This year marks the 180th anniversary of the arrival of Mother M. Ursula (Clara Mary) Frayne and the first Sisters of Mercy in Australia.
Ursula was a close companion of Venerable Mother M. Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin, even accompanying her when she died on 11 November, 1841. Four years after Catherine’s death and at the age of 28, Ursula, along with seven other young women and Sisters of Mercy, made the long and arduous journey from Ireland to Australia aboard the Elizabeth, at the request of Bishop John Brady. They arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia, on 8 January 1846, thereby establishing the first Mercy mission in Australia.
Of her arrival, in her Sketches of Conventual Life in the Bush, Ursula wrote: ‘We stood in the wilds of Australia on that midsummer night, and we could truly say with our Divine Model, “We have nowhere to rest our heads.”’ Suffice to say, Ursula and the first Sisters of Mercy in Australia were brave, pioneering and resilient women.
On 20 April 1857, at the request of Bishop James Alipius Goold, Ursula established another Mercy convent and school in Melbourne (Nicholson Street, Fitzroy) where the Academy of Mary Immaculate continues to operate. Ursula died there on 9 June 1885 and is interred in the school chapel, which is named in her honour.
Years later, on 24 January 1910, five Sisters of Mercy from Fitzroy came to Heidelberg, at the invitation of the local priest, Father Patrick Michael Parker, to oversee a primary school and, shortly after, a secondary school (our present day OLMC), with Sister M. Basil Emoe as the first superior and principal. Consequently, our Mercy mission in Heidelberg was established, and the great gift and legacy of these early Sisters of Mercy lives on in our OLMC students, staff and facilities today.
Last month, on 8 January in Perth, many current and former Sisters of Mercy, religious, priests, past and present Mercy school students and staff members, current and former Mercy ministry staff members, residents and friends gathered together to celebrate 180 years of mercy in Australia. You are welcome to read more about this celebration here.
On 9 February, during our OLMC Opening Year School Mass, we acknowledged 180 years of Mercy in Australia and welcomed locally-based Sisters of Mercy to celebrate with us. We will continue the celebration of this special milestone at other moments throughout our academic year, including Mercy Day.