Te mana whakahaere – making lives better.

When Catherine McAuley opened the doors of her first House of Mercy in Baggot Street, Dublin, in 1827, this remarkable woman was already combining her gifts of faith and compassion in the cause of social change. Her call to others was to join her in working to transform society into what she believed God wanted it to be.

Although Catherine resisted the idea of becoming a nun, she was eventually persuaded that a religious Congregation offered the best prospects for ensuring that her vision of mercy would endure. But from the start, her Sisters of Mercy were to be different; they would not be bound by convent walls or cloister. Instead they would meet people in need wherever they were found.

To learn more about the story of Catherine McAuley view the short film In God Alone.

At the heart of Catherine’s spirituality was her trust in the providence of God, expressed in her prayer, the Suscipe.