Mary Ward's birthday
Anyone involved in our school will be all too familiar with the name Mary Ward – the school’s foundress who, as a 17th century nun was regarded by many as a radical and who came close to being burned at the stake.
Born to a staunchly Catholic family at a time when it was illegal to practise the faith in England, Mary believed she was called to become a nun. Having spent time with an order in France, she decided to form her own movement, which she called the Congregation of Jesus (CJ). Mary envisaged the sisters of the order playing active roles in the community and running schools for girls (which did not exist at the time). She said “There is no such difference between men and women that women may not do great matters,” to which the Catholic Church responded by banning the CJ schools that had been founded across northern Europe, and imprisoning Mary Ward.
Mary Ward was released from prison undeterred, and eventually returned to England, and died before she could see the extent to which the CJ movement expanded and schools, like ours, were established. Whilst students in the UK would now receive an education without needing to attend a Mary Ward school, there are children across the world, girls especially, who do not have easy access to an education.
Mary Ward was born on 23 January 1585, and so on Monday of this week the school community celebrated her birthday and remembered her invaluable contribution to the lives of so many.
At the Junior School, Head of Juniors Mr Matthew O’Reilly began the week with a dedicated Mary Ward service, in which he read an excerpt from a book of letters, Dear Pope Francis, from a Brazilian boy who asked what God did before the world was created. Pope Francis’s answer explained that love was here before God had created the world, and that God is love.
As many of our regular readers will know, we are focusing on two of the 12 Characteristics of a Mary Ward School throughout this academic year: ‘Coping effectively with failure’ and ‘Seeing good in all creation’. This week the Junior School girls have been especially focusing on the second of these characteristics, by investigating ‘ugly things in nature’. Each year group has been looking at something that’s usually considered ugly, such as weeds or rats, and considering their value or purpose in the world.
On the evening of 23 January our boarding community was visited by guest speaker, Mr Dylan Evans, a British author and academic in the field of Behavioural Science. Mr Evans spoke enthusiastically about his own personal journey of enlightenment and learning in the West African country of Mauritania. His stories touched upon the influence of Islam throughout Mauritania, and his acceptance into an unfamiliar culture – bringing a traditional Mauritania dress to show the girls how it was worn. The girls were delighted to have had an insight into such an interesting culture and felt inspired by a clear demonstration of fully embracing diversity – one of Mary Ward’s treasured values.
In the Senior School, on the morning of 23 January, the Senior School and Sixth Form students congregated for a special Mary Ward Mass service. The visiting priest spoke about how each of us has an individual mission in life: for instance to bring light into dark and troubling situations; to set prisoners free; to help the homeless; or to feed the hungry – in essence, to improve the world in any way that we can, even by simply being sensitive to those around us who might be feeling low. Instead of carrying on as normal when someone seems to be struggling, ask what you can do to help them. Acknowledging Mary Ward’s legacy, the girls were reminded that they mustn’t allow people to say: “you’re too small to do what you want to do – no one is too small to do good!”.
Later on in the day, during form time, the girls held Mary Ward birthday parties, eating cakes together and playing games to mark the birthday of the school’s foundress.