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Introduction: “One Solid Comfort” We have one solid comfort amidst this little tripping about: our hearts can always be in the same place, centered in God—for whom alone we go forward—or stay back. Oh may He look on us with love and pity, and then we shall be able to do anything He wishes us to do—no matter how difficult to accomplish—or painful to our feelings. If He looks on us with approbation for one instant each day—it will be sufficient to bring us joyfully on to the end of our journey. Let us implore Him to do so at this season of love and Mercy.1 On December 20, 1840, Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy in Ireland, wrote Sister Mary de Sales White at the Bermondsey convent in London, England, saying, “I think sometimes our passage through this dear sweet world is something like the Dance called ‘right and left.’” She continued with a description of the dance, incorporating the locations of various Mercy convents in Ireland and England with each turn on the dance floor. McAuley used a metaphor of a dance to stress to Sister Mary de Sales the temporality of the Sisters of Mercy in the world. She wrote,“You and I have crossed over, changed places; your set is finished— for a little time you’ll dance no more—but I have now to go through the figure.” Each Sister of Mercy had her part to play in the dance, but no single sister was more important than the whole movement; as one Sister of Mercy remains behind, another goes forward into the world. Mother Catherine continued her letter in a more pointed tone and described her community’s evolving life and movement throughout the world as “this little tripping about” where only with God’s help and will did they act. When she wrote this letter in late 1840, McAuley did not know how her community would grow and flourish throughout the world; she could only rely on one essential component to all the works of mercy she and other members of her community did: Wherever they went, their hearts were “centered in God.”2 McAuley’s writings stand as her legacy to the generations of women religious who came after her.3 As Mary C. Sullivan, RSM, has shown, 2 | Introduction: “One Solid Comfort” McAuley was a tireless correspondent, writing to the various motherhouses founded from the original convent on Baggot Street in Dublin. By McAuley’s design, when a new Mercy foundation or convent was established in a different location, it became separate from its parent house. Yet McAuley continued to communicate with and care about the sisters within these new convents, maintaining spiritual and emotional ties to them even though she was no longer their superior. When the Sisters of Mercy lost their foundress in 1841, stories of Mother Catherine passed on from one generation of sisters to the next. Her letters and spiritual writings and the congregation’s Rule and Constitutions became her legacy. All religious congregations have Rules and Constitutions, which provide the governing structure and direct daily life.4 As foundational documents, the Rule and Constitutions also embody the spirit of their authors. In this way, McAuley’s Rule and Constitutions, along with her spiritual writings and correspondence,communicate the Mercys’founding charism. Each generation of Sisters of Mercy who came after her took these words and her spirit with them as they established new communities or foundations. McAuley established the original Sisters of Mercy and instructed and guided her sisters in the charism, or spiritual foundation, of the community. Mercys look to this charism to inspire and guide each other and those with whom they work, regardless of location, institution, or ministry.5 Raised by a wealthy, non-Catholic aunt and uncle in late-eighteenthcentury Ireland, McAuley had money, education, and social status. However, instead of marriage, motherhood, an entrée into the growing middle-class Catholic society in Dublin, and a potential life as an influential and benevolent patron, she chose a vowed religious life in a religious institute of her own design, where she used her talents and gifts to alleviate the suffering of those around her. Her Catholic faith informed her choice, and countless other women made similar choices. McAuley’s choices were her own, though she did not make them in isolation. The Sisters of Mercy’s foundress fits within a...

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