50 Years of Mercy

The dawn is new light and fresh beginnings, birth and rebirth, awakening, illumination, resurrection, first light. Mercy Center by the Sea celebrates a “golden jubilee” – the reign of gold – the reign of dawning light. Thus we celebrate and give thanks for 50 years of dawning light.

Fifty years ago the Sisters of Mercy rededicated the Madison site of their college and training center for young women entering religious life as a place of retreat and encounter with the divine. Sr. Mary Daly, major superior, in announcing the formal opening in 1972 wrote these words:

“As we prayerfully study the needs of our times in an effort to renew and adapt our apostolic thrust, we meet over and over again the need for quiet space, reflection, surroundings conducive to the refreshment and revitalization of people caught in a whirlwind of activity.  There is need for an available center for prayer and renewal…people in various walks of life are beginning to look at (our) Madison (property) in a new light, in the light of a truly lived religious experience…standing in the spirit of Catherine McAuley (Foundress of the Sisters of Mercy) we who also search for God feel call to respond to others who search….”

Life is marked by journey. We are always “on the road.” Traditionally we mark each new year of our journey with a pause to see where we have been, to notice how far we have come and to ponder how the journey has been for us. So 50 years is a GIANT pause...a time to recognize, have gratitude and celebrate our legacy.

A dawning light has broken upon us and those who have journeyed here for fifty years: the exhausted, weary, worn out; the excited, eager about possibilities for growth and happiness; the heartaches, pain and tears; weariness, anxieties, and fears; the contentment, peace of heart, the grateful. Our road maps call us to gain wisdom from the places that bless us, enrich us, affirm us, challenge and test us. 

The Dawnings Blog