Mary Ward (nun) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Venerable Mary Ward IBVM CJ
Portrait of Mary Ward, c. 1600
Born	Joan Ward (1585-01-23)23 January 1585 Mulwith, Yorkshire, England
Died	30 January 1645(1645-01-30) (aged 60) Heworth, York, England

Mary Ward (born 23 January 1585 – died 30 January 1645) was an English Catholic woman. She was a religious sister, which means she dedicated her life to God and the Church. Her work led to the creation of two religious groups: the Congregation of Jesus and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (also known as the Sisters of Loreto). Today, there are about 200 schools around the world named after Mary Ward. She was declared venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. This is an important step towards becoming a saint.

Mary Ward's Early Life and Education

Mary Ward was born Joan Ward in Mulwith, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She was the first child of Marmaduke and Ursula Wright Ward. She later chose "Mary" as her confirmation name. It is believed that Mary came from a noble family. Her ancestors included important people like Joan Ward, who was a Prioress (a leader of a group of nuns).

Mary was born during a difficult time for Roman Catholics in England. They faced many challenges and were often treated unfairly. From 1589 to 1594, Mary lived with her grandmother, Ursula Wright. Her grandmother taught her Latin. Ursula had been imprisoned for 14 years for practicing the Catholic faith. Other relatives, like Lady Constable, Lady Babthorpe, and Lady Ingleby, were also put in prison.

In 1595, Mary's family home in Mulwith was burned down during an attack against Catholics. Her father saved the children, who had been praying. They then moved to the family's manor house in Newby. But because of more anti-Catholic feelings, they had to move again. Mary received her first Communion in Harewell in 1598. In 1599, she moved to the home of Sir Ralph Babthorpe. There, she learned French, Italian, and German.

Mary Ward's Religious Calling

In 1609, when Mary was 24, she felt a strong call from God to live a religious life. She heard "Glory, Glory, Glory" while combing her hair.

Even though she came from a wealthy family and had support from friends, it was not easy for her to become a religious sister. When she was 10 and 12, she was offered marriages into important families. But she refused, saying she only wanted to love God. Her father wanted her to marry the heir of Edward Neville. He took her to a priest named Richard Holtby in London to convince her.

During this trip, three of her uncles, John and Christopher Wright, and Thomas Percy, were involved in the Gunpowder Plot. This was a plan by Guy Fawkes to blow up Parliament. Her father was questioned about the plot but was found innocent. Mary's confessor (a priest she talked to about her spiritual life) initially told her not to become a religious sister. This made her very sad. She prayed for a long time. After Mass, the priest changed his mind. He had spilled wine during Mass and saw it as a sign from God. He realized that Mary should only marry Christ, meaning she should become a religious sister.

After Mary refused him, Edward Neville gave up his family inheritance. He traveled to Rome and joined the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). He later died in prison in 1648 for being a priest.

Mary left England to join a monastery of Poor Clares in Saint-Omer, France. She then moved to the Spanish Netherlands as a lay sister. In 1606, she used her own money to start a new monastery for English women in Gravelines.

Starting a New Religious Institute

At that time, Catholic women in religious life usually lived a quiet life inside a monastery. They were often controlled by others. But Mary Ward felt called to do something different. She wanted to be active in the world while still being religious. This was very unusual back then.

When she was 24, Mary gathered a group of devoted friends, including Winefrid Wigmore. They wanted to work together under her guidance to help people. One of their main goals was to educate girls. In 1612, Mary said, "There is no such difference between men and women that women, may they not do great things? And I hope in God that it may be seen in time to come that women will do much." In 1609, they formed a religious community in Saint-Omer and opened schools for girls.

Their work was very successful and grew in the 1610s and 1620s. However, it was also controversial. The sisters in her group were sometimes called "galloping girls" because they were not confined to a monastery. Mary wanted women to do for the Church what men had done in the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). In the 17th century, this idea was not well received. Other women who tried to live an active religious life had faced similar problems. At that time, religious women were expected to stay within monastery walls. They could teach students inside or nurse the sick in hospitals connected to the monastery.

Mary's new Institute was different from other groups of women. Her sisters were free from living inside a monastery. They did not have to pray the Liturgy of the Hours together in a choir. They were not required to wear a special religious habit. Also, they were not under the direct control of the local bishop. Mary's plan was also difficult because English Catholics were divided. Her group was similar to the Jesuits, who were often viewed with suspicion. Her opponents asked Church leaders to make a statement about her group.

Some Jesuit theologians (religious scholars) like Francisco Suárez and Leonardus Lessius praised Mary's way of life. However, they disagreed on whether her group needed special approval from the Pope. Pope Pius V (1566–1572) had said that all religious women must take special vows and live strictly enclosed lives. This rule caused many problems for Mary when she asked the Holy See (the Pope's authority) for permission to expand her institute.

Important leaders like Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia, Elector Maximilian I, and Emperor Ferdinand II welcomed her institute in their lands. Churchmen like Cardinal Federico Borromeo and Mutio Vitelleschi (the leader of the Jesuits) respected her greatly. Popes Paul V, Gregory XV, and Urban VIII were kind to her and praised her work. In 1629, she was allowed to speak directly to a group of cardinals chosen by Pope Urban to review her situation.

At the request of Pope Urban, Mary went to Rome with her followers. There, she gathered the younger members of her religious family. She traveled to Rome about five or six times during her life. She also traveled across Europe on foot, often poor and sick. She founded schools in the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Austria, and in what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Her group, sometimes called "Jesuitesses" by her opponents, was officially closed down in 1631. In 1631, she was even held in a convent as a heretic (someone who goes against Church teachings) by the Pope's orders. She then relied on her female friends to keep the schools running. She sent them instructions using coded letters written with lemon juice as invisible ink.

Mary Ward's Return to England

In 1637, Mary returned to England with letters of introduction from Pope Urban to Queen Henrietta Maria of France. She settled in London. There, she and her companions started free schools for the poor. They also nursed the sick and visited prisoners. In 1642, she traveled north with her group. They started a community school in Hutton Rudby, at the home of her cousin Sir Thomas Gascoigne. Then they went to stay with the Thwing family at Heworth, near York. Mary Ward died at Heworth Manor on 20 January 1645, during the English Civil War.

After her death, her companions decided not to bury her body near the city center. They feared it might be disrespected due to the ongoing conflict. Instead, they found a quieter place. They arranged for her to be buried in the churchyard of St Thomas' Church, Osbaldwick, about a mile away. The church record says, "the vicar was honest enough to be bribed." Her burial on 1 February 1645 was attended by both Catholics and Anglicans. Many local people, both Catholic and Protestant, admired and respected her. Her tombstone can still be seen inside the church. It reads, "To love the poor, / persevere in the same, / live die and rise with them / was all the aim of / Mary Ward / who having lived 60 years and 8 days / died 20th January 1645."

Mary Ward's Lasting Legacy

Even though her ideas faced challenges, Mary Ward's work was not destroyed. Later groups of religious women looked to her for inspiration. Her ideas and work slowly came back to life and grew. The second institute she founded was finally approved by Pope Clement XI in 1703. It was recognized as a full institute by Pope Pius IX in 1877.

Mary Ward was formally recognized as the founder of the two religious institutes by the Holy See in 1909. In 2002, the Congregation of Jesus was finally allowed to use the rules of the Jesuits. They could also use the name Mary had originally wanted for them. Pope Benedict XVI declared Mary Ward venerable on 19 December 2009. He also spoke about her during his visit to the United Kingdom the next year.

By the 21st century, more than 200 schools had been named after Mary Ward. These schools form a worldwide network. For the 400th anniversary of her birth in 1985, the Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School in Toronto, Canada, was named after her. A Catholic elementary school in Niagara Falls, Ontario, also carries her name. In Germany, schools like the Maria-Ward-Schule in Landau and the St. Marien-Schulen in Regensburg are named for her. Other schools include the private St Mary's School, Cambridge in England, Loreto Toorak (Mandeville Hall) in Melbourne, Australia, and Loreto Kirribilli in Sydney, Australia.

Mary Ward's work is celebrated in an exhibit at the museum of the Bar Convent in York.