Building a House of Mercy
Mercy Day each year commemorates the opening on September 24, 1827, of Catherine McAuley’s first House of Mercy in Baggot Street, Dublin. Here is a prayer that asks that the spaces we create in Mercy’s name may be filled with Catherine’s founding spirit.
E Te Atua atawhai,
God of endless mercy:
be the ground of all we are.
Inspire our minds
and shape our plans.
Build your house of mercy
from the impulses
you plant in our hearts.
Balance our tireless efforts
with an awareness of your grace;
let us work always with a will,
yet still find space
to rest our souls in your quiet.
Renew us with joy within,
that we may renew Earth’s face.
Make us aware of those still to come,
responsible for generations into the future.
May they learn from us to live simply,
that others may simply live,
in mercy’s name.
All: Amen