If you inherited a $1 million windfall, would you spend every last cent helping house and educate the poor of your city? Catherine McAuley did, and ended up founding an order of Roman Catholic nuns that helped spread the concept of religious social activism across the globe. Heart Centered in God is a 30-minute day-in-the-life glimpse of Catherine McAuley and her early struggles to establish the visionary “Houses of Mercy” that gave shelter and job training to thousands of women in 1830s Ireland, then one of the most impoverished and politically oppressed societies in Europe. Nearly two centuries later. the Sisters of Mercy number more than 10,000 nuns in 25 countries and are at the forefront of efforts to bring about economic justice, immigration reform and elimination of human trafficking. Playwright L.E. McCullough tells the story of this remarkable 19th-century Irishwoman in Heart Centered in God: Mother Catherine McAuley, the First Sister of Mercy. The role of Mother McAuley is performed by Lisa Bansavage. Produced by Pages of History and directed by Kathleen Bishop, the play was commissioned by Georgian Court University of Lakewood, New Jersey, a Sisters of Mercy-affiliated institution. §______________________________________________________________________________________________§ Catherine McAuley was born in Ireland in September, 1778. Her father was a prosperous Catholic gentleman which was unusual at that time for Catholics were not allowed to own property or hold good jobs. Though he died when Catherine was very young, she learned from him great compassion for the troubles of people who are poor. When she inherited a considerable fortune at the age of 48, she chose to use it to build a house where she and other compassionate women could take in homeless women and provide care and an education for them and their children. She never intended to found a community of religious women. The church (clergy and people) of the time, however, were not supportive of groups of lay women working independently of church structures. Catherine's clerical mentor urged her to form a religious Institute. Catherine and two other women entered the formation program of the Presentation Sisters to formally prepare for life as women religious. At the end of one year they professed vows and returned to the House of Mercy. The Sisters of Mercy consider December 12, 1831 the day of their founding as a religious community. Catherine lived only ten years as a Sister of Mercy but, in that time, she had established 12 foundations in Ireland and two in England. When she died there were 150 Sisters of Mercy. Shortly thereafter, small groups of sisters left Ireland to establish new foundations on the east and west coasts of the United States, in Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina. Total worldwide vowed membership is about 10,000. Mercy International Centre in Dublin, Ireland is the international "home" of Sisters of Mercy worldwide. In 1978, the cause for the beatification of the Servant of God Catherine McAuley was opened by Pope Paul VI, and in 1990, upon recognition of her heroic virtues, Pope John Paul II declared her Venerable. This places her on the path towards possible sainthood. §______________________________________________________________________________________________§ Audience comments: “I was riveted by your performance, your use of your body, your good humor.” -- CK, Producer, Cheryl King Productions "I loved the piece; very appropriate and authentic-feeling (I was taught by Sisters of Mercy). Very well done, down to earth, good rapport with the audience and the transitions were especially good!" -- B. Knowles, Archivist, Lincoln Center Library “What an interesting thing you are doing, which is bringing these stories of inspiration and hope...particularly at a time when the world needs to be reminded that there are and always will be great, loving, generous and heart centered people out there doing what they are called to do....serving or entertaining or whatever brings the light.” -- Reverend Betsy Clarke §______________________________________________________________________________________________§ Some Quotes from Mother McAuley: “You must be cheerful and happy, animating all around you.” -- Letter to Frances Warde February 17, 1838 “We have one solid comfort amidst this little tripping about: our hearts can always be in the same place, centered in God, for whom alone we go forward or stay back.” -- Letter to de Sales White December 20, 1840 “Put your whole confidence in God. He never will let you want necessaries for yourself or children.” -- Letter to Angela Dunne December 20, 1837 “Try to meet all with peace and ease.” -- Letter to Elizabeth Moore December, 1838 “Now and again bestow some praise.” -- Letter to Elizabeth Moore December 1838 “God does not look at the action but at the spirit motivating it, and he will judge and reward us accordingly.” -- Retreat Instructions, p. 82 “If the love of God really reigns in your heart, it will quickly show itself in the exterior.” -- Retreat Instructions, p. 145 “Be ever ready to praise, to encourage, to stimulate, but slow to censure, and still more slow to condemn.” -- Familiar Instructions, p. 141