiavo) of the Sydney House, who also sent us copies of the White Paper and the Green Tract, which provided an entrée to the philosophy and practice of the Order to that date.
Modelling a habit provided by the Sydney House and using their own cunning, a “Habit Forming” was held at Sister Pre’s convent in St. Peters, ably assisted by Mother Myopia’s mother, who became Brother Iona Janome for the day. Six habits were completed on that day, in what can only be described as a marathon effort for all concerned.
Shortly thereafter , the novices were joined by Sister Iona Bernina (Mark Roberts) and a first ever manifestation was held in the amphitheatre behind the Festival Centre, during which the novices performed (mimed) “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” from the “Sound Of Music”, with enormous success. Members of the Order at that time included several trained musicians, mostly Choristers, including Sisters Iona, Matic and Pre (All singers with numerous academic choirs around Adelaide.) and Mother Myopia, who had been involved in the performance in the popular idioms and TV since childhood.
From World Aids Day, December 1st 1992, The Sisters participated in the celebratory party held on the banks of the Torrens at St. Peters Park. It was here that the custom of the nun’s “walk on water” originated – a photo opportunity during which the nuns stepped out onto the weir across the river, and lowering their tunics to the top of the water, presented a vision of a nunny miracle, as they stood in the midst of the waters, seemingly held up but nothing but the flow of the river itself.
In February 1993, four of the Ancients – Mother Myopia, Sister Kylie, Sister Matic and Sister Genni Flect were professed on the grass hill north of Government House abutting Sister Mary Opera House in Sydney, by Mother Abyss and members of the Sydney House. Some of these sisters stayed for Mardi Gras and apparently were seen on roller blades during the march.
In April of 1993, Mother Abyss came to Adelaide and, on ANZAC Day, he and Mother Myopia professed Sister Pre and Sister Rhiannon Of The Riding Crop, later Sister Anna Bjorn Again (Greg Dewbury) in front of the Dingo enclosure at the Cleland Wild Life Reserve in the Adelaide Hills. This was followed by an impromptu parade though the walk-through aviary, where a Greek family group coming the other way was surprised by a flap of gay male nuns and friends in full habit.
Further manifestations ensued and the Order soon expanded to include Sister Fleur Of The Flip Top Box (Kevin Sands), Sister Whip Me Beat Me Call Me Louise (Alan Brown), Sister Vespa of the Two Stroke (Brian Lambert), Sister Selma Body To The Highest Bidder (Tom Mooney) and Sister Make Me Up Quick Of The Little Revlon Company (Trevor Hobbs). The Order was also blessed with female members around this time, most notably Father Izzy Cardinal Overdone (Marie-Desiree D’Orsay-Laurence) and Just-In Cardinal Cinh (Gen Canty) Numerous blessings and events continued throughout 1993, including an appearance at the play “Nunsense”, which resulted in an amusing comment about the Order in The Advertiser’s review of the show.
The South Australian Gay Sports and Arts Association (S.A.G.S.A.A.) had for some time been holding a Gay night at the City Bowl in Hindley Street, and it was decided that the Order would front a ream of nuns, in habit on a regular basis. This caused something of a stir until it was discovered that, despite the difficulties inherent in bowling in such voluminous tunics, the Order Of Perpetual Indulgence Bowling Team had some pretty able sports nuns in their line-up.
Most notably of All the manifestations made by the Order in 1993 was the appearance of the Sisters at the Cabaret run by S.A.G.S.A.A. in July at the St. Peters Town Hall. The Sisters started their part of the show by actually partly singing “I will follow him” from “Sister Act” and following this with a fashion parade, where a series of fabulous habits were displayed with Sisters enacting characters to match. These were all ably introduced by Sister Iona Bernina, whose commentary was only outdone by the spectacular Medieval/Elizabethan habit of his own design.
On a visit to Lake Albert and Lake Alexandrina, the notion of a Convocation was aired by Mother Myopia, Sister Kylie and Sister Pre. These notions were later developed into the first national convocation held on the ANZAC weekend in April 1994, in Adelaide. Late in 1993, due to work commitments, Mother Myopia and Sister Kylie went into the retired sister’s lounge. Sister Pre Madonna was duly elected as mother of the house, taking the name Mother Premonstratensia.
In May 1994, Mother Premonstratensia stepped down from the position as Mother, and Sister Vespa Of The Two Stoke, was duly elected to the position, taking the name Mother Mary Queanne Of Scouts. It was during the period of Mother Pre's departure to Sydney that the Adelaide House incorporated, becoming the second House in the world to do so, following the Mother House in San Francisco.
The House was formed in June of 1992 at the instigation of Mother Myopia, supported and advised by Mother Abyss (Fabian Loschiavo) of the Sydney House, who also sent us copies of the White Paper and the Green Tract, which provided an entrée to the philosophy and practice of the Order to that date.
Modelling a habit provided by the Sydney House and using their own cunning, a “Habit Forming” was held at Sister Pre’s convent in St. Peters, ably assisted by Mother Myopia’s mother, who became Brother Iona Janome for the day. Six habits were completed on that day, in what can only be described as a marathon effort for all concerned.
Shortly thereafter , the novices were joined by Sister Iona Bernina (Mark Roberts) and a first ever manifestation was held in the amphitheatre behind the Festival Centre, during which the novices performed (mimed) “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” from the “Sound Of Music”, with enormous success. Members of the Order at that time included several trained musicians, mostly Choristers, including Sisters Iona, Matic and Pre (All singers with numerous academic choirs around Adelaide.) and Mother Myopia, who had been involved in the performance in the popular idioms and TV since childhood.
From World Aids Day, December 1st 1992, The Sisters participated in the celebratory party held on the banks of the Torrens at St. Peters Park. It was here that the custom of the nun’s “walk on water” originated – a photo opportunity during which the nuns stepped out onto the weir across the river, and lowering their tunics to the top of the water, presented a vision of a nunny miracle, as they stood in the midst of the waters, seemingly held up but nothing but the flow of the river itself.
In February 1993, four of the Ancients – Mother Myopia, Sister Kylie, Sister Matic and Sister Genni Flect were professed on the grass hill north of Government House abutting Sister Mary Opera House in Sydney, by Mother Abyss and members of the Sydney House. Some of these sisters stayed for Mardi Gras and apparently were seen on roller blades during the march.
In April of 1993, Mother Abyss came to Adelaide and, on ANZAC Day, he and Mother Myopia professed Sister Pre and Sister Rhiannon Of The Riding Crop, later Sister Anna Bjorn Again (Greg Dewbury) in front of the Dingo enclosure at the Cleland Wild Life Reserve in the Adelaide Hills. This was followed by an impromptu parade though the walk-through aviary, where a Greek family group coming the other way was surprised by a flap of gay male nuns and friends in full habit.
Further manifestations ensued and the Order soon expanded to include Sister Fleur Of The Flip Top Box (Kevin Sands), Sister Whip Me Beat Me Call Me Louise (Alan Brown), Sister Vespa of the Two Stroke (Brian Lambert), Sister Selma Body To The Highest Bidder (Tom Mooney) and Sister Make Me Up Quick Of The Little Revlon Company (Trevor Hobbs). The Order was also blessed with female members around this time, most notably Father Izzy Cardinal Overdone (Marie-Desiree D’Orsay-Laurence) and Just-In Cardinal Cinh (Gen Canty) Numerous blessings and events continued throughout 1993, including an appearance at the play “Nunsense”, which resulted in an amusing comment about the Order in The Advertiser’s review of the show.
The South Australian Gay Sports and Arts Association (S.A.G.S.A.A.) had for some time been holding a Gay night at the City Bowl in Hindley Street, and it was decided that the Order would front a ream of nuns, in habit on a regular basis. This caused something of a stir until it was discovered that, despite the difficulties inherent in bowling in such voluminous tunics, the Order Of Perpetual Indulgence Bowling Team had some pretty able sports nuns in their line-up.
Most notably of All the manifestations made by the Order in 1993 was the appearance of the Sisters at the Cabaret run by S.A.G.S.A.A. in July at the St. Peters Town Hall. The Sisters started their part of the show by actually partly singing “I will follow him” from “Sister Act” and following this with a fashion parade, where a series of fabulous habits were displayed with Sisters enacting characters to match. These were all ably introduced by Sister Iona Bernina, whose commentary was only outdone by the spectacular Medieval/Elizabethan habit of his own design.
On a visit to Lake Albert and Lake Alexandrina, the notion of a Convocation was aired by Mother Myopia, Sister Kylie and Sister Pre. These notions were later developed into the first national convocation held on the ANZAC weekend in April 1994, in Adelaide. Late in 1993, due to work commitments, Mother Myopia and Sister Kylie went into the retired sister’s lounge. Sister Pre Madonna was duly elected as mother of the house, taking the name Mother Premonstratensia.
In May 1994, Mother Premonstratensia stepped down from the position as Mother, and Sister Vespa Of The Two Stoke, was duly elected to the position, taking the name Mother Mary Queanne Of Scouts. It was during the period of Mother Pre's departure to Sydney that the Adelaide House incorporated, becoming the second House in the world to do so, following the Mother House in San Francisco.
© Copyright 2020 The Order of Perpetual Indulgence in Australia Incorporated - Adelaide House. All rights reserved. If you experience difficulties with our website, please advise our Social Media Coordinator.
