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Who was Mother Mary of Providence?
Catherine Horan, our foundress, known today as Mother Mary of Providence, was born in the small Canadian town of Belleville, Ontario, Canada, on July 19, 1850, the day then celebrated as the Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul. Providentially, Saint Vincent is our community's patron saint. We follow the rule he gave to the Daughters of Charity in Paris, France in the 1600s.

Catherine's childhood was characterized by an untiring devotion to God, her mother and charitable works. Catherine was attracted to the Sisters of Providence in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, because of their commitment to the care of the poor, sick, elderly and orphaned, and because her one sister, Elizabeth (Sister Mary of the Seven Dolors) was already a member. She entered that 14-member order in 1869 at 19 as the only postulant and made her profession in 1872.

The first four Sisters from Catherine's original community arrived in Holyoke in 1873. She arrived two years later as Sister Mary of Providence to teach boy students of Holyoke's St. Jerome's School. Her faith in God's providence was strong even in her early years as evidenced in her writings; "My assignment to schoolwork was somewhat of a disappointment to me, as I had been wooed to my vocation by a great sympathy for the poor and an ardent desire to relieve them in their sufferings. However, I was consoled by the circumstance that my charges were of lowly condition." Within a year, in addition to teaching, she was named principal.

Like a mother not content to be away from those she loves, Sister Mary of Providence spent what little time her school responsibilities allowed to minister, side by side, with her Sisters: begging door-to-door, caring for the ill in their homes, scrubbing floors, laundering clothes, doing whatever was needed, whenever needed.

By 1890, she was not only principal but local superior of the entire mission. Under her careful direction, the Sisters' works of sheltering and caring for the city's poor and infirm flourished.

Forming a new, independent community
When in 1892, at the request of the Bishop of Springfield, the Sisters of Providence were incorporated as an independent community in the Springfield Diocese, legally separate from the Kingston order, she was selected to serve as our first Major Superior. With her new office, came her designation as Mother Mary of Providence.

She and her Sisters spent the next 15 years establishing 20 works of charity including acute care hospitals, nursing schools and homes for children and the elderly. According to some of our archival materials:

"Administrative cares engrossed much of her time, but Mother Mary of Providence managed to steal some hours for manual labor, too. Every Monday she went to the laundry to help with the washing, and was the first to arrive there after breakfast. Once a week she took the novices for instructions and conferences."

After 35 years of selfless ministry in Holyoke, 18 of which she served as Major Superior, she chose to relinquish her leadership role as Major Superior, but continued as Councilor and Treasurer General for the next 16 years.

In 1923, she was instrumental in establishing the New England Conference of Catholic Hospitals Association and served for seven years as its first president. In 1926 she was named Superior of St. Luke's Hospital in Pittsfield and remained there until retiring in 1932. Even then she continued as a Councilor to work with novices while spending most of her time writing a history of our then 40-year-old Community.

Mother Mary of Providence suffered a stroke in 1936 from which she never fully recovered and died on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, on January 25, 1943. (It seems more than coincidental that this woman, born on the Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul would enter her eternal rest on a feast day set aside for Saint Paul.)

At the time of her death, our Community had already made sharp inroads in alleviating the health and social needs of the area. Our ministries included several hospitals and nursing schools, an orphanage, nursing homes, a residence for working girls and a home for unwed mothers, as well as social service programs which aided the poor and needy.

Living a life of exemplary service
Mother Mary gave almost 74 years to the service of God. Nearly three-fourths of those years were spent as Major Superior or Treasurer General. She labored as teacher, principal, housekeeper, nurse, administrator and business person. She was an exemplary religious leader, and a compassionate confidant, a gifted writer and beloved friend. She was a mother in the most loving sense of the word, and during her lifespan the humble mission that began in 1873 with four Canadian Sisters increased in number to almost five hundredfold.

Among her greatest accomplishments is the fact that she left the work of her Order in the hands of women well attuned in a vision that, even today, so closely resembles her own.

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