Prayer Service for Foundation Day: December 12, 2011

Mercy: A Community of Relationships

By Regina Werntz rsm, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

On December 12, 1831, Catherine McAuley, Mary Ann Doyle, and Elizabeth Harley professed vows as the first Religious Sisters of Mercy. The chapel was not their own, they did not yet have an approved Holy Rule, nor did they claim a fourth vow of service. But on that day 180 years ago, this new Community of Mercy did own something very precious: a shared mission to serve the poor, sick, and ignorant. As we join Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Companions and Associates around the world to celebrate the beginning of our Mercy Institute, let us “rejoice in the continued invitation to seek justice, to be compassionate, and to reflect mercy to the world.”