The Congregation of The Poor Servants of the Mother of God, celebrate their 150th anniversary this year. Below you can read Sr Margaret Cashman’s address at the celebratory mass in Raheny 31/3/2022
I am delighted to be here with you this morning for the Mass of Thanksgiving in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the founding of our Congregation – The Poor Servants of the Mother of God.
Our Foundress, Frances Taylor, now known as Venerable Magdalen Taylor, was born in Stoke Rochford, Lincolnshire, England in 1832. She was the youngest of ten children of an Anglican clergyman, Henry Taylor and his wife Louisa. Her father died when Frances was ten years old and the family then moved to London. This was a huge change for Frances, as she had loved the countryside where she spent a few carefree years.
In London, she was moved to pity by the pain of poverty which was obvious all around her. We can recall from history what the 1840s were like in Ireland. Conditions weren’t much better in London. Frances always had a desire to serve the poor and marginalized and for a number of years she was discerning how to fulfil this dream.
In 1853 the Crimean War broke out and in March 1854 Frances, at the age of 22, even though she was under age, volunteered to nurse the wounded in military hospitals in Turkey. She left England in January 1855 and was posted to a hospital in Kulalie, where she met Florence Nightingale and the Sisters of Mercy from Kinsale. She was very impressed by the work of the Mercy Sisters and with them helped to tend the Irish soldiers who lay dying far from home. She wrote letters home to Irish parents telling them about their sons. She was very struck by the faith of the Irish soldiers who did not seem to be afraid of dying. Their Irish faith stayed with them to the end.
The influence of the Irish Sisters of Mercy and the Irish soldiers made a great impression on Frances and through their influence she decided to become a Catholic. She was received into the Catholic Church by a Jesuit priest, Fr. Sidney Woollett on 14th April 1855.
She returned to England in November 1855 and resumed her work with the poor in London. With two companions she rented rooms off Fleet Street and visited the poor in their homes. We must remember, in those days there was no Social Welfare – people who had nothing were destitute.
To support the work with the poor, Frances was determined that her group of helpers should be self-supporting, so she turned to writing as a means of support. Among her writings are “Eastern Hospitals and English Nurses”, in which she recalls her wartime experiences in the Crimea and makes an impassioned plea for an upgrading of the nursing standards and systems in the UK. Another of her publications is “Irish Homes and Irish Hearts” where she writes of her experiences in Ireland. She helped with the revival of the “Apostleship of Prayer” and the “Messenger of the Sacred Heart” and edited a number of Religious magazines. She was encouraged in her literary work and her work with the poor by Cardinal Manning and Cardinal John Henry Newman, now St. John Henry Newman.
From the outset in her work with the poor, Frances had a desire to dedicate her life to God in a Religious Congregation. Between 1859-1866 she spent time with the Daughters of Charity is Paris and the Daughters of the Heart of Mary in England in her search for a Congregation, which would work with and for the poor.
In 1867, she went to Poland where she met Edmund Bojanowski, the founder of a Polish Religious Congregation whose members worked in their local community with and for the poor, the sick, the elderly and orphans. Frances saw this as the perfect ideal and model she wished to follow. She was unable to establish a branch of this Polish Congregation in London, but through prayer and discernment she came to realise that she would need to start a Congregation of her own.
In 1869, together with three companions she began her formation for Religious Life. In 1870, as a Novice, she took the name Sr. Mary Magdalen of the Sacred Heart. On 12th February 1872 she made her Final Vows and so began the work of the new Congregation of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God.
Frances was joined by other women – many of them Irish – over the years. She inspired in all her Sisters a deep respect for the dignity and worth of each person. She instilled in them also a spirit of hospitality – the Sisters shared with people whatever they had. It is noteworthy also that our Congregation never had lay Sisters – every Sister shared in whatever chores had to be done in our houses.
The main works of the new Congregation were care of the poor in their own homes, catechizing children and rescuing young women from prostitution. To expand this work, many new community houses opened in the London area – in Tower Hill, Soho, Seven Dials, Mount Street and Cavendish Square. On the celebration of the Silver Jubilee, the Congregation had spread throughout the UK and houses had been opened further afield in Ireland, Paris and Rome.
Mother Magdalen was prepared to open Convents in any area where she perceived a genuine need, which, she felt, could be minimised by the presence of Sisters. In the early days in Lancashire where many of the miners were unable to read or write, the Sisters quickly responded to their needs by setting up a night school as well as setting up one of the first free hospitals in Liverpool and in the UK. In serving people in this way, it was Mother’s wish that we would show people, regardless of colour, creed or culture ‘that we have alike, one hope, one end and one God’. Like St. Paul “we were not to be a burden on anyone” – we worked to earn our living.
Commitment to duty and responsibility took their toll on Mother Magdalen’s health. In the latter part of the 1800s her health deteriorated and she died, at the age of 69 in the Convent in Soho Square on 9th June 1900. The Cause for her beatification started in 1982 and she was declared Venerable by Pope Francis in 2014.
Over the years the ministry of the Congregation has varied according to need. Schools – primary and secondary, hospitals, care homes, nursing homes have opened in various parts of the world as the need arose. Some continue to this day but others have closed as other agencies and the State have taken on the work
Strangely, in this 21st century poverty still exists here in Ireland and in the UK, and needs our support to alleviate it. Some Irish families do not have a home. As a nation, we have a good reputation of welcoming those rendered homeless because of unrest or war in their own homeland. Currently, as a nation we can be proud our response to the Ukranian refugee crisis. Even in First World countries there are always those who, for whatever reason need a helping hand to make ends meet and we make every effort to be of assistance to them. Currently 500,000 children in UK do not have a bed. We assist a Charity called ‘bed poverty’, which was started by a primary teacher in Leeds, to help alleviate the problem.
70 years ago, in 1952 our SMG Congregation was invited to open a private primary school in Raheny. This later developed into Manor House Secondary school. In the early ‘50s also the Sisters were invited to manage and teach in Scoil Áine. We are very grateful to the people of Raheny for their support for the past 70 years. I spent my entire teaching career in Manor House, and I am not being biassed if I say it is one of the best schools in the country! Over the 70 years we have been blessed through having supportive, committed teachers whose dedication extends far beyond the classroom walls.
Manor House pioneered a Transition Year in 1975 whereby students studied for a number of GCE O Level subjects as well as engaging in other activities. All went well for a few years but we were brought to book by the Department of Education for making it compulsory and having qualifications certified outside the State. We did succeed in retaining the Transition year and we are glad to report it continues to benefit our students today. We are never afraid of pushing out the boat for the benefit of others. Another Sister in Castledermot initiated amalgamation with the local VEC. It wasn’t taken too kindly at the time but was achieved and is working very well. Our school in Carrigtwohill, which began in a small way over 100 years ago, is still thriving and expanding. In Raheny, as in our other schools concern for the benefit of each student as well as for the wellbeing of work colleagues are teachers’ priorities. I do not have any hesitation in similarly complementing the teachers in Scoil Aine, Raheny and Scoil Eithne, Edenmore. In the absence of Sisters we know our spirit continues to be lived in these schools through the dedicated loyalty of the management and teaching staffs. Many of our past pupils have kept in touch with us over the years– some even teach in our schools or in neighbouring schools. We are very proud of all of them. Being part of the Le Chéile Trust since 2009 is an added bonus for us as its ethos guarantees the future of Catholic Education in our country
Even though our numbers vocation-wise have declined, we continue to be involved in education and health care of the elderly in a small way in Ireland. In UK we still have care homes and supported living for people with special needs. We have been very fortunate in having dedicated, hardworking colleagues to assist us in our wonderful teachers, nurses, management and ancillary staffs who continue in keeping our spirit alive after the Sisters have left the service.
Over the past 30 years, we have opened missions in Kenya and Tanzania and our ministry in health care, social care, education, and pastoral care is expanding. In Mother Magdalen’s time, there were Congregations dedicated to evangelisation in foreign countries only, but she realised that the home missions were in need of evangelisation as well. Today, however, with fewer vocations in the west there is still a need for foreign missionaries. Our Sisters have been invited to a number of areas in East Africa – Kenya and Tanzania. We are fortunate to have a number of Kenyan SMG Sisters involved in our East African mission.
Mother Magdalen wanted our services – schools, hospitals, nursing homes etc. to be happy places – places of joy as well as being professional and compliant in offering the highest standards of whatever service was being offered. This continues today wherever we work. In our schools there should be respect for individuals, including the most vulnerable, the less gifted, those of other nationalities. Bullying in any form should not be tolerated.
The Charism and ethos of our Congregation lies in the respect we have for the dignity of each person – it is not about what people do but who they are . In the school setting, mutual respect enables the students to develop qualities of personal integrity and moral courage. This has a far reaching potential, as we are not alone transforming the individual human lives of our students but also, through them, the wider society which they will help to build.
Education for justice and peace is constantly before us in the context of the contemporary world situation. I have already mentioned Ukraine – I wonder what else Mother Magdalen would do to address the situation if she was around today? What would she want us to do to help the Ukrainian people? I am aware of what is being done in our schools to help alleviate their suffering and poverty.
While Frances Taylor, Mother Magdalen faced the challenges of the late 19th century another Francis echoes the same vision of faith and outreach to the poor in the 21st century, as expressed in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti. This Francis, as Pope endorsed Mother Magdalen’s vision and ministry by declaring her Venerable in 2014. His encyclical Laudato Si, on respect for the environment as part of God’s creation, is given practical expression in our various services, through our emphasis on recycling and avoidance of waste. It is very much part of our SMG heritage to be stewards of God’s creation and to educate others to do likewise.
Today, 150 years after our foundation, Mother Magdalen’s spirit lives on, as the Sisters and extended SMG family and work colleagues, who continue her ministry of social, pastoral, health care and education, work in 6 countries. Mother Magdalen has left us a wonderful legacy when we think of her alertness to the needs of the people of her time and how she responded to them so generously and creatively. In our own small ways we strive to do likewise.
While we give thanks for Venerable Magdalen’s inspiration and leadership, we also remember with deep gratitude, all those Sisters who embraced her call with great generosity and commitment over the past 150 years. We pray that her spirit will continue long into the future through the dedication of our Sisters and committed work colleagues who model dignity and respect for every human person for the greater glory of God.
