Congregation of Our Lady of Mercy in New Zealand - UC Research ...

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'-'uropean and the natives in Auckland and throughout the
~!10 le Diocese. Amid the Vicissitudes· of that Diocese v;hen
;.issions were forsaken, and when difficulties arose such as
seldom have befallen a Colonial Diocese; for that suffering
-~)lurch was for years encompassed on every side with the
terrors and ravages of savage warfare, and 1, i th all its
direful consequences, dissensions, desolation, ruin, and a
crushing burden of debt, nevertheless throughout that trying
t~eriod st. Mary's Convent of Mercy in Auckland was a t1>ue
fortress of the faith, and handed on to the faithful of the
Diocese the
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tradition of piety and the blessings of religion."
.
Eighty years after their ari'ival, on the occasion of
the centennial celebrations of the Order in 1931, the Sisters'
woric was still held in 1 oving rnernory.
( 1) 11 'l 1 he arrival of the pioneer Sisters, 11 says a writer
in 'Zealandia, ·' 11 during the episcopate of His Lordship,
Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier (whose memory is still deeply
revered by ~he Maori people throughout New Zealand) was an
epoch-making event in the social and religious progress
of this c Oil!ltry. 11
"Therein we are not f'orgetful of the fact that our
people substantially participated in the benefits thereof -
for many of our women-folk o:t' the past, sever•al generations
v1ere educated at the convent schools - and the names of the
Sisters of l\lercy are held in household reverence in many
homes. 11
J:l'or nearly twenty years, l,Iother Cecilia and her
c onmmni ty dwelt in a tottering old house with I,ady Poverty
as a constant companion.
(2) Yet when the financial crisis
came in the wake of the Maori Wars, their five convents
were found to be free of debt. However poorly the,y lived 9
the culture of good books and good music was always
cherished.
Even Vihen poverty obliged them to economise in
food and clothing, the libr.aries were well stocked and
1 •
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11
Zeal andia 11 (M,. Gaul ter) NoveLiber 18th, 1937.
Annals. Vol.·iL op. cit. p.619.