Living Mercy

Catherine McAuley (1778 to 1841)

In September 1827 Catherine McAuley established a ‘House of Mercy’ in Baggot Street, Dublin, Ireland. There she and several companions provided food, clothing, housing and education for many of Dublin’s poor women and young girls. In 1831 with the approval of Archbishop Daniel Murray, she and her first companions founded the Congregation of Sisters of Mercy, with the house in Baggot Street serving as its first convent.
Over the then next ten years as new coworkers presented themselves, thirteen other convents, two of them in England, were established. Invitations to found further convents were by now reaching Baggot Street from many parts of the world. Catherine died a holy death on 11 November 1841. Within a few decades her congregation had spread worldwide. It is still one of the largest congregations of women religious in the Church.
Catherine McAuley devoted her considerable personal energy and wealth to redressing poverty. Catherine opened a school and initiated visits to the poor, primarily women and children and to the sick in hospitals and in their homes.
Other women joined her in this work and so the history of the Sisters of Mercy began.
Recognition of Catherine McAuley’s work
On 9 April, 1990, by decree of Pope John Paul II, Catherine McAuley, Foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, was declared Venerable, in recognition of her holy life, her love of God and her merciful work among the poor. Catherine McAuley once wrote: “Mercy, the principal path pointed out by Jesus Christ to those who are desirous of following him, has in all ages of the Church excited the faithful in a particular manner to instruct and comfort the sick and dying poor as in them they regarded the person of our Divine Master.” (Original Rule, approved in Rome, 1841)
Content sourced from © Mercy International Association 2005 www.mercyworld.org

“By courageous concern for the welfare of the poor, the sick, and the uneducated…Catherine McAuley animated many at the centres of the wealth, power and influence to share in her heroic efforts. She connected the rich to the poor, the healthy to the sick, the educated and skilled to the uninstructed, the influential to those of no consequence, the powerful to the weak, to do the work of God on earth.” TENDER COURAGE, SISTER M. JOANNA REGAN, R.S.M.

Our Sisters of Mercy, Parramatta Story

The first group of Sisters of Mercy to come to Australia arrived in Perth in 1846.
From then on, there was a succession of foundations of the Sisters of Mercy in Australia; Parramatta in 1888 was among the last. Parramatta was founded from Callan in Kilkenny, Ireland.
The foundation from Callan to Parramatta was a direct result of the close relationship between Cardinal Moran and the Sisters for Mercy in Callan. Cardinal Moran had a strong sense of mission and this spirit was shared by the Sisters at Callan. Mother Clare Dunphy was the leader of a group of nine sisters who responded to the Cardinal’s invitation.

It was said of Mother Clare:
” She was never haughty, there was always the kindly smile, the little pat on one’s head or shoulder. She always found an excuse for everybody.”

The relatively young group was ardently Irish, inspired with a spirit of adventure and missionary zeal; they were leaving their homeland for the ‘ends of the earth’ – never to return!
On Friday 12 October 1888 the Sisters, accompanied by Cardinal Moran, set sail on the ‘ Cuzco’ and arrived in Sydney on 29 November 1888. By 5 December 1888, four of the Sisters had set up residence in Parramatta. The other five joined them a week later. The first Mass was celebrated on 8th December, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
From early records, we learn that the Sisters wasted no time in embracing their mission of Mercy wholeheartedly. On 9th December they took children for catechism after Sunday Mass and visited the sick in Parramatta Hospital. They also visited those who were in the Macquarie St Asylum. Before the end of the first year, the Sisters had prepared many Catholics at the asylums for Confirmation.
On 10th December 1888, the Sisters opened the primary school with 55 students and on 7th January 1889 opened the secondary school with seven girls. A few months later, there were 138 enrolled in the primary school and 24 in the high school.
Over the next 20 years, the Sisters established a further 11 schools from Woolloomooloo to North Parramatta, in addition to opening St Michael’s boy’s orphanage in Baulkham Hills and St Brigid’s girl’s orphanage in Ryde. This extraordinary response to need was replicated in each of the decades that followed with a further 33 schools opened and/or extended between 1908 and 1988.
The Sisters’ ministry efforts were not limited to primary and secondary education. The Visitation of the sick, commenced on the first day after the Sisters arrived, continues to the present day and now incorporates residential aged care, nursing, physiotherapy, counselling, and pastoral care roles in various health and aged care facilities.
As ministry horizons of the Congregation began to change with increased lay teaching and leadership positions within the Catholic school system, there was greater freedom for Sisters to choose a ministry that suited their skills and gifts.
The Sisters became engaged in different roles in educational facilities and parishes; spirituality and retreat centres; adult education and faith formation ministries; advocacy and social justice groups and agencies; and in neighbouring developing countries such as Papua New Guinea.
Over the 125 years since the foundation of the Parramatta Congregation, Sisters have continued to respond to the changing needs of the local and global population. To see an iMovie presentation of some of the history and current activities of the Sisters over this time, please click here.

Mercy Values

At the heart of Catherine McAuley’s understanding of God’s mercy are several values which should pervade and give character to every mission, in every time and place, for which her Sisters are responsible.
The Congregation is committed to ensure that our Sponsored Works and all areas in which our Sisters minister including Stella Maris, are based on the Mercy Tradition which holds the following values:
MERCY
HUMAN DIGNITY
JUSTICE
SERVICE
OPTION FOR THE POOR

For a further read on our mission statement and values visit here Sisters of Mercy Parramatta (parramattamercy.org.au)

Content sourced from © Sisters of Mercy Parramatta (parramattamercy.org.au)