About Us

The Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland is a congregation of women religious who live and minister in Canada and in Peru according to the spirit of our foundress, Catherine McAuley.

Catherine McAuley’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. These three Sisters of Mercy formed the first community of Mercy in North America.

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.

If we love God, we will undoubtedly love our neighbour also; they are as cause and effect.

Retreat Instructions, p.147

This is your life, joys and sorrow mingled, one succeeding the other.

Letter to Francis Warde

If the love of God really reigns in your heart, it will quickly show itself in the exterior.

Retreat Instructions, p. 145

May God bless the poor Sisters of Mercy and make them very humble that they may not be unworthy of the distinguished blessings God has bestowed upon them.

Letter to Elizabeth Moore

[God] knows I would rather be cold and hungry than the poor in Kingston or elsewhere should be deprived of any consolation in our power to afford.

Letter to Teresa White