I was among the first Sisters of Mercy to be professed at the Convent of Mercy, Baggot Street in Dublin. That was a very wonderful moment for me. But don't let me get ahead of myself.

Let me say a word about my background: I was born in Abbeyleix in County Laois to John and Mary Warde in 1810. I lost my mother when I was almost four years old. I had a wonderful father and five brothers and sisters who really doted on me. My aunt, my father's sister, was a perfect caretaker and nurturer, too. However, we lost our lovely home and land to an English "land grabber" and my father was never the same afterwards.

I was a very independent young woman and was allowed to live with friends in Dublin when I was only sixteen years old. I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, but I was confident that God would help me with that decision when the time came. Meanwhile, in Dublin I attended every fancy ball and concert and theatre party with my many friends.

One of my very best friends was Mary Theresa McAuley. We had grand times together. It was through Mary Theresa that I met Catherine McAuley, her mother's sister. At that time, Catherine was caring for her sister, Mary McAuley, who was dying of tuberculosis.

 Even though Catherine was much older that I, she made a great impression on me then, and, as you will see, she deeply influenced my entire life. Soon I was volunteering at Baggot Street and teaching in the free school. I loved my work among the poor people whom we educated, visited in their homes and nursed back to health. Life was going well for me; I felt I had found my place. Out of the blue, the Archbishop told Catherine that she would have to think seriously about becoming a "nun" so that people would stop wondering about these laywomen who were devoting much of their lives to helping poor women and children. He told her that she needed to give stability to this very important work she was doing.

After prayer and considering seriously the Archbishop's advice Catherine and Anna Maria Doyle and Elizabeth Hartley went off to the cloistered Convent of the Irish Presentation Sisters to learn to become nuns. Those of us at Baggot Street continued our works of Mercy, and I was charged with the care of all the household affairs during Catherine's absence. After fifteen long months, we welcomed Catherine, Anna Maria and Elizabeth back to Baggot Street, which was now called the Convent of Mercy rather than the House of Mercy. In January of 1832, I and several other young women were welcomed into this new congregation of Sisters of Mercy. I was going on 22.

Five years later Catherine asked me to open a foundation in Carlow. It was a great responsibility, but I felt I was equal to the task. I would have been content to remain there, but Bishop Michael O'Connor (from whom I had received much correspondence) suddenly appeared in Carlow begging for Sisters of Mercy to come to Pittsburgh. His description of the needs of the Irish immigrants so moved the community that all of us volunteered to go to the United States.

The decision was made quickly, the preparations began and seven of us started out on a long sea voyage to the United States in November of 1843. You may be sure our feelings were very mixed, for we never expected to see dear Ireland again. The Bishop of Carlow (with whom I had had words now and then) said I could leave to found this new mission in the United States, but he wanted me back in Carlow in two years time. This was not to be. I did get to return to Ireland once more for the sake of the mission; I was on a recruitment trip-to bring more Sisters of Mercy to America!

I wondered exactly where God was leading us. I always felt in my heart that we would expand far beyond Pittsburgh and lived to see this happen. From Pittsburgh, I traveled with a small group of Sisters to Chicago, a very primitive place in September of 1846. In fact, Bishop Quarter also immediately regretted his bringing the Sisters to such a god-forsaken place. But that regret turned to joy when he saw how the Sisters responded to the needs of the people. It was difficult to leave the Sisters behind and return to Pittsburgh. They were so young - all under the age of 22. But I knew Chicago was in good hands, and I returned alone by Conestoga wagon in late November - a trip that I will never forget, but that is another story.

Bishop Bernard O'Reilly of Providence begged me to bring Sisters of Mercy to Providence. Four Sisters of Mercy accompanied me to Providence in March of 1851. We arrived in the dead of night, dressed in lay clothing because we were told of the prejudice and bias of a group called the "Know-Nothings" who were religious bigots. There people tried, unsuccessfully, to oust us from our convent in 1855 when they claimed that I was keeping a Protestant lady, Rebecca Newell, against her will. The truth is that she had taken instructions from me to become a Catholic and then asked to enter our Order. The Bishop and I stood our ground, and we were well protected by the good Catholic men from around the city, and gradually the Know-Nothings left us in peace - at least for the time being. We would continue to be harassed in small ways, however.

Sisters of Mercy were very much in demand, and more young women continued to enter the community in order to do the works of mercy. Schools, hospitals, orphanages, boarding homes for young women, libraries, catechism classes were soon opened all over the east coast and spread throughout the United States.

My last call came from Manchester, New Hampshire where we again encountered the Know-Nothings. Thank God, we were able to assure the people that the Sisters were there to help them in any way that we could. Most of the foundations I made in the United States were made from this lovely place - more than sixty of them.

God gave me almost fifty-two years in this Community of Mercy. It has been a blessed life experience. Catherine did a marvelous thing when she responded to the Archbishop of Dublin when he called her forth to found a religious congregation. And, please God, the work of the Sisters of Mercy will continue in new ways and in new places all over the world.

"Never judge anyone, but endeavor to excuse her (his) faults and have a good opinion of all." (Frances Warde)