Mind and live up to Fr. Dignam's spirit and teaching, that it may live and grow and be rooted among us.

Fr. Dignam died on 26th September 1894.

We owe a great deal to those who have gone before us in faith. Let us remember them with gratitude in our prayer today.

I want you to do something for me.

I want you all to join me in striving to draw down from the Heart of Jesus and from Our Lady, our mother, a greater share of blessings on our Congregation. 

Before any enterprise, Mother Magdalen implored the prayers of all her Sisters. We need those prayers today no less, so that, together, we may strengthen one another in faith and hope for the future.

The Day we began in Chamber St. 1869

Let us rejoice and give thanks!

There were only four women who prayed around the statue of Our Lady that autumn evening in 1869. But they had faith and a vision for the future. They knew that God would be with them, and they were not afraid. 

Let us pray today for that same courage.

Be real, be true, be united. That will bring down the blessings of God on all we do.

Mother Magdalen spoke often about being one in the Spirit and supporting one another in prayer and love. She saw it as the pivotal virtue from which all others flow. Think about that in relation to your own situation.

God has blessed us so much, and he will bless us more and more if we are only faithful to grace and brave in conquering our selfishness.

Pray that we are faithful to the Holy Spirit's promptings in our lives today.

Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

I had such a rush of joy at the thought of belonging to our Lord!

Mother Magdalen, Retreat notes

St. Matthew, when Jesus called him to belong to him, was counting his money at the Custom House. What a rush of gratitude he must have had! What me, a disciple of the Messiah? Such joy!

I want you to work hard, not for yourselves, but for the greater glory of God.

Keep on repeating those words to yourself. Have great carefulness in prayer. Pray hard; take pains to pray. Hate a sleepy prayer. Rouse yourself up with a good pinch, stand up, and determine you will pray.

If we realised that our prayer, even when we're distracted, gives glory to God, we would try harder. Resolve to discipline yourself to pray. It will bear much fruit.

Seeking God before all else…

United with Christ in prayer, strengthened and supported by the community, we believe that the fruitfulness of our apostolate depends upon our degree of union with him.

Way of Life #71

The strength and support of a praying community is essential to the fruitfulness of the work God has given us to do. We rely on others' prayers and support.

We take Mary as our model in our consecration to the person and work of Christ.

Imitating her life of prayer while Jesus was hidden within her, we strive to live our consecration as fully as possible and hope that we will one day possess God in a vision and a love that surpass all our experience and all our desires.

Way of Life, Consecrated Life # 15

We are all consecrated to God by our Baptism. Let us renew that consecration in our Morning Offering in the hope that together, one day, we may possess God in a vision and a love that surpasses all our experiences and all our desires.

In this life we shall never know the graces given to us: never be able to appreciate fully all that they mean;

But we shall squander them and misuse them if we do not love this life of prayer and work...

And so we pray for a discerning heart:

Holy, Sacred Spirit, breathe your life in us.

Create a new heart in me, O Lord.

Holy, Sacred Spirit, breathe your breath on us,

Holy, Sacred Spirit, breathe your life in us.

This is surely one of the most beautiful parts of our Constitutions:

“…At the beginning, and before all things, have a constant mutual charity... If there is mutual love among the members, the whole body will grow and the spirit which animates it will be more and more purely the spirit of God, and the sweet breath of Our Lady’s love.”

 Mother Magdalen: Instructions on the Rule, p. 54 

Pray today especially for our parishes, our families, our communities, that we will “grow in all ways in love, so that there is one whole Christ loving the Father.”

Feast of the Sorrows of Our Lady Dear Mother – how brave she was – do we not rejoice now to think of her joy. Let us be generous, and then we too shall be joyful.

Our Lord is never outdone in generosity – he will repay a thousandfold the little sacrifices we make.

“It was the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and from that moment, crosses poured in upon us... We had hard and unexpected trials, as though to assure us the foundation was of God.”

SMG Annals 

A saint once said that the surest sign that an undertaking was of God was the appearance of trials, disappointments, failures... The devil is trying his best to discourage it. Don't let him win.

We have to go down the hill of suffering before we can go up the mountain of transfiguration. Soon, the white robes of Heaven and the transfiguration will come. Courage!

Let’s keep the thought of the beauty, the joy, the delights of Heaven before us as we plod on each day, and keep reminding ourselves with Julian of Norwich, “All will be well!”

... I was thinking the other day that we never had a work which is more completely suited to the Servants of the Poor - for those you are to look after are the poorest of the poor.

You know, perhaps, that in France the workhouse is called the “Hôtel Dieu”, God’s House, or God’s Inn. You will need this thought often in your mind to sustain you in what will certainly be hard work...

Extract from a letter to the Sisters in Rathdrum, at its foundation.

This was the last foundation Mother Magdalen made in her lifetime. It was part of her dream that we should continue to work for those with no voice to speak for themselves. And we don't have to look for opportunities... they are always there.

We are destined to be before the throne of God forever – “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty”

Yet here on earth, we will not study to be like that all-holy God! He continually offers us his graces, so that we will be holy like him. He just asks us to try; can't we do that?

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Coromoto. Pray for the peoples of South America and – especially for all our parishioners and associates in Maracaibo today.

Poor in spirit, dependent totally on divine providence, we give ourselves generously, humbly and wholeheartedly to the service of others.

Way of Life

We pray today that we will remember and live those words, especially when we meet someone in need.

Our spirit is expressed less in what we do than in the manner and attitude in which we serve.

Way of Life, Directives 3

Mother Magdalen was insistent on a respectful, loving attitude toward those we are privileged to serve. She always had in mind the words of Christ in the Gospels: “As long as you did this to one of my least brethren, you did it to me.” Let us do the same...

Birthday of Our Lady

I wish you a very happy feast day. I hope you will add to Our Lady’s joys by letting her see how faithfully you are following her example.

Pray to Our Lady for all those whose birthday it is today, and for all unwanted babies throughout our world.

A spirit which is not lived and shared will die.

As Poor Servants of the Mother of God, we are bound to interpret and live our spirit within the church today. Therefore, throughout our lives, we must deepen our awareness of the spirit that animated Mother Magdalen in the early days of our Congregation through reading, studying her writings, and the history of her times.

Way of Life: Directives 2a

Read as much as you can about Mother Magdalen and what made her the woman she was. Imbibe her spirit and try to live it in your prayer and work today.