Here at MercyCare we hold our annual Living our Values awards event on or around Mercy Day.
But what is Mercy Day?
It is the anniversary of the opening of the first ‘House of Mercy’ in Dublin, Ireland on 24 September 1827.
Catherine McAuley was a household manager and when her employers passed away, she used the considerable fortune she was left to build the first House of Mercy that took in homeless women and children, providing them care and education.
She devoted her life to the poor, sick and uneducated.
Catherine never intended on founding a community of religious women but when the archbishop of Dublin suggested she do so, he allowed them a slightly less regulated status than other religious orders.
Once the congregation was founded, the Sisters of Mercy experienced rapid expansion. Part of that expansion included a group of the Sisters of Mercy arriving in Perth, Western Australia in 1846.
Those Sisters established the basis of the services that have since become MercyCare here in Western Australia in 1999. In 2002, Sisters of Mercy formally transferred ownership of MercyCare to lay ownership.
While times have changed since our founders first started the work of MercyCare in Perth in 1846, one thing remains the same – every single person in our community matters.
