Family
Christina Fitzpatrick was born on Christmas Eve 1822, into a family which was comfortably well-off. Her mother Catherine was prominent in the Catholic social life of Dublin, and her father, Thomas, was something of a scholar, relatively well-known in the city’s literary world. Thomas was also involved in political movements for Catholic Emancipation led by Daniel O’Connell. Both parents were religious and Thomas was active in work for the poor, especially orphaned children. Two sons became missionary priests, one in India, one in the western frontier of the United States. Christina’s younger sister also became a Sister of Mercy. It seems certain that the family knew Catherine McAuley for some time before Christina entered, perhaps through their charitable work, perhaps through their connection with Daniel O’Connell, a supporter of Catherine’s work.
Sister of Mercy
Christina entered Baggot St Convent not long before her twenty-third birthday, on the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy, 23 September, 1845. She received the habit on 25 March the following year from the hands of Reverend Mother Cecilia Marmion, and made her vows of profession on 28 March, 1848. She took the Religious Name of Evangelista. Mother Vincent Whitty, who had been guided in religious life by Catherine McAuley, was her mistress of novices. In the ensuing years, Evangelista’s leadership qualities became apparent, and she was appointed to positions of governance, including as Mother Bursar of the Dublin convent.
During the cholera outbreak, which struck Dublin in 1849, she was the life and soul of the Sisters who ministered to the victims in the camp or shed hospitals of Glasnevin. Her unselfishness and self-sacrifice were an inspiration to her fellow-workers – and the fear of contracting the dreadful disease did not diminish the selfless dedication of the Mercy Sisters.
Argentina 1856-1880
When Mother Xavier Maguire (later of Geelong) was the Superior, Fr Anthony Fahy invited the Sisters of Mercy to establish a convent in Argentina, and Evangelista Fitzpatrick was asked to lead the group of seven nuns on the mission. Before leaving, she went to Belfast to make a retreat in preparation for the venture. The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Buenos Aires on 24 February 1856. They were led by Mother Evangelista, along with Baptist MacDonnell, Catherine Flanagan and Joseph Griffin (who were the only professed besides the Mother), Rose Foley, a lay novice and two postulants. Father John Cullen travelled on the same ship with them.
Once in Argentina Mother Evangelista and the nuns opened an Irish Hospital (1858), an orphanage, a school for poor children of all nationalities, another convent in Mercedes (1872), as well as a paying day and boarding school for children of Irish parentage (1878).
Problems in Argentina
They had to confront feuds between the Spanish-speaking clergy and the Irish chaplains, as well as opposition from the wealthy Irish settlers. Their only support seemed to come from the indigenous people and the very poor. The Sisters of Mercy had an exemplary role assisting the sick, however death took a heavy toll on the community. One Sister succumbed to the cholera epidemic in 1868 and by 1878, seventeen sisters had died from various causes. It was a hard day for them when Father Fahy died. He had supported the sisters against bitter attacks and tried to win for them the support of the Irish. During their years in Argentina, free-masonry was very strong and anti-clericalism was rife.
From what is known of the difficulties and obstacles to the Sisters’ presence and service in Buenos Aires, Mother Evangelista’s perseverance is to be greatly admired. Neither a weakling or hesitant woman, she fought against the ‘red tape’ of her day, whilst continuing to attend to those in need, looking ahead and moving forward.
When Buenos Aires was hit by the yellow fever or cholera, she and her Sisters stretched their care of the victims to unbelievable limits. Some of the Sisters, and she herself, contracted the dreadful disease, but recovered.
From her letters to Sisters and friends, it can be determined that Mother Evangelista never felt too secure in Buenos Aires; political upheaval, riots, led her to write in a letter dated 1877:
‘We are now here over twenty years and, so far from being securely established, or flourishing, the probabilities are that we shall be sent away in the end. The free masons are most powerful and are laboring hard against religious. . .’
Evangelista recounted many other difficulties: including unexpected lack of support from her fellow countrymen and inability to reach friends living on sheep or cattle ranches hundreds of miles away. These were enough to discourage the bravest, yet she carried on the works the sisters were engaged in.
In 1879, under violent threats causing fears for the nuns’ safety, Mother Evangelista returned to Dublin to consult about their future. While there, she met Bishop Reynolds of Adelaide, who invited them to establish a foundation in Australia.
She was deeply committed to her community. Her letters speak of her great concern for them. While in Ireland in 1879, in a letter to Bishop Moran, she says: ‘I received a telegram from my poor sisters’ in a further letter she wrote: ‘… as there will be a delay . . . I think it will be better for me to return to Buenos Aires . . . I cannot bear to be away from my Sisters in their present difficulties. . .’
As the situation in Buenos Aires did not improve, Fitzpatrick accepted Bishop Reynold’s offer and returned to Argentina to her sisters.
Arrival in Adelaide
On 17 March, 1880, twenty-four Sisters of Mercy from the Argentinian Convent departed from Gravesend, London aboard the SS Aconcagua bound for Adelaide, via Cape town. They arrived in Port Adelaide on 3 May 1880, recorded in The Adelaide Observer which noted that ‘…the nuns are specially trained for assisting the sick, poor and destitute, and teaching poor children…’ all of whom arrived in Adelaide on the 3 May in 1880. Mother Evangelista arrived at a period in South Australian history where there was a pressing and increasing need for welfare and shelter for young single women and an immediate need for schools for children.
The Mercy Sisters were welcomed by religious communities already established in Adelaide. A house to rent was arranged at 121 Gouger Street and only six days after their arrival, they began teaching at the Russell Street School which had previously been administered by the Sisters of St Joseph.
Mt Gambier Sisters of Mercy established
The house on Gouger Street was not large enough for 24 Sisters so it was decided by Monsignor Byrne that he would accompany 12 of the Sisters to Mt Gambier to set up a foundation there. This group left for Mt Gambier via Beachport on the SS Coorong, on 12 May 1880. They were accompanied by Mother Evangelista, where she left Baptist McDonnell in charge. They established a Select School on 12 July, 1880 and opened a boarding school the following year in Commercial Street. Some Sisters of Mercy later returned to Argentina in 1890.
As a result of difficulties in communication between the two Convents, a decision was made for the Mt Gambier Convent to become independent of Adelaide. Much later, the two Convents amalgamated under the leadership of Mother General, Mother Cecilia Cunningham, one of the original Sisters from Buenos Aires.
Death and Legacy
Mother Evangelista is remembered as a strong and loving woman, with a rich personality. She had inherited her parents’ empathy for those in need, which led to her work for the poor. Even given the hagiographical inclinations of the obituary writers of the period, Evangelista does seem to have earned the accolades they gave her.
To her early companions, she was something of a second Mother Catherine McAuley. To those who formed the community with whom she lived and worked, she was their much beloved ‘darling Mother’.
She had been well-educated for women of her time and place, by the Loreto Sisters at Rathfarnham Abbey, Dublin, a prestigious school for girls established about 1822. She had inherited some of her father’s literary flair, evident in her predilection for poetry and in the articulateness of the letters which survive. Her longing for good reading material was lifelong.
Writing from Australia, Evangelista recalls how her health in Argentina had been affected by anxiety of mind and says, ‘…Often, when ill there, I felt I could gladly lay down my life, but for the thought of leaving my beloved Sisters so unprotected in such a country. … Now, thank God, I can die with an easy mind on that head…’
Mother Evangelista spent five years of work and progress in Australia. On June 29, 1885, while apparently cured of a short illness, and in the presence of the Bishop, who had come to visit her, she suddenly said: ‘Bless me, my Lord, I am dying.’ He placed his crucifix in her hands and gave her absolution as she closed her eyes in death, without a struggle, as if going to sleep.
Mother Evangelista was 63 years old when she died. She is buried in the West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide.
By Sr Mary-Anne Duigan and edited by Jacqui Jury, 2024
Reference
(ed.) 1996, Women on the move: Mercy’s Triple Spiral, Sisters of Mercy, Adelaide.
The Sisters of Mercy in the South East: 1880-1980 (1980), The Sisters of Mercy, Mt Gambier.