Sisters, Associates and Friends of Mercy are invited to celebrate the Eucharist at midday on the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, Saturday, 24 September, at Mercy International Centre.

All are welcome to lunch following the Eucharist.

RSVP by/on Friday 16 September to Madeline using the subject line ‘Mercy Day’, or ring +353 1 661 8061.
 
Download the invitation here (PDF)

Messages to: Madeline O'Hanlon - Receptionist

For those unable to be at Baggot Street, Mass will be live streamed on the Mercy World website so that all the Mercy family can join in the celebrations via computer or mobile device.

The live stream will commence at 11.30 am (Dublin Time) with Mercy Day messages. You can check the time and date the livestream will start in your area by clicking here

The video of the Mercy Day Mass will be archived on the site for later viewing by those for whom the live streaming occurs at an inconvenient hour.

NB: Information about accessing the livestream will be published in next week's issue of Mercy enews (Issue #687, 7 September).

Messages regarding live streaming to: Anne Walsh - Mercy eNews Editor

Let us remember in our prayers the victims and survivors of devastating events this past week: those killed or injured or left bereft in the destructive earthquake in central Italy; in the floods in Louisiana, United States and in eastern and central India, in the wildfires in western states in the United States and in the Moscow printing plant warehouse fire.

The people of Holmes County, a rural area of Mississipi, United States, have also experienced immense loss.

We give thanks for the lives of Sisters Paula Merrill SCN and Margaret Hold OSF who were murdered in their home in Durant, a city in Holmes County. For many years they had cared for and healed the poor in a local clinic.

Their ministry was the subject of a short video by the Sisters of Nazareth last year. It can be watched here (03:55).

Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

Post your own Prayer or Reflection in our online Chapel

The great feast that unites the Mercy world is Mercy Day, 24 September. Share greetings online in this Year of Mercy when 24 September holds for us all an even greater significance.

All members and friends of the Mercy family are invited to send in your greetings for posting on our mercyworld.org website for Mercy Day. Greetings will be posted online as they are received.

Greetings should be sent in by Wednesday, 21 September to make sure they are published for Mercy Day.

Messages to: Anne Walsh - Mercy eNews Editor

As a Mercy Community we pray with those in need of prayer

God of love and mercy, touch with your healing power and restore to full health:
Jean Marie Hobbs rsm, Gwen (aged one), Barry Gallagher, Meg Marnell and all whose names are on our prayer list.

We ask this with confidence through the intercession of Venerable Catherine McAuley. Amen.

Messages to: the Vice postulators

A Litany for Mercy Day, in both English and Spanish translation and specially written for this year's celebrations, will be made available in next week's Mercy eNews (Issue #687, 7 September) for those who would like to incorporate it into their Mercy Day prayer.

This Litany will be included in the Mercy Day Eucharist at Baggot Street.

Messages to: Anne Walsh - Mercy eNews Editor

Image: iStock. Used under licence

Funeral arrangements are in place for Sr Marie Chin. A Welcoming Service for Sr Marie’s ashes will be at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 31. The service will include the Office for the Dead. The Liturgy of Thanksgiving will be at 11:30 a.m. on the same day at Sacred Heart Convent Chapel, Belmont, North Carolina.

Sr Marie had expressed the desire that her funeral services be simple and her wish that Sisters of Mercy across the Institute could join in prayer at the time of her services.

It would be a wonderful support to Sr Marie's Communities in Belmont and in Jamaica, the Institute and her family if we, too, could offer our prayerful support at the time of her services.

Messages to: Sisters of Mercy of the Americas c/- Lauren Albright - Institute Communications Office
 

In 2013 Sr Marie presented a week-long program at Mercy International Centre as part of the Wellspring renewal month. Marie's topic: 'Religious Life: A Deep Down Impulse to Care and Make Creation Whole' carries extra significance in light of the MIRP.

Editor: On 25 August the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas were among 11 inductees into the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame. This is only the second year that such awards have been made.

The goal of the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame (AWHF) is to honor, in perpetuity, women whose contributions have influenced the direction of Arkansas in their community or the state.

Sisters of Mercy have been present in Arkansas since 1851 and 'over the last 165 years, the sheer number of lives the Sisters have touched is overwhelming!' reads their nomination. Currently there are seven Mercy Hospitals, a residential care facility, schools and direct services to the needy. 

Messages to: Sisters of Mercy Arkansas c/- Lauren Albright - Institute Communications Office

There are still a few places available in the six week (25 January - 10 March 2017) Sabbatical for Senior Sisters program at Te Ngakau Waiora Mercy Spirituality Centre, Auckland, New Zealand. The program is open to Sisters from New Zealand and from overseas.

Expressions of interest and requests for the registration package are still open.

Download the flyer (PDF)

Messages to: Beate Matthies - Manager, Mercy Spirituality Centre

The Burren is one of the most unique landscapes in North West Europe.

Come on a guided journey through the Burren with its limestone pavements, rare flora and ancient sacred sites. Let the silence and beauty of this unique landscape unfold its mysteries and renew you in body and soul.

View the Burren Outdoor Retreat facebook page to find out more

Dates: Friday 23 - Sunday 25 September
Venue: Ibricken Lodge, Spanish Point, Co. Clare
Cost: €185

Messages to:
Nóirín Long rsm - +353 (0)87 945 9151
Mary Lillis rsm - +353 (0)87 970 1130
 

Mercy Seery, an Associate of the Sisters of Mercy Brisbane Congregation, recently celebrated her 100th birthday with four generations of family and friends gathered to celebrate her long and fruitful life.  Pope Francis, in his message to her, pointed out the coincidence of Mercy reaching 100 in the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.

We sent warm congratulations to Mercy as well as appreciation for her many years as an Associate.  Her daughter Judith is also a Mercy Associate.

Messages to: Mercy Seery c/- Brigid Frawley rsm

Pope Francis tells us 'All it takes is one good person to restore hope!'

Join us in reflecting on the meaning of Te Whakaruruhau mo nga iwi katoa Shelter For All during Mercy Month.

In the tradition of Catherine
and in the spirit of Whakawhanaungatanga,
making right relationship happen,
we Widen Mercy Circles,
Stand with fragile communities
and are Disturbed into action...

Messages to: Katrina Fabish rsm - Congregation Leader

This past month Mercy Volunteer Corps (MVC) welcomed our 39th group of Mercy Volunteers! We are thrilled to announce that a record number of 44 Mercy Volunteers have officially started their year of service. With new service site partnerships in San Francisco, Sacramento, Philadelphia, and Guyana, Mercy Volunteers will be serving at 33 different service sites in 10 cities across the United States and South America. It is with great joy that the Mercy Volunteer Corps’ staff, board members, support teams, and donors continue to promote the mission of MVC. It is Mercy Volunteer Corps’ hope for the future to continue to embrace and spread the Spirit of Mercy!

Messages to: Elizabeth MacNeal - Communication Specialist MVC

Srs Carmel Bracken and Kathleen Glennon are currently engaged in creating a variety of resources on issues of concern around Ecojustice/climate change etc.

Firstly they are creating rituals for creation time, focusing on the theme of ‘Widening the circle of Mercy/Compassion’. The whole idea here is the widening of our sense of compassion to embrace all of creation.

The first ritual can be downloaded here (6pps; PDF)

Messages to:
Carmel Bracken rsm
Kathleen Glennon rsm 

One of a series of short video clips created by the Archdiocese of St Louis for the Year of Mercy (01:58)

1875: Foundation to Singleton from Ennis - M Stanislaus Kenny

Contribute a fact about the Story of the Sisters of Mercy in your congregation or institute to our online archive

'…we are called through love to draw one another into being, patiently, gently, constantly – as God draws us.'

Helen Marie Burns rsm (Americas)

BBC Earth's 'Your life on earth' interactive takes your birthdate, gender and height to give you a personalized look at how the Earth has changed since you were born.

Factoids provided include: how many times your heart has beaten; how far you have travelled through space; the amount of sea level rise; how far the tectonic plates have moved; and the number of earthquakes and volcano eruptions experienced since your were born.

Source: BBC

'God’s mercy can make even the driest land become a garden, can restore life to dry bones (cf. Ez 37:1-14). … Let us be renewed by God’s mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.'

— Pope Francis’ Easter Urbi et Orbi message on March 31, 2013

For many centuries the northern Syrian city of Aleppo pulsated with life. That life was fuelled by culture and commerce and pride in a long and colourful history. Five years of civil war has more than decimated the population and virtually reduced the city to rubble.'..

- Veronica Lawson rsm