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| Birth of Mary |
During the Octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in September Margaret gave a retreat in which she instructed the Sisters to ask God to make them true imitators of Jesus and Mary especially with regard to humility. She advised them that Mary could teach them better than anyone how to lead a hidden but useful life.
Margaret claimed that the Blessed Mother taught her to provide for the body as well as the soul and to use her hands, eyes and all her God-given senses to learn what needed to be done and to do it with love. She cautioned them to beware of the undermining power of self-will and to learn to obey the will of God as Mary did. She asked them to be like Mary and put all of their human faculties to good use, not by denying them but by spiritualizing them. She reminded them that the Blessed Mother provided for Jesus and nourished him with her own body. Later in his public life she cooked for the apostles and took care to ensure everything was provided for the feast at Cana. She reminded the Sisters not to get so caught up in their pursuit of knowledge and desire for sanctity through fasting that they think they can live without eating. Life can be sustained without reading and writing, or any other work of the mind, but eating is essential and to provide for it ought to be the zealous aim of all.
Margaret claimed that the Blessed Mother taught her to provide for the body as well as the soul and to use her hands, eyes and all her God-given senses to learn what needed to be done and to do it with love. She cautioned them to beware of the undermining power of self-will and to learn to obey the will of God as Mary did. She asked them to be like Mary and put all of their human faculties to good use, not by denying them but by spiritualizing them. She reminded them that the Blessed Mother provided for Jesus and nourished him with her own body. Later in his public life she cooked for the apostles and took care to ensure everything was provided for the feast at Cana. She reminded the Sisters not to get so caught up in their pursuit of knowledge and desire for sanctity through fasting that they think they can live without eating. Life can be sustained without reading and writing, or any other work of the mind, but eating is essential and to provide for it ought to be the zealous aim of all.
Drane, Augusta Theodosia (Mother Francis Raphael), Life of Mother Margaret Mary Hallahan: Foundress of the English Congregation of St. Catherine of Siena of the Third Order of St. Dominic, Longmans, Green and Co., New York, New York, 1929, p. 106
