Catherine McAuley, RSM (29 September 1778 – 11 November 1841) was an Irish Catholic religious sister who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831.[1] The women's congregation has always been associated with teaching, especially in Ireland, where the sisters taught Catholics (and at times Protestants) at a time when education was mainly reserved for members of the established Church of Ireland.
Catherine McAuley | |
|---|---|
 Sister Mary Catherine McAuley | |
| Born | 29 September 1778 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 11 November 1841 (aged 63) Dublin, Ireland |
Life
editCatherine Elizabeth McAuley was born at Stormestown House in Dublin, Ireland, to James and Elinor (née Conway) McAuley.[2] Her father died in 1783 when she was five and her mother died in 1798. Catherine went first to live with a maternal uncle, Owen Conway, and later joined her brother James and sister Mary at the home of William Armstrong, a Protestant relative on her mother's side. In 1803, McAuley became the household manager and companion of William and Catherine Callaghan, an elderly, childless, and wealthy Protestant couple and friends of the Armstrongs, at their estate in Coolock, a village northeast of Dublin. For 20 years she gave catechetical instruction to the household servants and the poor village children.[3] Catherine Callaghan, who was raised in the Quaker tradition, died in 1819. When William Callaghan died in 1822, Catherine McAuley became the sole residuary legatee of their estate.
The House of Mercy
editCatherine McAuley inherited a considerable fortune and chose to use it to build a house where she and other compassionate women could take in homeless women and children to provide care and education for them. Catherine's House is a welcoming place of tradition, pilgrimage, and renewal, One of its primary purposes is to encourage everyone who visits to keep Catherine's mission alive with a refreshed and similar mindset. "‘May the blessing of this house - A house imagined in unlikeliness, dreamt with daring, built with love, Founded on Mercy - Speak to your spirit in whatever room in the world you are reading, in whatever place you are called to Mercy". On September 24, 1827, the House of Mercy opened their doors on Baggot Street in Dublin. During the time of its refurbishment she went to France and began to study current educational methods in preparation for the new chapter in her life which would be helping to teach women and girls seeking an education.
The 'House of Mercy' represents more then just a physical structure it bases an importance on Catherines mission, which was to create a home offering a warm welcome to the poor and serves as a place where mercy flows throughout. Cathrine had some help throughout this development as she employed her first two co-workers Anna Maria Doyle and Catherine Byrne, They proceeded to moved into the House full time. As time went on and more women began working in the house, Criticism began as people voiced their concerns that the women did not follow the rules of religious orders so therefore By 1830, it became necessary for Catherine’s work to be formalised as a religious order. For this Cathrine and a few other women joined the presentation convent located in Dublin to begin their training to become religious sisters.
In 1831, after a year of initiation and training for Cathrine and her companions, Archbishop Daniel Murray blessed the first Convent of Mercy at the House of Mercy on Baggot Street, and Catherine was appointed mother superior of the Sisters of Mercy. As time went on Cathrine founded seven more independent Convents of mercy within Ireland and two were also opened in England. Cathrine regularly travelled between each convent staying for around a month at a time to help teach and help the less fortunate.
Today, The house is now a tourist attraction in Dublin where you can tour the convent at a price of Ten Euro for an hour.
Sisters of Mercy
editFor three years, Catherine McAuley and her companions continued their work. McAuley never intended to found a community of religious women; her initial intention was to assemble a corps of Catholic social workers.[4] In 1828 the archbishop permitted the staff of the institute to assume a distinctive habit and to publicly visit the sick. The habit adopted was a black tunic and cape of the same material reaching to the belt, a white collar, and a lace cap and veil. In the same year, the archbishop desired a name for the community, and McAuley chose "Sisters of Mercy".
McAuley was desirous that the members should combine the silence and prayer of the Carmelites, with the active labours of a Sister of Charity.
Catherine's clerical mentor urged her to form a religious institute. Catherine and two other women, Anna Maria Doyle and Elizabeth Harley, entered the novitiate of the Presentation Sisters to formally prepare for life as religious in September 1830.[5] On 12 December 1831 they professed vows and returned to the House of Mercy. The Sisters of Mercy consider 12 December 1831 as the day of their founding.[3] Archbishop Daniel Murray assisted Catherine McAuley in founding the Sisters of Mercy, and accepted the vows of the first three new sisters.[6] He then appointed Catherine Mother Superior.[7] The rule of the Sisters of Mercy was formally confirmed by Pope Gregory XVI on 6 June 1841.[8]
A cholera epidemic hit Dublin in 1832, and McAuley agreed to staff a cholera hospital on Townsend Street.[9] Between 1831 and 1841 she founded additional communities in Tullamore, Charleville, Cork, Carlow, Galway, Limerick, Birr, Bermondsey and Birmingham and branch houses in Kingstown and Booterstown.
At the time of McAuley's death, there were 100 Sisters of Mercy in ten foundations.[10] Shortly thereafter, small groups of sisters left Ireland to establish new foundations on the east and west coasts of the United States, in Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina.
At present, there are about 5,500 Sisters of Mercy worldwide, 5,000 associates, and close to half a million partners in ministry. The Mercy International Centre in Dublin, Ireland, is the international "home" of Mercy worldwide.
Veneration
edit
Catherine McAuleys health began to decline in 1835, Where she soon after then died of Tuberculosis on 11th of November 1841 at the age of 63 at The Convent of Mercy on Baggot Street,[8], Where she was also soon after buried.
On the morning of her death she requested to conduct one last mass for her and her sisters, Throughout this ceremony she spoke out to each sister by name and spoke out to god to seek that they “May they all live in union and charity and may we all meet in a happy eternity. Preserve union and peace. Do this and your happiness will be so great as to cause you to wonder; my legacy to the order is Charity”.
April 9th 1990, Pope John Paul II declared her the ‘venerable for Mercy', Making her the first Irish women to be titled something of this great power by the Irish Catholic Church.
Catherine is a motivation to individuals today specifically women as she was a great leader who could easily adjust direction when needed, encouraging people with money, power, and encourage assistance for her efforts. She was an extremely intelligent and kind women constantly putting peoples needs before her own.
Her actions made throughout her life were majorly influenced by her interest in the Gospel of Jesus Christ in which she discovered early on in her life, This can help draw the tight connection to her love for other people and how she dedicated her whole life to helping those in need.
Catherine McAuley, through the Sisters of Mercy, had a big impact on the Catholic Church and the world. Her work highlighted that women are fully capable to work intelligently and be strong individuals whilst raising children. At the time the Clergy did not notice nor appreciate the work she was doing, although after her death her achievements were widely acknowledged.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Austin, Mary Stanislas. "Sisters of Mercy." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1922. 3 October 2014
- ^ Mary C. Sullivan The Path of Mercy: The Life of Catherine McAuley Washington D.C. The Catholic University of America Press, 2012
- ^ a b "Catherine McAuley – Our Lady of Mercy College". olmc.nsw.edu.au.
- ^ "Our History", Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
- ^ "Foundation", Mercy International Association
- ^ Meagher, William (16 March 1853). "Notices of the Life and Character of His Grace, Most Rev. Daniel Murray, Late Archbishop of Dublin: As Contained in "The Commemorative Oration": with Historical and Bibliographical Notes". Gerald Bellew – via Google Books.
- ^ "Mary Catherine McAuley – Irish Biography". libraryireland.com.
- ^ a b "Foundress", Mercy International Association
- ^ "Early years", Mercy International Association
- ^ ""A History of Venerable Catherine McAuley", Religious Sisters of Mercy, Alma, Michigan". Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
Further reading
edit- Mary C. Sullivan. The Path of Mercy: The Life of Catherine McAuley (Catholic University of America Press; 2012) 500 pages; scholarly biography
