Mags GarganDear Editor, It seems that man’s thirst for gossip and a good story is insatiable. Often times a colourful character, of seemingly spectacular deeds, will overshadow the true hero of a story, the memory of whom is often lost on account of the ordinariness that usually constitutes such heroic virtue.
Think of St Joseph and of how little is known of the man into whose care the Blessed Virgin and Christ himself were entrusted! Another case in point is the life of one Honoria Gaffney, whose quiet yet heroic virtue was overshadowed by the turbulent life of her first mother superior, Mother Francis Clare, who became known after her involvement in Knock as the Nun of Kenmare, recently featured in an article in The Irish Catholic.
The Church urges us to emulate the virtues of those who have lived holy lives, yet when it comes to the Congregation of St Joseph of Peace, originally founded by Mother Francis Clare in Knock, virtually nothing is ever told about her humble and virtuous successor.
Honoria Gaffney was born in 1853 in Keadue, Co. Leitrim, the seventh of 10 children and she eventually became assistant teacher at Keadue national school where catechetics was her special interest.
In 1880 she was offered a job as a teacher in Rooskey, about two miles from Knock, by Archdeacon Cavanagh. She joined the new order established by Mother Francis Clare in Knock in 1881 and left for England in late 1883 when Mother Clare had abandoned her plans in Ireland and founded a new community in Nottingham under Bishop Bagshawe.
Later, in April 1884, Honoria was summoned to America as Mother Clare’s personal assistant and again, with complete trust that her superior’s orders were God’s will for her, she set sail for America. The Bishop of New York however, had become aware of the unfinished convent in Knock and he refused permission for the order in his diocese. Mother Clare eventually returned to her Protestant roots, joining an evangelical group.
Sr Evangelista was then voted the first Mother General of the order and returned to England.
It was her simple, humble and virtuous example that was fundamental to the survival and growth of the Congregation of St Joseph of Peace which still has sisters in both England and America today.
Yours etc.,
John Lacken,
Claremorris,
Co. Mayo.