I recently attended a ceremony that truly marked the end of an era – the closing of St. Clare’s Mercy Convent. Its history began 102 years ago, as St. Clare’s Home for Working Girls and was the first location of St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital.
Front row (l-r): Sister Marie Etheridge, Sister Jane McGrath, Sister Marian Grace Manning, and Sister Madonna O’Neill
Back Row, left to right: Sister Brenda Lacey, Sister Elizabeth Davis and Sister Madonna Gatherall
Over the years, 92 Sisters of Mercy called it home.
In her emotional remarks during the recent closing ceremony, one of its former residents, Sister Elizabeth Davis, reminisced: “It is a holy space which has seen and heard joy and laughter, music and dancing, pain and tears, anger and gentleness, fear and hope, dreams and promise.”
But the Sisters have left their mark on face of health care delivery in this province.
Sister Elizabeth believes it’s a lasting legacy. “While the physical convent may be gone, we have far more than the memories of the place and of the women who once called it home.”
“We have the energy that flows from the spirit of mercy that lived in the convent and now lives forever in this hospital and in our world.”
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