Catherine McAuley: Among Saints in the Making

The presence of Pope Frances in Ireland (August 25th and 26th) for the IX World Meeting of Families was a memorable and historic occasion. Most inspiring of all was the Pope’s generosity and openness as he engaged a thirty six hour punishing schedule of encounters, meetings, question and answer sessions, celebrations and prayer with serenity and equanimity.

The main part of the World Meeting of Families took place from Wednesday 22nd August to Saturday 25th August 2028 in the Conference Centre of the RDS in Dublin. During these days there was a packed agenda of inspiring and heart-warming conferences and testimonies from families and various speakers on all aspects of Catholic family life. The Eucharistic Celebration in the mid-afternoon of each day was a highlight for all participants. As well as the conferences and inputs there was also an exhibition of the various works being carried out by Catholic groups in Ireland and elsewhere as well as artefacts on display and for sale.

Catherine McAuley shared stand number forty with four other women who were also founders of congregations for religious women and who are also at the stage of venerable in the process for beatification and canonisation. The title of the stand was Saints in the making. This title proved to be a real conversation opener as any person who saw the title was ready to ask why his or her photo did not feature with Catherine and her companions and this invariably led on to talking about Catherine, who she was and what was the driving inspiration of her life as well as a whole conversation on what it means to be a saint today!

Catherine was in the company of Nano Nagle (founder of the Presentation Sisters), Mary Aikenhead (founder of the Religious Sisters of Charity), Mary Ward (founder of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary aka Loreto Sisters) and Magdalen (Frances) Taylor (founder of the Servants of the Mother of God).

Mary Ward and Magdalen Taylor are Englishwomen who have very close ties with their Irish counterparts. Just as Catherine McAuley did her novitiate for religious life with the Presentation Sisters in Georges Hill in Dublin, so Mary Aikenhead did her three year preparation for religious life in the convent of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto Sisters) in Bar, York, England. She chose the York Rule as the one most suitable for the congregation she would found and Catherine McAuley, as we know chose the Presentation Rule as the basis that would guide the life of the congregation she was to found sixteen years later. It is also interesting to note that Dr Daniel Murray was the close friend and confidant of both Mary Aikenhead and Catherine McAuley as they began the foundational work of setting up their respective religious congregations.

Frances Taylor was the daughter of an Anglican minister in the village of Stoke Rochford, Lincolnshire in England. Together with her sister Charlotte she volunteered to go to the Crimea with Florence Nightingale. During her stay in the Crimea she came in contact with Mother Bridgeman and her community of Irish Mercy sisters and was so influenced by their care for the Irish soldiers and others that she eventually became a catholic and at one time thought she might become a mercy sister herself, something that was not part of her destiny. She went on to found the Congregation of the Servants of the Mother of God in 1872 and started her preparation for religious life on September 24th (Feast of Our Lady of Mercy) 1869.

These five women who formed part of the “family” of saints in the making in Ireland and Great Britain, whose lives were inextricably interwoven in seemingly coincidental ways are also closely connected through their extraordinary contribution to the building of the social, educational and healthcare fabric of the places where not only they themselves but also their many followers and collaborators also worked.

Starting with Mary Ward in the seventeenth century down to Frances Taylor in the twentieth century each woman in her own way faced, worked with and overcame what seemed like insurmountable obstacles from the status quo of their times and their intrepid courage found ways to make what was unimaginable to the people of their time a reality for the people of ours.

Their inspiration is a source of joy and encouragement for us today. What seems unimaginable to us today will be a reality at a future date if we like they remain faithful to the call of steadfast Love. As the Chinese proverb says:
“When sleeping women wake, mountains move”.

Messages to: Brenda Dolphin rsm - Postulator