Catherine McAuley, RSM (29 September 1778 – 11 November 1841) was an

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the Briti ...

religious sister who founded the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

in 1831.Austin, Mary Stanislas
"Sisters of Mercy."
''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1922. 3 October 2014 The women's congregation has always been associated with teaching, especially in Ireland, where the sisters taught

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(and at times

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

) at a time when education was mainly reserved for members of the established

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the sec ...

Life

Catherine Elizabeth McAuley was born at Stormestown House in Dublin to James and Elinor (née Conway) McAuley. 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 Coolock () is a large suburban area, centred on a village, on Dublin city's Northside in Ireland. Coolock is crossed by the Santry River, a prominent feature in the middle of the district, with a linear park and ponds. The Coolock suburban are ...

, a village northeast of Dublin. For 20 years she gave catechetical instruction to the household servants and the poor village children."Catherine McAuley, Founder of the Sisters of Mercy", Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta
/ref> 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

Catherine 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. A location was selected at the junction of Lower Baggot Street and Herbert Street, Dublin, and in June 1824, the cornerstone was laid by the Rev. Dr Blake. As it was being refurbished, she studied current educational methods in preparation for her new endeavour. On the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, 24 September 1827, the new institution for destitute women, orphans, and schools for the poor was opened and Catherine McAuley, with two companions, undertook its management.

Sisters of Mercy

For three years, Catherine and her companions continued their work as lay women. Catherine McAuley never intended to found a community of religious women. Her initial intention was to assemble a lay corps of Catholic social workers."Our History"
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas In 1828 the archbishop permitted the staff of the institute to assume a distinctive dress and to publicly visit the sick. The uniform adopted was a black dress and cape of the same material reaching to the belt, a white collar and a lace cap and veil – such a costume as is now worn by the postulants of the congregation. In the same year the archbishop desired Miss McAuley to choose some name by which the little community might be known, and she chose that of "Sisters of Mercy", having the design of making the works of mercy the distinctive feature of the institute. She was desirous that the members should combine with the silence and prayer of the

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount C ...

, with the active labours of a

Sister of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...

. The position of the institute was anomalous, its members were not bound by vows nor were they restrained by rules. The church (clergy and people) of the time, however, were not supportive of groups of laywomen working independently of church structures. The main concern was for the stability and continuity of the works of mercy which the women had taken on. Should any of them get married or lose interest, the poor and the orphans whom they were caring for would then be at a loss. Catherine's clerical mentor urged her to form a

religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrat ...

. Catherine and two other women, Anna Maria Doyle and Elizabeth Harley, entered the novitiate (formation program) of the

Presentation Sisters The Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are a religious institute of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland, by the Venerable Honora "Nano" Nagle in 1775. The Sisters of the congre ...

to formally prepare for life as women religious in September 1830. On 12 December 1831 they professed vows and returned to the House of Mercy. The

consider 12 December 1831 as the day of their founding as a religious community. Archbishop Daniel Murray assisted Catherine McAuley in founding the

, and professed the first three members.Meagher, William. ''The Life of Rev. Daniel Murray'', Dublin, Gerald Bellew, 1856
/ref> He then appointed Catherine Mother Superior. A cholera epidemic hit Dublin in 1832, and Catherine agreed to staff a cholera hospital on Townsend Street. Between 1831 and 1841 she founded additional Convents in Tullamore, Charleville, Cork, Carlow, Galway, Limerick, Birr, Bermondsey and Birmingham and branch houses in Kingstown and Booterstown. The rule of the Sisters of Mercy was formally confirmed by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He ...

on 6 June 1841."Foundress"
Mercy International Association Catherine lived only ten years as a Sister of Mercy, Sister Mary Catherine.

Death

Catherine McAuley died of tuberculosis on 11 November 1841 at Baggot Street, at the age of sixty-three. At the time of her death, there were 100 Sisters of Mercy in ten foundations. Shortly thereafter, small groups of sisters left Ireland to establish new foundations on the east and west coasts of the

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, in

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, and

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. Total worldwide membership consists of about 5,500 Sisters of Mercy, 5000 Associates, and close to half a million partners in ministry. The

Mercy International Centre Mercy International Centre is the original house of the Sisters of Mercy. The building began in 1824 and the house was opened on 24 September 1827. As this was the feast day of Our Lady of Mercy, the house was called the House of Mercy. The instig ...

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, Ireland, is the international "home" of Mercy worldwide and th
mercyworld.org
website is the virtual home. In 1978, the cause for the

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to Intercession of saints, intercede on behalf of individual ...

of the ''

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'' Catherine McAuley was opened by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

. In 1990, upon recognition of her

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

declared her ''

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

''."Catherine McAuley", RCL Benziger
/ref>

References

External links

Mercy International Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:McAuley, Catherine 1778 births 1842 deaths 18th-century Irish women 19th-century Irish nuns Founders of Catholic religious communities Irish philanthropists People from Coolock Sisters of Mercy Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II 19th-century venerated Christians