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Catherine's Canonisation Cause
The Spirituality of Catherine - Anne Hannon
rsm
(This paper is the text of reflections presented by Anne Hannon
rsm at the Annual General Meeting in Sunderland of the English
Federation of Sisters of Mercy, 27 November 2003)
Angela Bolster calls Catherine an evangeliser and identifies
three main themes around which her spiritual teachings revolved:
- Trust in the Father's Providence
- Identification with Jesus in his mission
- Heartfelt gratitude for the Mercy of God
Trust in the Father's Providence
If I were looking for a Gospel story to illustrate Catherine's
great trust in the Father's Providence it would be the piece
from the gospel of Luke 12:22-30. 'Do not be concerned for your
life, what you are to eat, or for your body, what you are to
wear. Life is more important than food and the body more than
clothing. Consider the ravens: they do not sow, they do not reap;
they have neither cellar nor barn - yet God feeds them. How much
more important you are than the birds. Or take the lilies: they
do not spin, they do not weave; but I tell you, Solomon in all
his splendour was not arrayed like any one of them. If God clothes
in such splendour the grass of the field, which grows today and
is thrown on the fire tomorrow, how much more will he provide
for you, O weak in faith... . .. Stop worrying... Your father
knows that you need such things.'
Catherine was the exponent par excellence of implicit trust
in the providence of God, because she believed in Him. Her faith
was a radical faith, which was dynamic, affective and expressive
of the reliance on God which is the immediate characteristic
virtue with which we associate her and which reveals a quite
extraordinary relationship with God. That she understood well
that confidence in the providence of God entailed effort, is
clear from her words 'While we place our whole confidence
in God, we must act as if all depended on our exertions'. Her
sense of balance between this personal effort and reliance on
God is demonstrated over and over again in some of her letters.
She writes about the Charleville foundation, which was in danger
of breaking down: 'My heart felt sorrowful when I thought of
the poor being deprived of the comfort that God intended for
them. I made every effort and, praise be to God, all came round'.
She never lost sight of the fact that while she might be the
instrument of planting and watering, only God could bring the
increase. Her letters show that she judged all the events of
her life from a standpoint of faith, of her vision of God: 'I
will confide in the generous bounty and never-ceasing kindness
of our beloved Saviour Put your whole confidence in God. He will
never let you want necessities for yourself or children... I
hope that God will grant the spiritual assistance required...
You have given all to God without reserve. Nothing can happen
to you, which he does not appoint... God will support you in
this great affliction... The Lord and Master of our House and
Home is a faithful provider. Let us never desire more than enough.
He will give us that, and a blessing... We have ever confided
largely in Divine Providence and shall continue to do so.'
 Catherine's confidence in her 'faithful provider' continued
to be a source of serenity and hope throughout her life. For
example, like so many of the early foundations, the beginnings
of Tullamore were fragile from a financial perspective. Nevertheless,
Catherine encouraged Mary Anne Doyle, the first superior, 'to
have the most strong and lively confidence that your convent
will be firmly established for it certainly will'. She went on
to urge her to offer the Sisters' services 'most freely, and
relying with unhesitating confidence on the Providence of God'.
Even on her final day on earth she trusted her 'faithful provider.'
When Frances Gibson, later the founding sister in Liverpool,
begged Catherine not to leave them lest the Congregation die,
she replied, 'If the order be my work, the sooner it falls to
the ground the better. If it is God's work, it needs no one'.
TASK
Take time to consider the ordinary circumstances of your life
that might reveal the guidance of a providential God.
Choose one person with whom to share this.
Compose a litany of the providential care of God.
Catherine Identified with Jesus in His Mission
The asceticism of her spirituality may be condensed into three
words Imitation of Christ. Jesus occupied a central place in
her spirituality; to lead her sisters to imitate him in charity,
humility, meekness and simplicity was the aim of her conferences.
Among her counsels, Catherine told her Sisters that: the life
and maxims of Jesus Christ should be as a book always open before
us, from which we are to learn all that is necessary to know;
as a glass in which we clearly see our defects, and as a seal
whose image we are to impress on our hearts. According to Fr.
Burke-Savage, 'Catherine could never have spoken so easily and
so beautifully of the changing scenes of Our Lord's earthly life
without constant meditation on them.
Catherine taught that the grace of vocation carries with it
the serious obligation of putting on Christ: 'When God bestows
on us the special grace of vocation to the religious life, He
requires us to form our entire conduct on the example given by
Jesus Christ. The grace of vocation was unmerited on our part
... Give Him your heart with its affection and commence in earnest
to form yourselves according to the image of your divine Model'.
Of course integral to the imitation of Christ was a deep understanding
of His thirst for justice, hence, her emphasis on the importance
of a social conscience. She, by word and deed, led her sisters
to live his way of mercy, his courageous service in truth and
justice and his gentle but strong insistence on the dignity of
every member of the human family.
Catherine had an especially clear insight into the fact that
devotion to the Passion of Christ is transformative of our lives
and daily self-denial constituted our most transformative imitation
of Christ. Suffering marked Catherine McAuley' s life; the early
death of her beloved parents; her financial dependence on those
who mocked her religion; the grave never closed to her; opposition
to her works for the poor and separation from those she loved.
Catherine considered these the ordinary fare of life 'extensively
divided and equally the affliction of many' . She knew well that
imitating Christ's love demands self-denial, humility of heart,
sweetness of manner and patience in the face of contradictions.
TASK
Think of a story from your own life that reflects your understanding
of participating in the Passion of Jesus Christ. Write a letter
to Jesus about his passion and yours.
Heartfelt gratitude for the Mercy of God
Catherine saw herself before God as one who received everything
from His divine bounty; who benefited from his redemptive love.
She felt obliged to be a channel of Mercy towards others. In
a very real sense, she endeavoured to share her own experience
of God's Mercy. She threw her heart open to the Father and her
hands open to the poor as she joyfully spread the good news of
God's steadfast love for his people. She felt compelled to guide
her spiritual daughters - the Sisters of Mercy, towards the compassionate
and redemptive love of God. She declared that the principal reason
they were called Sisters of Mercy was 'to serve God in the person
of the poor and to walk in the very same path which he trod'.
She wanted them to be merciful as the Heavenly Father is merciful.
As usual she led by example. One of her early companions, Sr.
M. Clare Moore said of her, 'Mercy was a word of predilection
for our dear Rev. Mother'. She would say, 'It not only bestows
benefits, but it receives and pardons again and again, even the
ungrateful. The Mercy of God comes to our assistance and renders
practical His love in our regard'. In her Mercy Magnificat we
see that Catherine had a clear Biblical understanding of Mercy.
It grew out of her devotion to prayer. The Magnificat is very
familiar to all of you but I think it is worth quoting it here.
Sweet Mercy - soothing, patient, kind -
softens the high and rears the fallen mind:
Knows with just rein and even hand to guide
between false fear and arbitrary pride.
Not easily provoked, she soon forgives:
feels love for all, and by a look, relieves.
Soft peace she brings wherever she arrives,
removes out anguish and reforms our lives;
Makes the rough paths of peevish nature even,
and opens in each heart a little Heaven.
This poem shows that Catherine had a well-deserved reputation for
familiarity with the Scriptures. The Mercy Magnificat holds overtones
of Psalms 103 and 145, as of the Mercy parables in Luke. Her biblical
understanding grew out of her devotion to prayer as I said already.
She also allowed her contemplation of the compassionate Christ
to transform her life to the degree that she was ever ready to
respond in loving kindness to perceived needs. This led her along
the path of Mercy to found her Congregation of Sisters, whom she
exhorted 'Oh! how tender, how compassionate, how merciful ought
not we, Sisters of Mercy, to be ... Sisters of Mercy should be
... the kindest people in the world. In response to people who
said the Sisters should devote less time to work and more to prayer
she responded, 'The Spiritual and Corporal works of Mercy which
draw religious from a life of contemplation, so far from separating
them from God, unite them more closely to Him, and render them
more valuable in His holy service'.
Her vision of Mercy embraced Justice and she was
constantly exhorting her sisters to read the signs of the times,
to change
social structures through the education of girls and young women,
to have a discerning heart characterized by an effective quality
of presence. And in all the changing circumstances of her life
she preserved an unshakeable optimism based on her experience
of the infinite goodness, mercy and power of God. She strove
to make the rich conscious of their obligation to help the poor;
to make the healthy aware of the sick; to make the literate help
the illiterate~ to make the housed help the homeless. In fact
while she had a hands-on approach to helping the needy she had
a huge awareness of the need for systemic change.
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