Mother Theresa Anne McLaughlin BEM (1890-1965), usually called "Cissie", was an Australian Catholic

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pr ...

who succeeded

Eileen O'Connor Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to: People Artists *Eileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer *Eileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer * Eileen ...

as leader of the charitable society, Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor. She established the work on firm foundations as it expanded and secured for it formal recognition from the Church.

Early life and education

Theresa McLaughlin was born in 1890 to a poor farming family in

Sodwalls Sodwalls is a small hamlet in New South Wales, Australia Sodwalls is located about west of the state capital, Sydney and south-west of the city of Lithgow. Sodwalls used to have a railway station on the Main Western Railway. This line is us ...

, in the Central West of New South Wales. In 1900 her father died and she and a sister were sent to board at

Rosebank College , motto_translation = Lift Up Your Hearts , location = 1A Harris Road, Five Dock, Inner West Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Au ...

in Sydney, run by the

Sisters of the Good Samaritan The Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, colloquially known as the "Good Sams", is a Roman Catholic congregation of religious women commenced by Bede Polding, OSB, Australia’s first Catholic bishop, in Sydney in 1857. The congreg ...

, where their aunt was superior. After leaving school McLaughlin worked for a time in the Post Office.

Work with Eileen O'Connor

In 1913 she met Eileen O'Connor, who with Fr Ted McGrath, was in the process of founding a society of women to look after the sick poor of Sydney in their own homes. She was very impressed with Eileen's holiness and devotion to the work for the poor and became the first woman to join the group. At the society's home in Coogee, McLaughlin became Eileen's closest companion. As Eileen was severely disabled and Fr McGrath clashed with his superiors with the result that he was temporarily expelled from his order, McLaughlin's practical skills became essential to the continuance of the work. When Eileen and Fr McGrath visited Rome in 1915 to appeal against his sentence, McLaughlin was left in charge of the work, and as Eileen's health failed, McLaughlin assumed more responsibilities.

Superior of Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor

When Eileen died aged 28 in 1921, McLaughlin was executor of her will and was left as leader of the society. She retained that role until her death, overseeing the order's expansion and working tirelessly to gain official recognition from the church. She oversaw a new chapel in 1932 and major building additions in 1940. In 1953 Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor was recognised by

Cardinal Gilroy Sir Norman Thomas Gilroy (22 January 1896 – 21 October 1977) was an Australian bishop. He was the first Australian-born cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Early life and priestly ministry Gilroy was born in Sydney, to working-class par ...

as a Diocesan Religious Congregation. McLaughlin was elected superior and oversaw the expansion of the work to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

(1956) and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

(1962). In later life she was remembered as "angelic, serene, very introspective". She died in 1965. At the time of her death she was to be awarded a

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

Books

* 2019, Jocelyn Hedley, ''Hidden in the Shadow of Love: The story of Mother Theresa McLaughlin and Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor'', Strathfield, St Paul's,

References

External links

Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor page on Theresa McLaughlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Theresa 1890 births 1965 deaths Australian people of Irish descent 20th-century Australian Roman Catholic nuns Australian recipients of the British Empire Medal