{"id":3395,"date":"2020-03-13T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T04:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/?p=3395"},"modified":"2024-04-14T08:50:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T12:50:28","slug":"friday-march-13-2020-catherine-mcauley-rsm-text-of-contextual-paragraphs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2020\/03\/13\/friday-march-13-2020-catherine-mcauley-rsm-text-of-contextual-paragraphs\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday, March 13, 2020 – Catherine McAuley, RSM text of contextual paragraphs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, March 13, 2020<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep Patience ever at your side:
\nyou\u2019ll need it for a constant guide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine McAuley [1778\u20131841]\u00a0founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831 during an early moment in Ireland\u2019s version of the enclosure movements (i.e. forcing very poor Irish women and men off their small subsistence farms to open the land they had lived on to large pastures for sheep).\u00a0\u00a0 Sheep held the key to immense wealth once the invention of power spinning and weaving began to replace hand work;\u00a0 British textiles became a global empire.\u00a0\u00a0 Forcing subsistence farmers off their farms created the slums in Irish and English cities.<\/p>\n

This was the world Catherine McAuley learned to treat as home for the Sisters of Mercy and home for brutally poor Irish women and their children.\u00a0 Many of the early Sisters died of virulent respiratory infections.<\/p>\n

I chose to shine a light on the character and poetry of Catherine McAuley on this day in particular, as people in our city and country and world learn to live with \u201can abundance of caution\u201d in the face of the Covid 19\u2019s exponential spread within this country and around many parts of the world. \u00a0As you read the poem, it helps to recall the context of the 19th<\/sup> century pandemic in which she wrote and spoke.<\/p>\n

Catherine, the founder and leader and inspiration of these women, frequently kept vigil with many of them as they died.\u00a0 She became famous for her tenderness and her courage, but also for the playful wit with which she wrote and spoke.<\/p>\n

Have a blest weekend,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

John Staudenmaier, SJ<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post<\/strong> \u2013 Letter from M. Catherine McAuley to M. Elizabeth Moore, early December 1838<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let crosses vex or tease;
\ntry to meet all with peace and ease.
\nNotice the faults of every day \u2013
\nbut often in a playful way.
\nAnd when you seriously complain,
\nlet it be known to give you pain.
\nAttend one thing at a time:
\nyou\u2019ve fifteen hours from 6 to 9.
\nBe mild and sweet in all your ways;
\nnow and again bestow some praise.
\nAvoid all solemn declaration,
\nall serious, close investigation.
\nTurn what you can into a jest,
\nand with few words dismiss the rest.
\nKeep Patience ever at your side:
\nyou\u2019ll need it for a constant guide.
\nShow fond affection every day,
\nand above all, devoutly pray
\nthat God may bless the charge He\u2019s given,
\nand make of you their guide to Heaven.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Catherine McAuley
\nArtist: Marie Henderson, RSM<\/p>\n

\u201cRhymes taken from Letters of Catherine McAuley,\u201d in The Correspondence of Catherine McAuley<\/u> 1827-1841<\/u><\/p>\n

ps.\u00a0 Remembering a companion who has left us.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sally Baker
\nJanuary 15, 1942 \u2013 March 13, 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, March 13, 2020 \u201cKeep Patience ever at your side: you\u2019ll need it for a constant guide.\u201d Catherine McAuley [1778\u20131841]\u00a0founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831 during an early moment in Ireland\u2019s version of the enclosure movements (i.e. forcing very … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3395"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3916,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3395\/revisions\/3916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}