Over the past few weeks, as part of a grant, I have been sitting in on interviews with some of the Sisters of Mercy who were connected in some way with Mercy College of Detroit. In the early days, Mercy College of Detroit was not only a school for all young women to receive a liberal arts education for nursing or education, it was also a place where women would begin their education to enter the order of the Sisters...
Mercy College of Detroit opened on September 24, 1941, the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy. From the back of the picture card: “For over 60 years, the Chapel was a place to “be” with God. Because is was the Motherhouse of the Detroit Region of the Sisters of Mercy until 1966, all the Sisters gathered in the chapel four times a day for Mass, recitation of the Office, meditation and spiritual reading. Students often joined the sisters for the...
Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, was born in Dublin, Ireland. After her parents died, she moved to live with Protestant relatives. She became a household manager and companion with friends of the relatives, the Callahans, a wealthy and childless couple. When they passed away, she inherited a considerable fortune which she used to open a house to shelter and educate women and girls. From that first House of Mercy in Dublin Ireland in 1827, the Sisters of...
As I was searching around the web looking for special days in January, I came across a page that had January as “Hot Tea Month“. It reminded me of a quote that Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Religious Sisters of Mercy (RSM), said to one of her sisters on her deathbed: “Be sure you have a comfortable cup of tea for them when I am gone.” Since then a tea cup has become the symbol of Mercy hospitality. From...
