Food Programs

Breakfast and lunch programs are a reality in the richer northern hemisphere. Sisters of Mercy support these programs financially and volunteer their time and energy to help feed the poor. We have recently ventured into ministry in Africa. Our sisters have participated with the Irish Sisters of Mercy in providing food to children and families in Kenya and Zambia.

Food Banks have evolved in our society to serve the needs of the poor and those who find themselves in a financial crisis and lacking food. Many of our sisters throughout the province of Newfoundland and Labrador commit themselves on a regular basis to setting up, managing or volunteering their time in food banks.

Kitchens have been set up in the many small pueblos where our sisters minister in the Andes of Peru or on the Pacific coast. With grain, oil and flour that is provided by world relief agencies many children are fed a nutritious breakfast or lunch during their school day. Sisters of Mercy help support this program and offer their time working in them. One such centre in Monsefu has been named after one of the early Mercy missionaries, Sister Mary Dorothy Carroll.

Outreach to the Poor

From its foundation the Mercy Congregation has had a special ministry to the poor. Care for the poor and oppressed was especially dear to Catherine McAuley’s heart and the driving force behind her decision to found a religious order. “Service of the poor, the sick and the ignorant” is considered to be a fourth vow of the Sisters of Mercy.

Immediately on their arrival in St. John’s the three founding members of the Newfoundland mission, Sisters Ursula Frayne, Rose Lynch and Francis Creedon, began the visitation of the poor and the sick in their homes.

Over the years even though many of the sisters have been fully occupied in their teaching and nursing ministries they found time to visit individuals and families in need. In addition to the more “informal visitation,” ministry to the poor has taken on a more structured format in facilities like the Gathering Place, Food Banks, Prisons, Women’s Centres, Breakfast or Lunch Programs, Family Care Centres.

Whether formally organized or not, care and attentiveness for the poor has been part of our Mercy culture: a poor child in the school, a poor patient in the hospital or nursing home, poor families in the neighbourhood, or a poor person begging food at the door. Love and care for the poor and a congregational option for the poor is the challenge and the blessing of the Gospel and of our Mercy charism.

Desde su fundación, la Congregación de la Misericordia ha tenido un ministerio especial para con los pobres. El cuidado de los pobres y oprimidos era especialmente querido en el corazón de Catalina McAuley y la fuerza impulsora de su decisión de fundar una orden religiosa. El “servicio a los pobres, los enfermos y los ignorantes” se considera el cuarto voto de las Hermanas de la Misericordia.

Inmediatamente después de su llegada a San Juan, los tres miembros fundadores de la misión de Terranova, las hermanas Úrsula Frayne, Rose Lynch y Francis Creedon, comenzaron a visitar a los pobres y enfermos en sus casas.

A lo largo de los años, aunque muchas de las hermanas han estado plenamente ocupadas en sus ministerios de enseñanza y enfermería, han encontrado tiempo para visitar a personas y familias necesitadas. Además de las “visitas informales”, el ministerio con los pobres ha adoptado un formato más estructurado en lugares como el Gathering Place, los bancos de alimentos, las prisiones, los centros de mujeres, los programas de desayuno o comida y los centros de atención familiar.

Organizado formalmente o no, el cuidado y la atención a los pobres ha formado parte de nuestra cultura de la Misericordia: un niño pobre en la escuela, un paciente pobre en el hospital o en la residencia de ancianos, familias pobres en el barrio, o un pobre pidiendo comida en la puerta. El amor y la atención a los pobres y una opción congregacional por los pobres es el reto y la bendición del Evangelio y de nuestro carisma de la Misericordia.

Sisters’ Art at the Residence at Littledale

These artworks by the Sisters can be found hanging on the corridors of the Residence at Littledale. Enjoy browsing this online gallery and spending time with your favourite landscape, floral arrangement, or scene.

Estas obras de arte de las Hermanas se encuentran colgadas en los pasillos de la Residencia de Littledale. Disfrute navegando por esta galería en línea y pase un rato con su paisaje, arreglo floral o escena favoritos.

Watercolour
Quilling
Caribou tufting

McAuley Convent

McAuley Convent was opened in 1991 to provide a residence and center of care of the sick and infirm members of our congregation.

This modern and tastefully decorated building is built into the hillside of the Littledale property in the Waterford River valley in the west end of St. John’s. Every floor of the three-storey building has a ground level entrance. The center courtyard, which can be viewed from every room on the back of the building and which can be entered from the community room, is lavishly landscaped with flowers, shrubs and trees. Sisters can safely walk around the garden or sit in the swing chairs or other chairs that are provided. A statue of Mary stands at the centre of the garden and the Stations of the Cross are located on one side of the garden.

There are three other smaller community rooms for different groups of sisters, including one for the sisters who are part of the staff at McAuley Convent. In addition to this there are two large dining rooms, individual bedrooms, a physio-therapy room and a few multi-use rooms for arts and crafts, games, meetings or solitude. A very large kitchen, storage and laundry take up the lowest floor of the building. The crown of the building is the beautiful chapel with a wall of windows that look out to the Southside Hills of the Waterford Valley. The Sisters are blessed to have mass celebrated every morning and those who cannot go to the chapel may hear the celebration in their bedrooms.

Besides being the residence for sisters who need care in their old age, McAuley is a place of recuperation for sisters who have surgery or injury that requires more care than is available in their own convent. Our sisters are given the best of care and receive wonderful attentiveness from the many lay staff and sisters. Some have lived to see 100 years or more. When a sister is dying the sisters who are able, keep day and night vigil. Sisters are prayed into God’s kingdom at the end of their lives.

McAuley Convent is a place of care, safety and nurturing; it is a place of faith, joy, freedom and celebration. It is a powerhouse of prayer for the many needs of individuals and for our world.

McAuley Convent closed in October, 2020 when the sisters needing care moved to the Residence at Littledale, a new facility owed and operated by a local businessman Fred Cahill, on the Littledale Property where we are renting the entire third floor.

El Convento McAuley se inauguró en 1991 para proporcionar una residencia y un centro de atención a los miembros enfermos y desvalidos de nuestra congregación.

Este edificio moderno y decorado con gusto está construido en la ladera de la propiedad de Littledale, en el valle del río Waterford, en el extremo oeste de St. Cada planta del edificio de tres pisos tiene una entrada a nivel del suelo. El patio central, que puede verse desde todas las habitaciones de la parte trasera del edificio y al que se accede desde la sala comunitaria, está profusamente ajardinado con flores, arbustos y árboles. Las hermanas pueden pasear sin peligro por el jardín o sentarse en los columpios u otras sillas que se proporcionan. Una estatua de María se alza en el centro del jardín y el Vía Crucis está situado en uno de sus lados.

Hay otras tres salas comunitarias más pequeñas para diferentes grupos de hermanas, incluida una para las hermanas que forman parte del personal del convento de McAuley. Además, hay dos grandes comedores, dormitorios individuales, una sala de fisioterapia y algunas salas multiusos para manualidades, juegos, reuniones o soledad. Una cocina muy grande, el almacén y la lavandería ocupan la planta más baja del edificio. La corona del edificio es la hermosa capilla con una pared de ventanas que dan a las colinas del sur del valle de Waterford. Las hermanas tienen la suerte de que se celebre misa todas las mañanas y las que no pueden ir a la capilla pueden oír la celebración en sus habitaciones.

Además de ser la residencia de las hermanas que necesitan cuidados en su vejez, McAuley es un lugar de recuperación para las hermanas que han sufrido una intervención quirúrgica o una lesión que requiere más cuidados de los que pueden recibir en su propio convento. Nuestras hermanas reciben los mejores cuidados y una atención maravillosa por parte del numeroso personal laico y de las hermanas. Algunas han vivido 100 años o más. Cuando una hermana se está muriendo, las hermanas que pueden velan día y noche. Al final de sus vidas, se reza por las hermanas para que entren en el reino de Dios.

El convento de McAuley es un lugar de cuidado, seguridad y crianza; es un lugar de fe, alegría, libertad y celebración. Es un centro de oración por las muchas necesidades de las personas y de nuestro mundo.

El Convento McAuley cerró en octubre de 2020, cuando las hermanas que necesitaban cuidados se trasladaron a la Residencia de Littledale, una nueva instalación propiedad de Fred Cahill, un empresario local, que la gestiona, en la propiedad Littledale donde estamos alquilando todo el tercer piso.

Explore the Sunday Gospel Readings of Ordinary Time (after Pentecost)

Each week on our website Elizabeth Davis rsm provides a written reflection on the Sunday readings. These reflections contain insights and images, poetry and prose, wisdom and scholarship.

Sister Elizabeth’s reflections are published online in the Spirituality section under the appropriate liturgical season. They can be read online or downloaded.

As we journey through Ordinary Time, Sr Elizabeth will open up for us these scripture readings in a fresh way using modern biblical scholarship.

We invite you to join us in this exploration here

 

Cada semana, Elizabeth Davis rsm ofrece en nuestro sitio web una reflexión escrita sobre las lecturas del domingo. Estas reflexiones contienen ideas e imágenes, poesía y prosa, sabiduría y erudición.

Las reflexiones de la Hermana Elizabeth se publican en línea en la sección de Espiritualidad bajo el tiempo litúrgico correspondiente. Pueden leerse en línea o descargarse.

A medida que avanzamos en el Tiempo Ordinario, la Hermana Elizabeth nos abrirá estas lecturas de las Escrituras de una manera nueva, utilizando la erudición bíblica moderna.

Le invitamos a unirse a nosotros en esta exploración aquí

The Gathering Place is Growing!

Ceremony to announce the transformation of Mercy Convent

On May 31, 2023 a simple, yet profound event took place in the bare-bone space of the former Mercy Convent in St. John’s, NL.  The Institute of the Sisters of Mercy, a Roman Catholic order of women religious, was founded in Dublin in 1831 by Catherine McAuley.  Three sisters of Mercy travelled from Dublin in 1842 to found a convent in St. John’s.  For about 15 years the sisters lived in a wooden structure built as a convent by Bishop Fleming who invited sisters to come to Newfoundland.

L-r: Paul Davis, Executive Director, The Gathering Place; Sr. Diane Smyth, Congregational Leader Sisters of Mercy; Patrick O’Callaghan and Paula Boucher, Donors; John Abbott, MHA and Joanne Thompson, MP

The Mercy Convent structure today was constructed in 1857 and served as a convent up to 2021.  Over the past months the building has been stripped to its foundational structure.  Olympic Construction has begun the renovation to the building to transform it into a shelter and supportive housing structure that will accommodate 90 persons in need of temporary and transitional housing. It is hope that the project will be completed by June 2024.   Day to day support services will be offered by The Gathering Place.

The Sisters of Mercy and the Presentation Sisters, as well as church parishes in the area, Roman Catholic, Anglican, United Church of Canada, and Presbyterian as well as other groups concerned about hunger, health, housing and social isolation of a large population in the central area of St. John’s joined forces in the early 1990s to envision a centre to serve the population in need of care and services.  The Gathering Place opened in 1994 with basic food provision and social centre located in a vacant school building that had been refreshed for this new purpose.  Since that time space and services and those seeking help increased exponentially and continue to do so.  Now permanent supportive housing in this renovation project has been added to the services of The Gathering Place.

Media Coverage of the event

Watch: NTV Broadcast: https://ntv.ca/former-mercy-convent-soon-to-be-converted-into-shelter-for-the-gathering-place/ (3:03)
Read: CBC text: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/gathering-place-two-million-dollars-new-housing-1.6860584
VOCM coverage: https://vocm.com/2023/05/31/gathering-place-converting-former-mercy-convent-to-expand-operations/

See below Mercy Convent Before and After Renovation as Shelter and transitional Housing (17:29)

Ceremonia para anunciar la transformación del Convento de la Misericordia

El 31 de mayo de 2023 tuvo lugar un acontecimiento sencillo, pero profundo, en el espacio desnudo del antiguo Convento de la Misericordia de St. El Instituto de las Hermanas de la Misericordia, una orden católica romana de religiosas, fue fundado en Dublín en 1831 por Catalina McAuley. Tres hermanas de la Misericordia viajaron desde Dublín en 1842 para fundar un convento en San Juan. Durante unos 15 años, las hermanas vivieron en una estructura de madera construida como convento por el obispo Fleming, que invitó a las hermanas a venir a Terranova.

La Hermana Diane Smyth ofrece saludos y una oración de bendición en la ceremonia celebrada en parte del espacio desnudo del antiguo convento.

La estructura actual del Convento de la Misericordia se construyó en 1857 y sirvió como convento hasta 2021. En los últimos meses, el edificio ha sido despojado de su estructura fundacional. Olympic Construction ha comenzado la renovación del edificio para transformarlo en una estructura de refugio y vivienda de apoyo que acogerá a 90 personas necesitadas de alojamiento temporal y transitorio. Se espera que el proyecto esté terminado en junio de 2024. Los servicios de apoyo diario serán ofrecidos por The Gathering Place.

Las Hermanas de la Misericordia y las Hermanas de la Presentación, así como las parroquias de la zona, católica romana, anglicana, de la Iglesia Unida de Canadá y presbiteriana, además de otros grupos preocupados por el hambre, la salud, la vivienda y el aislamiento social de una amplia población de la zona central de St. John’s, unieron sus fuerzas a principios de los años noventa para idear un centro que atendiera a la población necesitada de cuidados y servicios. El Gathering Place abrió sus puertas en 1994 con un servicio de alimentación básica y un centro social ubicado en un edificio escolar vacío que había sido acondicionado para este nuevo fin. Desde entonces, el espacio y los servicios y las personas que buscan ayuda han aumentado exponencialmente y siguen haciéndolo. Ahora, a los servicios de The Gathering Place se han añadido viviendas permanentes de apoyo en este proyecto de renovación.

Cobertura mediática del eventoen inglés

Ver: NTV Broadcast: https://ntv.ca/former-mercy-convent-soon-to-be-converted-into-shelter-for-the-gathering-place/ (3:03)
Leer: CBC text: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/gathering-place-two-million-dollars-new-housing-1.6860584
VOCM coverage: https://vocm.com/2023/05/31/gathering-place-converting-former-mercy-convent-to-expand-operations/

St Patrick’s Mercy Home: 1958-2008

Through the inspiration and efforts of Archbishop Patrick Skinner, St. Patrick’s Mercy Home, a long-term care facility located in St. John’s, opened in 1958 under the administration of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy. Its mission is to provide quality and compassionate care for its residents.

St. Patrick’s offers its residents a homelike décor, large rooms that are available to residents and family members for special gatherings; a patio garden is easily accessed while the auditorium provides space for concerts, parties and special large group gatherings. Many of the activities of the Home are supported by St. Patrick’s Mercy Home Auxiliary. The pastoral care department is welcoming to people of all faiths with many religious services being held in the large chapel. Medical, nursing, palliative, and respite care is available through its physician and nursing staff while social workers, physiotherapists, recreation and music therapists provide services that enhance the life of each resident in a particular way.

In January 1986 a renovation and extension project for the Home was completed so that it could continue to provide a safe, comfortable and attractive atmosphere that speaks of its focus on residents.

In September 1999, the Board of Directors of St. Patrick’s entered into an Agreement with the St. John’s Nursing Home Board in a process of regionalization along with other nursing homes in the area. In 2005, it became a member of the Eastern Health Authority.

The year 2008 marks the 50th anniversary year of St. Patrick’s. Many and varied activities and celebrations involving staff, residents, church and government officials and the general public took place throughout the year. The chapel was rededicated to Archbishop P. J. Skinner in recognition of his untiring efforts toward the opening of a home for the aged and infirm; St. Patrick’s Mercy Home Foundation displayed a beautiful Donor Appreciation Window, acknowledging all who contribute to the care and well-being of the residents in any way.

Sister Mary Fabian Hennebury

Sister Mary Fabian Hennebury (1916 -2009) was the Public Face of St. Clare’s Mercy hospital for nearly three decades.

It is fitting that having celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of St. Clare’s that we profile a woman who was the public face of St. Clare’s for twenty-six years.

Mary Hennebury, known to us as Sister Mary Fabian, was born in Bonavista in 1916, the eldest of eight children. Her mother died when she was nine and Mary learned to accept responsibility at an early age. During the two years she spent at St. Bride’s College after leaving Bonavista, she was inspired by the sisters’ lives and their dedication to helping others, and it was here that she began to think about religious life as an option for herself. In 1935 at the age of nineteen, Mary entered the Sisters of Mercy.

A year after her profession, in 1939, she began nursing studies at the newly opened St. Clare’s School of Nursing. She went on to do post­graduate work at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, and upon her return to St. John’s was appointed supervisor of pediatrics at St. Clare’s. Her excellent academic qualifications and her Toronto experience had prepared her well for this ministry, which remained dear to her heart all through her life.

Meanwhile, Sister Mary Fabian was asked by the Congregation to enroll in a two-year correspondence course in hospital organization and management, given by the Canadian Hospital Association. She enrolled in a similar program with the American Hospital Association and received certification in both programs. Well-equipped academically and professionally, she was more than ready to assume the role of administrator of St. Clare’s in 1955. This marked the beginning of a period of unprecedented growth for the hospital, not only in the size of the physical plant, in the services offered, in its outreach programs, but also in the qualifications, expertise and reputation of the people who staffed the hospital.

Sisters and lay staff were given opportunities to pursue studies at home and in other parts of Canada in order to get the required competencies for the hospital’s expanded services. Sister Fabian herself was a lifelong learner, always keeping abreast of new approaches and developments in the delivery of health care.

Sister Mary Fabian oversaw two extensions to the hospital and initiated many new programs and services. Among these were hospital accreditation, pastoral care, social work, respiratory services, physiotherapy, and a rheumatology unit. As one department was established, new needs presented themselves and Sister Mary Fabian was quick to recognize and respond to these changing needs.

Almost immediately after assuming her position, Sister Mary Fabian began working on setting up a Board of Directors and a Medical Advisory Committee, both of which she saw as absolutely necessary for the growth of St. Clare’s into a first-class hospital. From the beginning the new Board worked tirelessly with  Mary Sister Fabian to continue the tradition of Mercy and to ensure quality care for the patients. The incorporation of the hospital in 1960 not only gave St. Clare’s legal status, but the means to ensure that its mission and values were sustained. Sister Mary Fabian also made and maintained connections with many organizations and groups in the city with a view to enhancing the reach of the hospital into the broader community. One such negotiation resulted in St. Clare’s being recognized as a teaching hospital with a formal affiliation with the Medical School of Memorial University.

Sister Mary Fabian’s role as administrator of an inner- city hospital made her keenly aware of the helplessness of many people suffering from addiction to alcohol. In the mid-1970s the Department of Health approached St. Clare’s with a proposition that could respond to this pressing need, which was being recognized as a priority in the city. Government was prepared to finance a detoxification center, if St. Clare’s would find a site for it and administer it. Sister Mary Fabian, her Board and the Congregation, wholeheartedly accepted the challenge. The Sisters purchased a property on Deanery Avenue in St. John’s and turned it over to St. Clare’s. Talbot House, under the guiding hand of Sister Mary Fabian, provided treatment, self-help programs and a safe haven for people fighting the disease of alcoholism.

Another huge venture initiated by Sister Mary Fabian was the establishment of a Palliative Care Unit at St. Clare’s. The groundwork for the project involved several years of intense negotiation and planning, a process in which Sister Mary Fabian played a major role. On October 1, 1979, largely as a result of her vision and with the financial assistance of the Sisters of Mercy, St. Clare’s opened the first Palliative Care Unit east of Montreal. In the ensuing years, this unit gave comfort, hope and dignity to hundreds of patients and their families in their darkest hours. The first Sister of Mercy to die in Palliative care was Sister Mary Mark Hennebury, Sister Mary Fabian’s sister.

Although Sister Mary Fabian received national and international recognition for her progressive stance and her contributions to health care at home and abroad, she always insisted that she did not do it alone.  Invariably, she credited her Board of Directors, her congregation and the staff with whom she worked as her invaluable support system, enabling her to carry out her part of the overall mission of St. Clare’s. Undoubtedly however, she played a major role in ensuring the position of St. Clare’s as a general hospital with the highest accreditation, while at the same time ensuring that it held firmly to the mission and values of our founding charism. In her ministry of 38 years at St. Clare’s, Sister Mary Fabian embodied the spirit of Mercy and by her visionary, wise and energetic leadership, established at St. Clare’s a standard of excellence in the delivery of compassionate care that was a model for her successors.

On her retirement from the health care system, Sister Mary Fabian ministered at McAuley Convent, sitting with the elderly sisters, watching and praying with the dying, answering the door, welcoming visitors and doing the many small routine tasks that needed to be done. Throughout her whole life, she lived the motto of St. Clare’s “Mercy Above All”.  She entered into eternal life on March 31, 2009.

 

        (Article written by Sister Charlotte Fitzpatrick, RSM)

Sister Mary Bernard Gladney

Sister Mary Bernard Gladney (1902- 1974) was the First Administrator of St. Clare’s and Rural Nurse extraordinaire.

Alice Maud Gladney, known to us as Sister Mary Bernard, was born in Portugal Cove in December of 1883. Her reception into the Sisters of Mercy in April 1902 was the first of many reception and profession ceremonies to take place in the new Littledale chapel, constructed in that same year as part of the Talbot Wing on the Littledale property..

On September 29, 1913 Sister Mary Bernard was assigned to be part of the first community of St. Clare’s Home, a hostel for working girls, located in the White House on LeMarchant Road, St. John’s, which came to be known as St. Clare’s Mercy Convent. The Home operated for nine years and although the need for such a ministry was still there, the need for a Catholic hospital became even more urgent. Sister Mary Bernard’s dream was to become a nurse, and she was overjoyed when Archbishop Roche arranged for her to study nursing in Ireland in preparation for opening a hospital run by the Sisters of Mercy. The outbreak of World War One made it too dangerous for her to travel overseas, and eventually she began a three- year nursing program at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh.

In October 1921, Sister Mary Bernard returned to St. Johns as a registered nurse, having completed extra studies in radiography, anesthesia, and laboratory, leaving her well-equipped to handle any emergency. She was assigned again to St. Clare’s Home, remaining there until it closed in May of 1922 to make way for the new hospital. In a mere three weeks the Home was adapted to a 20-bed hospital and Sister Mary Bernard became its first administrator. The first staff of the new St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital consisted of one more RN, Alice Casey, and two nursing assistants, Sisters Catherine Greene and Gabriel Fleming. With such a small nursing staff, Sister Mary Bernard was delighted to have the on-call services of twelve of the most competent doctors in the city. However, without such supports as regular hours or days off, Sister Mary Bernard often worked well into the night, until overtired and overworked, she succumbed to tuberculosis little more than a year after this critical ministry began. What a cross this must have been for her, for Archbishop Roche who had such dreams for St. Clare’s, for the Sisters of Mercy and for the fledgling hospital itself. The congregation arranged for Sister Mary Bernard to go to a sanitarium in New York for rest and treatment, and St. Clare’s closed its doors for several months. Two Sisters from Mercy Hospital in Baltimore came on loan to St. Clare’s to get the hospital back on its feet.

Interestingly, when Sister Mary Bernard returned to St. John’s she was appointed, not to St. Clare’s, where Sister Mary Aloysius Rawlins had already been named superior and hospital administrator, but as staff nurse to Belvedere and then to St. Bride’s Boarding School. Her next assignment was St. Lawrence and it was here that she found the greatest scope for her nursing skills and for her strong desire to help people in need. St. Lawrence had been without a doctor for six years and government’s repeated attempts to procure a medical resident had proved fruitless. Mother Philippa’s visitation to the convent in St. Lawrence in the summer of 1934 enabled her to get a first-hand look at the needs of the area. After assessing the dire situation, she and her Council named Sister Mary Bernard superior of the convent in St. Lawrence, a decision that proved to be providential both for the town and for Sister Mary Bernard, who became the area’s medical officer. Sister Mary Bernard’s medical knowledge and her well­ honed nursing skills were just what the town needed, and she responded with eagerness but perhaps not without a tinge of trepidation to this huge challenge. With her companion, Sister Mary Borgia Kenny, she cared for the sick in St. Lawrence and surrounding areas for the next six years. My mother was employed at the convent for part of that time, so I heard firsthand of the exploits of these two brave and dedicated sisters.

Upon arrival in St. Lawrence Sister Mary Bernard had converted a small room at the convent for use as a clinic, where people could come for medical advice and treatment. She set broken bones, pulled teeth, delivered babies, stitched open wounds, cared for miners in times of accidents, listened kindly and patiently to people’s problems and did whatever needed to be done for her people. With wonderful insight for the town’s future well-being, she trained a group of local women in midwifery. Sister Mary Bernard would often bring a sick patient to stay at the convent if the home circumstances could not provide the necessary care and attention. She and Sister Borgia devoted several hours each day to home visitation – on foot, by open boat, or in winter by horse and sleigh. Reminiscing about her days in St. Lawrence, Sister Borgia recalled instances of clambering down into a tossing dory in the middle of the night on their way to deliver a baby or attend to a medical emergency, with Sister Bernard holding tightly to the skirt of her white habit. These two valiant women of Mercy answered all calls in all weathers and the people knew that their every request would be attended to with grace, kindness, and competence.

But Sister Mary Bernard was not only superior of the convent and chief medical officer for the area. She immersed herself in the life of the community, staging many concerts and even operettas. In the mid -1930s the people of St. Lawrence were still suffering from the effects of the tidal wave of 1929 and were in the throes of the Great Depression. Life was very difficult for families, and government aid amounted to a mere six cents a day per person. Sister Mary Bernard was all too aware of the misery surrounding her, but she knew the power of music and drama to uplift the spirits of the people and give them a respite from the struggles of daily life. In her recollections of life in St. Lawrence in the 1930s and 40s, Mrs. Ena Farrell-Edwards, a local historian, spoke of Sister Mary Bernard as a shining light in dark and difficult times, calling her the Mother Teresa of St. Lawrence.

After her return from St. Lawrence in 1940, Sister Mary Bernard went to Belvedere where she spent the next 34 years of her life. There, her surgery became a refuge for many children who just needed to hear her say God bless you, my pet. Many would fake an ailment as an excuse to visit this gentle, compassionate sister who knew how to soothe every ache or pain. Those of us who knew her remember a kindly countenance, a welcoming smile and a warm, listening heart. Being in Sister Mary Bernard’s presence gave one the feeling of being special, worthy of all her attention. Day in and day out, she lived her gift of compassionate presence, that quality of Mercy that is at the heart of what it means to be a Sister of Mercy.

Sister Mary Bernard died in 1974 and remains a shining light in the story of Mercy in Newfoundland.

 (Article by Sister Charlotte Fitzpatrick, RSM)

St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital: Historical Highlights

A timeline of key events in the development of St Clare’s Mercy Hospital.

St Clare’s 1916

1913 “White House” purchased from the Honorable E. M. Jackman to be operated by the Sisters of Mercy as a home for working girls.

1921 The “White House” was renovated to serve as a hospital. Archbishop E.P. Roche laid plans for the improvement whish included sending a Sister of Mercy to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburg to train as a nurse.

1922 May 21 St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital was officially opened to care for 23 patients Sister Mary Bernard Gladney, graduate nurse, was appointed Superintendent.  The following year Sister Mary Aloysius Rawlins took on the position of superintendant.

1939 New modern 100 bed building opened west of the “White House” on LeMarchant Road.
St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital School of Nursing was opened with accommodations for the students in a duplex house next to the hospital.

1941 First Graduation of St. Clare’s Nursing School- five graduates.

1950 Opening of a large chapel and additional facilities for pediatric, obstetric and dietary services
–   Our Lady of Lourdes window installed on chapel corridor in memory of Sister Mary Aloysius Rawlins who had been administrator of St. Clare’s for over twenty years.

1956 Board of Governors and Medical Advisory Committee established through the work of Sister Mary Fabian Hennebury, Administrator of St Clare’s.

1958 Our Lady of Lourdes Hall opened to accommodate 100 nursing students.

1959 St. Clare’s granted its first full accreditation by Canadian Council on Hospital Accreditation.

1960  St. Clare’s was incorporated.

1962 Opening of New wing on St. Clare Avenue to provide accommodation for 100 additional patients.

1967 St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital Auxiliary set up.  Mrs. Joan Parker Crosbie was first President.

1963 Planning begun for another extension of hospital. 1968 Recognition as teaching hospital affiliated with Memorial University.

1972 Golden Anniversary of the opening of St. Clare’s. New wing officially opened. Hospital population now increased to 300 patients.

1975 Department of Pastoral Care established. Sister M. Carmelita Power appointed as Director.

1978 Talbot House, a Residential Detoxification Center was opened on Deanery Avenue.

1979 First Palliative Care Unit east of Montreal opened. The unit was transferred to the Leonard A. Miller Centre in 2002.

1984 St. Clare’s was selected as one of ten test sites for a national computerized information management project.

St Clare’s Today

1985 Establishment of St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital Foundation
–   Computers were introduced- Meditech system for patient information.

1994 St. Clare’s sold to provincial government and incorporated into Health Care Corporation of St. John’s, 1995
–    Opening of LeMarchant House, a mental health day program/centre.

1995 St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital Advisory Council was established to foster Mission, Values and Ethics.

2004 Sisters of Mercy donated a ceramic mural “For Mercy Has a Human Heart” placed in the front entrance. Artist – Gerald Squires.

2005 Eastern Health, Regional Authority established for administration of all health care services in Avalon, Burin and Bonavista Peninsulas, including St. Clare’s.

2022 St. Clare’s celebrated the centenary anniversary of its opening.