Sisters of Mercy

The Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy began when Catherine McAuley used an inheritance to build a large house on Baggot Street, Dublin, as a school for poor girls and a shelter for homeless servant girls and women. She was assisted in the works of the house by local women. There was no idea then of founding a religious institution; McAuley's plan was to establish a society of secular ladies who would spend a few hours daily in instructing the poor. Gradually the ladies adopted a black dress and cape of the same material reaching to the belt, a white collar and a lace cap and veil. In 1828, Archbishop Daniel Murray advised Miss McAuley to choose some name by which the little group 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, moreover, desirous that the members should combine with the silence and prayer of the Carmelite, the active labors of a Sister of Charity. The position of the institute was anomalous, its members were not bound by vows nor were they under a particular rule. Archbishop Murray asked the Sisters of Mercy to declare their intentions as to the future of their institute, whether it was to be classed as a religious congregation or to become secularized. The associates unanimously decided to become religious. It was deemed better to have this congregation unconnected with any already existing community.[1]

On the Octave of the Ascension 1829 the archbishop blessed the chapel of the institution and dedicated it to Our Lady of Mercy. This combination of the contemplative and the active life necessary for the duties of the congregation called forth so much opposition that it seemed as though the community, now numbering twelve, must disband; but it was settled that several of the sisters should make their novitiates in some approved religious house and after their profession return to the institute to train the others to religious life. The Presentation Sisters, whose rule was based on the Rule of St. Augustine, seemed best adapted for the training of the first novices of the new congregation and Miss McAuley, Miss Elizabeth Harley, and Miss Anna Maria Doyle began their novitiate at George's Hill, Dublin, on 8 September 1830.[1] While they were in training, Miss Mary Warde managed the affairs of the Baggot Street house.[2] On 12 December 1831, Catherine McAuley, Mary Ann Doyle, and Mary Elizabeth Harley professed their religious vows as the first Sisters of Mercy, thereby founding the congregation. In 1839 Mary Francis Bridgeman professed her vows and joined the Order.

Mercy Convent, Templemore, County Tipperary

In the 10 years between the founding and her death on 11 November 1841, McAuley had established additional independent foundations in Ireland and England:[3] Tullamore (1836), Charleville (1836), Carlow (1837), Cork (1837), Limerick (1838), Bermondsey, London (1839), Galway (1840), Birr (1840), and Birmingham (1841), and branch houses of the Dublin community in Kingstown (1835) and Booterstown (1838).

The Sisters offered free schools for the poor, academies for the daughters of the rising middle class, and “houses of mercy”, providing shelter for poor youth and women in Dublin and other cities who were in danger of being exploited. They were called upon by bishops in several major epidemics of cholera to nurse people in homes and in the public hospitals.[4] Their services were in much demand. In May 1842, at the request of Bishop Fleming, a small colony of Sisters of Mercy crossed the Atlantic to found the congregation at St. John's, Newfoundland. The sisters arrived in Perth, Australia in 1846, and in 1850, a band from Carlow arrived in New Zealand. Sisters from Limerick opened a house in Glasgow in 1849, and in 1868, the English community established houses in Shrewsbury and Guernsey.[1]

McAuley opened the first Convent of Mercy in England at Bermondsey on 19 November 1839 for the education of children and the visitation of the poor, sick, and needy. Mother Mary Clare Moore was appointed Superior. The Convent was designed in the ‘Gothic Style’ by Augustus Pugin, his first purpose-designed religious community building. It was destroyed during World War II.[5]

With the London Times reporting appalling conditions at the front, the War Office appealed for volunteer nurses and on October 14, 1854 Bishop Thomas Grant, of Southwark approached the Sisters at Bermondsey.

At the request of the bishop of Mahikeng, Dr Anthony Gaughran, sisters came to South Africa to found convents there. Mother Superior Teresa Cowley led a group from the convent in Strabane, with the group acting as nurses to the military during the siege of Mahikeng.[6]

• Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, St. John's, Newfoundland
• St. Augustine's Elementary School, St. John's, Newfoundland
• St. Bride's College, St. John's, Newfoundland

• Convent of Mercy "Alpha" Academy, Kingston
• St. John Bosco Boys Home, Mandeville
• Mount Saint Joseph Preparatory School, Mandeville

In 1849 Bishop Pompallier visited St Leo's Convent in Carlow, Ireland, seeking sisters to emigrate; eight left from St Leo's, led by Mother Mary Cecilia. They travelled to New Zealand, learning Māori along the way, establishing the Sisters of Mercy in Auckland as the first female religious community in New Zealand in 1850.[11][12]

• Holy Infant College, Tacloban City

• Mercyhurst University, Erie, Pennsylvania[17]
• Little Flower School, Reno, Nevada[18]
• Mount de Sales Academy (Georgia), Macon, Georgia[19]
• Saint Xavier University, Chicago, Illinois

• Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Brisbane
• Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Bundaberg
• Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Gladstone
• Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Mackay
• Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Rockhampton
• Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Townsville
• Mater Misericordiae Hospital, North Sydney

• Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin
• National Rehabilitation Hospital (Dublin)

• Mother of Mercy Hospital, Tacloban

• St. Catherine Academy, Belize City
• Muffles College (Secondary School in Orange Walk Town)
• Muffles Junior College (Associate degree-offering institution)

• Instituto María Regina (La Ceiba, Honduras)

The Sisters founded dozens of hospitals in the United States,[26] and sponsors, or co-sponsors, six health systems. The organization also operates health care ministries in Belize, Guam, Guyana, Peru and the Philippines.[10]

In 1892, they founded Mercy Hospital in Hamilton, Ohio. "With lots of heavy industry in Hamilton at the time, there was a lot of need for emergency care for accident victims."[27]

In 1916, the Sisters of Mercy established Sisters of Mercy's St. Joseph's Sanitarium, in Asheville, North Carolina, to treat tuberculosis patients, which later became St. Joseph's Hospital. In 1998, St. Joseph's Hospital was sold to Memorial Mission Hospital. The Sisters continue to operate urgent care centers in the Asheville area, under the name Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care.[28]

Mercy Health is an NPO Catholic healthcare organization in the Midwestern United States, and is headquartered in the suburban western St. Louis County suburb of Chesterfield, Missouri.