Michael KellyWomen like Mary Aikenhead deserve our utmost respect, affection and gratitude.
The wonderful foundress of the Religious Sisters of Charity, Mary Aikenhead, was declared ‘venerable’ by Pope Francis late last week. It’s a formal declaration by the Church that she lived the virtues heroically and it won’t come as news to anyone who has read or studied the life of this inspiring woman who found her vocation in serving the poorest of the poor.
Mary Aikenhead is one of a list of heroic and saintly women who have been associated with religious foundations in Ireland going back to St Brigid and in the modern era women like Nano Nagle and Catherine McAuley.
I was invited on the Marian Finucane Show on RTÉ Radio One at the weekend to discuss the lives of these venerable women and other Irish people – including the great Matt Talbot – on the road to sainthood.
It got me thinking about the debt we owe women like Nano Nagle, Catherine McAuley and Mary Aikenhead. All three were trailblazers and evidently gutsy women given what they achieved at a time when women were expected to be seen and not heard.
All three, moved by the preferential love of Christ for those who are suffering, stepped out of their comfort zones to help those no one cared about at a time when the prevailing political logic was a laissez-faire approach that saw the vulnerable consigned to lives of misery.
The women’s charisma is evident by the fact that they were soon able to gather like-minded women around them and their ministry of mercy spread far beyond the shores of Ireland.
On the margins
Centuries before Pope Francis articulated the responsibility of Christians to go to the margins, Mary, Catherine and Nano were there, on the margins.
To what extent, I wonder, has modern Ireland written such great women out of the history books? When the newest bridge was added across Dublin’s River Liffey there was a very strong sense that it should be named after a woman. Eventually, Rosie Hackett, a trade unionist active in the early 20th century, was chosen. Of the 24 bridges that span the Liffey, just one – the Rosie Hackett Bridge – is named after a woman. Without doubt, Mrs Hackett (who was also involved in the Easter Rising) is a worthy candidate for having a bridge named after her. Perhaps next time we’ll consider the legacy of life, living and education left by women like Mary Aikenhead, Nano Nagle and Catherine McAuley. Women who understood that education was the route to freedom, women who understood that girls deserved the same opportunities as boys and women who understood that it’s wasn’t enough to leave the poor and the vulnerable to the ravages of the free market.
Of course, some will point to the abuse scandals, to the fact that some of the followers of these great women betrayed the founding charism and the Gospel in such an appalling way. This can’t be ignored, this is forever part of the story – but it isn’t the whole story. Women like Mary, Catherine and Nano deserve our utmost respect, affection and gratitude. Pope Francis has shown his appreciation, it would be a pity if Ireland lacked the maturity to celebrate such a wonderful contribution.