Foundress of Sisters of Mercy, New Hampshire
Fanny, as she was known in childhood, was raised in a devoutly religious household; her father, John, was known for his piety and sense of charity. That Frances’ family was somewhat well-to-do was itself an anomaly among Catholic families living in Ireland during the final years of the Penal Laws.Frances was born in the town of Abbeyleix, in County Laois, probably in 1810; the Warde family lived on an estate named Bellbrook. The daughter of John and Mary (Maher) Warde, Frances was the youngest of their six children. Her mother fell ill and died shortly after Frances was born, and the four youngest siblings were raised by a maternal aunt.Frances moved to Dublin, at the age of 16, to live with family friends. Described as lively, stern, charming and queenly (even regal), Frances enjoyed a vibrant life as a young adult in the fashionable circles of Dublin. This was also a time, however, of spiritual growth. Within a year of arriving in Dublin, she became a friend of Mary Macauley, the niece of the woman who would alter the course of Frances’ life, Catherine McAuley.Catherine and Frances first met in 1827, the same year that Catherine opened the House of Mercy on Lower Baggot Street to serve the poor. On January 24, 1833, Frances became the first Sister of Mercy to profess her solemn (final) vows in the Baggot Street chapel. Seven sisters went to Pittsburgh, with Frances as superior. They left Carlow on November 4, 1843; less than a week later they set sail for New York Harbor aboard the Queen of the West.Frances and the six other sisters—Josephine Cullen, Elizabeth Strange, Philomena Reid, Veronica McDarby, novice Aloysia Strange and postulant Margaret (later Agatha) O’Brien—landed in New York City on December 11, greeted there by Bishop John Hughes of New York and William Quarter, newly-consecrated as the first bishop of the Diocese of Chicago. Bishop Quarter immediately made known his hope that Frances would establish the Sisters of Mercy in Chicago after Pittsburgh. Frances would eventually fulfill Bishop Quarter’s request, in 1846 founding the Mercy Community in Chicago.After seven years in Providence, during which time she established numerous foundations throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island, Frances again answered the call to move to a new city: Manchester, New Hampshire, at that time part of the recently-erected Diocese of Portland. Traveling with Sisters M. Philomena Edwards, M. Gonzaga O’Brien, M. Agatha Mulcahy and M. Johanna Fogarty (one of the sisters who had accompanied Frances from Pittsburgh to Providence in 1851), they founded the Manchester Community on July 16, 1858.During her lifetime, Frances founded more than one hundred convents, schools, hospitals and other ministries throughout Ireland and the United States, more than any other Sister of Mercy in history.
---Abstracted from Biography by Bob Keenan [https://www.mercyworld.org/catherine/mercy-foundresses/mother-frances-warde/]
They opened a free school for the younger girls of Manchester and in the same year founded Mount St. Mary Academy in the northern wing of the convent. Mount St. Mary Academy continues to this day, now on Elm Street in Manchester. To respond to the needs of sick and aging persons as well as children, the sisters opened the Sacred Heart Hospital, homes for elderly men and women, an orphanage, and a maternity hospital and infant asylum in Manchester. For continuing education, they started Our Lady of Grace Vocational School, Sacred Heart School of Nursing, and Sacred Heart Hospital School of X-Ray Technology in Manchester, as well as Mount Saint Mary College in Hooksett, and later Castle College in Windham, New Hampshire and Marian Court College in Swampscott, Massachusetts, which is still in operation. From the late nineteenth into the twentieth century, they were called upon to open or staff schools in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, South Carolina and California.∼In 1843, Mother Frances Warde, RSM, left Ireland with six other sisters to establish the first of many American Mercy foundations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1846, Bishop William Quarter, of Chicago asked Warde to establish a school for Catholic girls and women. Three weeks after arriving in Chicago, they opened the Saint Francis Xavier Female Academy, today’s Saint Xavier University. Fighting anti-Catholic prejudice, and sometimes travelling by Conestoga wagon, Frances Warde had established the Sisters of Mercy in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, and Illinois. Sister Patricia Waldron, RSM came to the Manchester, New Hampshire foundation in 1860 as Mistress of Novices. She had been professed a sister only five years. In 1861, Mother Frances selected Patricia Waldron to establish a new foundation of the Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia. They continued their ministry to the immigrant poor, establishing hospitals and founding schools. Mother Warde believed that "to instruct is an easy matter; but to educate requires ingenuity, energy, and perseverance without limit."
Fanny, as she was known in childhood, was raised in a devoutly religious household; her father, John, was known for his piety and sense of charity. That Frances’ family was somewhat well-to-do was itself an anomaly among Catholic families living in Ireland during the final years of the Penal Laws.Frances was born in the town of Abbeyleix, in County Laois, probably in 1810; the Warde family lived on an estate named Bellbrook. The daughter of John and Mary (Maher) Warde, Frances was the youngest of their six children. Her mother fell ill and died shortly after Frances was born, and the four youngest siblings were raised by a maternal aunt.Frances moved to Dublin, at the age of 16, to live with family friends. Described as lively, stern, charming and queenly (even regal), Frances enjoyed a vibrant life as a young adult in the fashionable circles of Dublin. This was also a time, however, of spiritual growth. Within a year of arriving in Dublin, she became a friend of Mary Macauley, the niece of the woman who would alter the course of Frances’ life, Catherine McAuley.Catherine and Frances first met in 1827, the same year that Catherine opened the House of Mercy on Lower Baggot Street to serve the poor. On January 24, 1833, Frances became the first Sister of Mercy to profess her solemn (final) vows in the Baggot Street chapel. Seven sisters went to Pittsburgh, with Frances as superior. They left Carlow on November 4, 1843; less than a week later they set sail for New York Harbor aboard the Queen of the West.Frances and the six other sisters—Josephine Cullen, Elizabeth Strange, Philomena Reid, Veronica McDarby, novice Aloysia Strange and postulant Margaret (later Agatha) O’Brien—landed in New York City on December 11, greeted there by Bishop John Hughes of New York and William Quarter, newly-consecrated as the first bishop of the Diocese of Chicago. Bishop Quarter immediately made known his hope that Frances would establish the Sisters of Mercy in Chicago after Pittsburgh. Frances would eventually fulfill Bishop Quarter’s request, in 1846 founding the Mercy Community in Chicago.After seven years in Providence, during which time she established numerous foundations throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island, Frances again answered the call to move to a new city: Manchester, New Hampshire, at that time part of the recently-erected Diocese of Portland. Traveling with Sisters M. Philomena Edwards, M. Gonzaga O’Brien, M. Agatha Mulcahy and M. Johanna Fogarty (one of the sisters who had accompanied Frances from Pittsburgh to Providence in 1851), they founded the Manchester Community on July 16, 1858.During her lifetime, Frances founded more than one hundred convents, schools, hospitals and other ministries throughout Ireland and the United States, more than any other Sister of Mercy in history.
---Abstracted from Biography by Bob Keenan [https://www.mercyworld.org/catherine/mercy-foundresses/mother-frances-warde/]
They opened a free school for the younger girls of Manchester and in the same year founded Mount St. Mary Academy in the northern wing of the convent. Mount St. Mary Academy continues to this day, now on Elm Street in Manchester. To respond to the needs of sick and aging persons as well as children, the sisters opened the Sacred Heart Hospital, homes for elderly men and women, an orphanage, and a maternity hospital and infant asylum in Manchester. For continuing education, they started Our Lady of Grace Vocational School, Sacred Heart School of Nursing, and Sacred Heart Hospital School of X-Ray Technology in Manchester, as well as Mount Saint Mary College in Hooksett, and later Castle College in Windham, New Hampshire and Marian Court College in Swampscott, Massachusetts, which is still in operation. From the late nineteenth into the twentieth century, they were called upon to open or staff schools in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, South Carolina and California.∼In 1843, Mother Frances Warde, RSM, left Ireland with six other sisters to establish the first of many American Mercy foundations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1846, Bishop William Quarter, of Chicago asked Warde to establish a school for Catholic girls and women. Three weeks after arriving in Chicago, they opened the Saint Francis Xavier Female Academy, today’s Saint Xavier University. Fighting anti-Catholic prejudice, and sometimes travelling by Conestoga wagon, Frances Warde had established the Sisters of Mercy in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, and Illinois. Sister Patricia Waldron, RSM came to the Manchester, New Hampshire foundation in 1860 as Mistress of Novices. She had been professed a sister only five years. In 1861, Mother Frances selected Patricia Waldron to establish a new foundation of the Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia. They continued their ministry to the immigrant poor, establishing hospitals and founding schools. Mother Warde believed that "to instruct is an easy matter; but to educate requires ingenuity, energy, and perseverance without limit."
Foundress of Sisters of Mercy, New Hampshire
Fanny, as she was known in childhood, was raised in a devoutly religious household; her father, John, was known for his piety and sense of charity. That Frances’ family was somewhat well-to-do was itself an anomaly among Catholic families living in Ireland during the final years of the Penal Laws.Frances was born in the town of Abbeyleix, in County Laois, probably in 1810; the Warde family lived on an estate named Bellbrook. The daughter of John and Mary (Maher) Warde, Frances was the youngest of their six children. Her mother fell ill and died shortly after Frances was born, and the four youngest siblings were raised by a maternal aunt.Frances moved to Dublin, at the age of 16, to live with family friends. Described as lively, stern, charming and queenly (even regal), Frances enjoyed a vibrant life as a young adult in the fashionable circles of Dublin. This was also a time, however, of spiritual growth. Within a year of arriving in Dublin, she became a friend of Mary Macauley, the niece of the woman who would alter the course of Frances’ life, Catherine McAuley.Catherine and Frances first met in 1827, the same year that Catherine opened the House of Mercy on Lower Baggot Street to serve the poor. On January 24, 1833, Frances became the first Sister of Mercy to profess her solemn (final) vows in the Baggot Street chapel. Seven sisters went to Pittsburgh, with Frances as superior. They left Carlow on November 4, 1843; less than a week later they set sail for New York Harbor aboard the Queen of the West.Frances and the six other sisters—Josephine Cullen, Elizabeth Strange, Philomena Reid, Veronica McDarby, novice Aloysia Strange and postulant Margaret (later Agatha) O’Brien—landed in New York City on December 11, greeted there by Bishop John Hughes of New York and William Quarter, newly-consecrated as the first bishop of the Diocese of Chicago. Bishop Quarter immediately made known his hope that Frances would establish the Sisters of Mercy in Chicago after Pittsburgh. Frances would eventually fulfill Bishop Quarter’s request, in 1846 founding the Mercy Community in Chicago.After seven years in Providence, during which time she established numerous foundations throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island, Frances again answered the call to move to a new city: Manchester, New Hampshire, at that time part of the recently-erected Diocese of Portland. Traveling with Sisters M. Philomena Edwards, M. Gonzaga O’Brien, M. Agatha Mulcahy and M. Johanna Fogarty (one of the sisters who had accompanied Frances from Pittsburgh to Providence in 1851), they founded the Manchester Community on July 16, 1858.During her lifetime, Frances founded more than one hundred convents, schools, hospitals and other ministries throughout Ireland and the United States, more than any other Sister of Mercy in history.
---Abstracted from Biography by Bob Keenan [https://www.mercyworld.org/catherine/mercy-foundresses/mother-frances-warde/]
They opened a free school for the younger girls of Manchester and in the same year founded Mount St. Mary Academy in the northern wing of the convent. Mount St. Mary Academy continues to this day, now on Elm Street in Manchester. To respond to the needs of sick and aging persons as well as children, the sisters opened the Sacred Heart Hospital, homes for elderly men and women, an orphanage, and a maternity hospital and infant asylum in Manchester. For continuing education, they started Our Lady of Grace Vocational School, Sacred Heart School of Nursing, and Sacred Heart Hospital School of X-Ray Technology in Manchester, as well as Mount Saint Mary College in Hooksett, and later Castle College in Windham, New Hampshire and Marian Court College in Swampscott, Massachusetts, which is still in operation. From the late nineteenth into the twentieth century, they were called upon to open or staff schools in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, South Carolina and California.∼In 1843, Mother Frances Warde, RSM, left Ireland with six other sisters to establish the first of many American Mercy foundations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1846, Bishop William Quarter, of Chicago asked Warde to establish a school for Catholic girls and women. Three weeks after arriving in Chicago, they opened the Saint Francis Xavier Female Academy, today’s Saint Xavier University. Fighting anti-Catholic prejudice, and sometimes travelling by Conestoga wagon, Frances Warde had established the Sisters of Mercy in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, and Illinois. Sister Patricia Waldron, RSM came to the Manchester, New Hampshire foundation in 1860 as Mistress of Novices. She had been professed a sister only five years. In 1861, Mother Frances selected Patricia Waldron to establish a new foundation of the Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia. They continued their ministry to the immigrant poor, establishing hospitals and founding schools. Mother Warde believed that "to instruct is an easy matter; but to educate requires ingenuity, energy, and perseverance without limit."
Fanny, as she was known in childhood, was raised in a devoutly religious household; her father, John, was known for his piety and sense of charity. That Frances’ family was somewhat well-to-do was itself an anomaly among Catholic families living in Ireland during the final years of the Penal Laws.Frances was born in the town of Abbeyleix, in County Laois, probably in 1810; the Warde family lived on an estate named Bellbrook. The daughter of John and Mary (Maher) Warde, Frances was the youngest of their six children. Her mother fell ill and died shortly after Frances was born, and the four youngest siblings were raised by a maternal aunt.Frances moved to Dublin, at the age of 16, to live with family friends. Described as lively, stern, charming and queenly (even regal), Frances enjoyed a vibrant life as a young adult in the fashionable circles of Dublin. This was also a time, however, of spiritual growth. Within a year of arriving in Dublin, she became a friend of Mary Macauley, the niece of the woman who would alter the course of Frances’ life, Catherine McAuley.Catherine and Frances first met in 1827, the same year that Catherine opened the House of Mercy on Lower Baggot Street to serve the poor. On January 24, 1833, Frances became the first Sister of Mercy to profess her solemn (final) vows in the Baggot Street chapel. Seven sisters went to Pittsburgh, with Frances as superior. They left Carlow on November 4, 1843; less than a week later they set sail for New York Harbor aboard the Queen of the West.Frances and the six other sisters—Josephine Cullen, Elizabeth Strange, Philomena Reid, Veronica McDarby, novice Aloysia Strange and postulant Margaret (later Agatha) O’Brien—landed in New York City on December 11, greeted there by Bishop John Hughes of New York and William Quarter, newly-consecrated as the first bishop of the Diocese of Chicago. Bishop Quarter immediately made known his hope that Frances would establish the Sisters of Mercy in Chicago after Pittsburgh. Frances would eventually fulfill Bishop Quarter’s request, in 1846 founding the Mercy Community in Chicago.After seven years in Providence, during which time she established numerous foundations throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island, Frances again answered the call to move to a new city: Manchester, New Hampshire, at that time part of the recently-erected Diocese of Portland. Traveling with Sisters M. Philomena Edwards, M. Gonzaga O’Brien, M. Agatha Mulcahy and M. Johanna Fogarty (one of the sisters who had accompanied Frances from Pittsburgh to Providence in 1851), they founded the Manchester Community on July 16, 1858.During her lifetime, Frances founded more than one hundred convents, schools, hospitals and other ministries throughout Ireland and the United States, more than any other Sister of Mercy in history.
---Abstracted from Biography by Bob Keenan [https://www.mercyworld.org/catherine/mercy-foundresses/mother-frances-warde/]
They opened a free school for the younger girls of Manchester and in the same year founded Mount St. Mary Academy in the northern wing of the convent. Mount St. Mary Academy continues to this day, now on Elm Street in Manchester. To respond to the needs of sick and aging persons as well as children, the sisters opened the Sacred Heart Hospital, homes for elderly men and women, an orphanage, and a maternity hospital and infant asylum in Manchester. For continuing education, they started Our Lady of Grace Vocational School, Sacred Heart School of Nursing, and Sacred Heart Hospital School of X-Ray Technology in Manchester, as well as Mount Saint Mary College in Hooksett, and later Castle College in Windham, New Hampshire and Marian Court College in Swampscott, Massachusetts, which is still in operation. From the late nineteenth into the twentieth century, they were called upon to open or staff schools in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, South Carolina and California.∼In 1843, Mother Frances Warde, RSM, left Ireland with six other sisters to establish the first of many American Mercy foundations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1846, Bishop William Quarter, of Chicago asked Warde to establish a school for Catholic girls and women. Three weeks after arriving in Chicago, they opened the Saint Francis Xavier Female Academy, today’s Saint Xavier University. Fighting anti-Catholic prejudice, and sometimes travelling by Conestoga wagon, Frances Warde had established the Sisters of Mercy in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, and Illinois. Sister Patricia Waldron, RSM came to the Manchester, New Hampshire foundation in 1860 as Mistress of Novices. She had been professed a sister only five years. In 1861, Mother Frances selected Patricia Waldron to establish a new foundation of the Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia. They continued their ministry to the immigrant poor, establishing hospitals and founding schools. Mother Warde believed that "to instruct is an easy matter; but to educate requires ingenuity, energy, and perseverance without limit."
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We have loved her during life
Let us not forget her after death
Sweet Jesus have mercy on her. Amen
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