Friday, July 30, 2010 March 25, 1843 THE FIRST SISTER OF MERCY PROFESSED IN THE NEW WORLD Maria Nugent, a native of Waterford, Ireland, who had been living in St. John’s made her profession of vows on March 25th, 1843 as Sister Mary Joseph and has the distinction of being the first Sister of Mercy professed outside the British Isles. She had previously been a member of the Presentation Congregation which she joined in August 1834. Maria Nugent, the sister of reform politician John Nugent. She was an accomplished author and musician and was comfortable in a number of languages including Greek, Latin, French and Italian. A typhus epidemic broke out in St. John’s in 1847, Sister Mary Joseph spent long hours at the St. John’s Hospital, giving consolation and care to those afflicted with the dreaded disease. Sister Joseph fell victim to typhus and died on June 24th, 1847. The Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland is a congregation of women religious who live and minister according to the spirit of our foundress, Catherine McAuley. Catherine’s gift of Mercy shaped the story and ideals of the congregation she founded and became the hallmark of its mission and spirituality. Three Sisters of Mercy from Ireland arrived in Newfoundland in 1842. The Sisters of Mercy formed the first community of Mercy in the new world. The story of Mercy in this province is one that is rich in history and tradition, steeped in and shaped by the unique culture of Newfoundland and Labrador, the most easterly province of Canada. Recommended Reading: Weavers of the Tapestry by Sister Katherine Bellamy, RSM : Flanker Press , St. John’s , 2006. Website : http://www.sistersofmercynf.org/index.cfm For more information on this and other related subjects contact the Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese. www.stjohnsarchdiocese.nf.ca Other “Archival Moments” will be posted at this site on a regular weekly basis. If you have friends or colleagues who would like to receive these "archival moments" please send us their e mail address or forward this moment to them from your desk!! Larry Dohey Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s P.O. Box 1363 St. John’s, NL A1C 5M3 709-726-3660 E-mail: archives@nf.aibn.com We hope that you have enjoyed this archival moment.