Mother Frances Xavier Warde

Mother Frances Xavier Warde (1810 - 1884)When the word “pioneer” is used in the story of America’s early years and especially the expansion westward, what immediately comes to mind are brawny men with steely eyes and flintlock long rifle in the crook of their arm as they surveyed the next mountain. However, one of the most indefatigable and passionate of all the men and women who went west with the country was a small, quiet woman of impressive presence and steely resolve to serve the young, the sick, the uneducated and the imprisoned and marginalized.Frances Warde was born in County Laois, Ireland in 1810 into a well-off family of merchants and landowners. Having lost her mother at an early age, Frances was raised by aunts who instilled in her not only a firm religious foundation but a love of the charms of high society. Feeling called to do something more with her life for God and others, Frances was directed to the newly formed Sisters of Mercy, founded by Mother McAuley, and entere