As the Mercy Convent closes the Sisters say thanks to the people of the parish of Buttevant and Lisgriffin
The Sisters of Mercy wish to express their deepest gratitude to the people of the parish of Buttevant and Lisgriffin for their wonderful kindness and generosity at the weekend celebrations which paid tribute to the Sisters and the many works of mercy undertaken by them since their arrival from Charleville to Buttevant in 1879.
Those works included hospitality, star industries, brass and red band, secondary and primary education, Mercy Centre, meals on wheels, health care, Adorations of the Blessed Sacrament, Mass, First Communions and Confirmations, music, games, funeral rosaries, home visitation, parish church, wedding flowers, May and Corpus Christi processions and many other parish celebrations.
We, the sisters of Mercy, were there for one another, in sickness and in health to help in every way that was possible for us during the past 133 years.
The organisers and planners of the celebration, especially the parish priest, Fr. M. Fitzgerald, the Pastoral Council, choirs, band, folk groups, guards of honour, stewards, organisers of the occasion, Ministers of the Word, the group who looked after all the catering, the people of the parish, past and present teaching staff and pupils and various associations have all been so kind. Their enthusiasm and generosity were boundless but were tinged with emotion, sadness and memories as the convent is about to close its doors on May 1st.
The band and candlelight procession through the town of Buttevant after Mass was most spectacular, replicating the arrival of the Sisters in Buttevant in the years after the Famine.
The Sisters thank you sincerely for all you have done and wish you health, peace, joy and every blessing in all your enterprises. We will cherish the beautiful candles which you presented to us at the altar. You will remain in our love and prayers.
“There is nowhere else quite like this place;
Words cannot say it all, nor can a picture paint. But in the memory remains a knowing that will long sustain the soul.” Helen S. Rice
Srs. Oliver, Emmanuel, Perpetua, Sarah and Agnes