DIRECTOR OF MISSION

MERCY DAY MASS

We warmly welcomed students, parents/guardians and the Sisters of Mercy to our Celebration of the Eucharist in honour of the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy. Her feast day is on September 24, which falls during the holidays. We therefore celebrated the special day in the life of our College in the last week of term. 

On Monday the 24th of September 1827, Catherine McAuley opened her House at number 64 Baggot Street, Dublin. Inspired by Our Lady of Mercy, she named it ‘The House of Mercy’. Catherine put out the call for help and the response was remarkable with Baggot Street becoming the home for a small group of dedicated young women, eager to share in Catherine’s work.

There, they provided education for young girls, gave accommodation to working girls, provided vocational training for young unemployed girls, and the ladies who worked there visited the sick and dying and provided meals for the poor. 

They became known as the ‘Ladies of Mercy’. Four years later in 1831, Catherine started the Sisters of Mercy after professing her vows along with three other women. She was 53 years old.

Catherine’s vision for the Sisters of Mercy was that they work to help the poor. She stated:

“The principle aim of this Congregation is to educate poor girls, to lodge and maintain poor young women who are in danger ….And to visit the sick and poor.”

As part of the Mercy Day Mass, students and staff received a Yellow Mercy Rose. A tradition of the past 30 years of our College, each rose signifies the goodness, beauty and truth which was evident in the life of Catherine McAuley. The miniature crepe paper Catherine McAuley Roses we received were in recognition of each person’s inherent dignity and the gifts each person brings to the College community. The rose is a beautiful symbol for the quality of Mercy, God’s loving kindness, which is the spirit of our College. Sr Catherine Cuddihy generously make over 600 paper roses for for our College, and we thank her.

Just as Catherine McAuley’s personal experience of God in her life enabled her to open her heart and hands to those around her, the Sisters of Mercy and in turn we, as a Mercy community, want every person to come to experience God’s love and mercy in their own life and to share this with others through Works of Mercy.

Athena Costopoulos

DIRECTOR OF MISSION