In the trials and tribulations of history, not only the Congregatio Jesu came into being, but also a second branch, the IBVM, also known as the Loreto Sisters, can be traced back to Mary Ward’s institute plan. One of the leading figures in the creation of this second branch is Mother Teresa Ball. She was born in Dublin on 09 January 1794. On her feast day, the 19 May, we get to know her life a little better.
Mother Teresa Ball was born Frances Ball. In her first biography we read: “She was of about medium height, she was a graceful and dignified figure. … She presented herself to her children as a noble lady and a true nun.”
Dublin at the end of the 18th century was characterised by great poverty – and at the same time great wealth. Corruption flourished in parliament and in political life in general, and the streets and alleyways of the city were teeming with ragged and starving poor. The penal laws had been relaxed a little, but Catholics were not allowed to own land or houses, they were not allowed to attend school, they were not allowed to practise a profession.
Nevertheless, John Ball, a silk and textile merchant and the father of young Frances, with his second wife Mabel Clare Bennett, was a man of considerable wealth. It is recorded that he was a man of integrity, fair and honourable in all his dealings, kind and generous to the poor and needy and devoted to his family. Mabel Clare also came from a good family, was talented and very gifted. She was a deeply religious woman and her charity to the poor greatly influenced her children.
Frances was the youngest of seven children, but the first two died in early childhood. All the siblings were sent to boarding schools – the first-born Cecilia was sent to the Ursulines in Cork (where she later entered), the other two girls, Anna Maria and Isabella were sent to the Bar Convent in York, as travelling from Dublin to Cork was more unsafe and dangerous than to England at this time due to the numerous raids. Frances’ brother Nicholas was enrolled at Stonyhurst, the English Jesuit school.
St Mary’s Convent in York was founded by Mary Ward’s companions in 1686 – 41 years after Mary Ward’s death. Mary Poyntz and those who were at Mary Ward’s deathbed in 1645 were forced to flee to Paris because of the civil war in England, where they opened a school and a community. Finally, in 1667, Sir Thomas Gascoigne, a relative of Mary Ward, invited the “English Ladies”, as they were known on the continent, to open a school in Yorkshire. Frances Bedingfield was sent to England to start this new foundation in England.
Back to Frances Ball. She was nine years old when she went to York as a boarder in 1803. By this time the school already had an international reputation, with pupils from Scotland, Spain, France and other parts of Europe, as well as America and India. There is no doubt that Frances’ imagination absorbed the culture and excitement of these far-flung places.
In 1804 Frances’ father died, she was away from home and just ten. In 1805 her sister Cecilia entered the Ursulines in Cork. Her two other sisters, Anna Maria and Isabella, having married well in Dublin, continued the charitable work of their parents. Frances returned to Dublin in 1808. There she had an experience that was to shape her life. Her sister Anna Maria passed it on as follows: Frances was dancing with friends when she suddenly heard an inner voice: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all else shall be added unto you.”
At this time, Dr Daniel Murray, the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, was Frances’ confessor. After the penal laws for Catholics in Ireland became increasingly relaxed, he dreamed of religious women working in schools and hospitals in Ireland. When Frances told him in confession that she believed she had a vocation to religious life, Providence had already begun its work. Bishop Murray had already been in contact with the superior of the Bar Convent and had sent young women there for training. Now Frances also asked to be admitted. The bishop received the following reply:
“My Lord, I have asked our Bishop’s advice about your letter, he agrees to admit Miss Ball as a member of our Holy Institute to train her as a foundress of a house for the same community in Dublin. […] I have one more request, that it should not be publicised that Miss Ball has been chosen for this foundation. Such news spreads quickly and would be of no use to the young lady or to us.”
Around 1816, the connection between the convent in York and the institute in Bavaria and then also with Rome was completely severed. On the initiative of the Superior, Mrs Coyney, new Constitutions were written by an escaped French priest, Nicholas Gilbert. They became known as the Gilbert Constitutions. Frances Ball began her novitiate on Corpus Christi Day, 11 June 1814 – she was 20 years old. On 8 September 1816 she took her first vows and was given the name Teresa – a name chosen by Dr Murray, who greatly admired Teresa of Avila – and five more years of training followed. The Bar Convent of this time – characterised by the historical circumstances and the individual personalities – took the bull Quamvis iusto very seriously and erased every memory of Mary Ward in the community.
When Teresa Ball returned to Ireland in August 1821, she was a professed sister aged 27. To this day there is no coherent explanation as to how it was possible for her to return with a handwritten, contemporary copy of the Ignatian Constitutions (not the Gilbert Constitutions) – and thus bring Mary Ward’s charism and spirituality with her to Ireland. But so it was.
Back in Ireland, Sr Teresa founded a school and a community in Rathfarnham. Work had fallen behind schedule, so the buildings were not ready when the first sisters and pupils moved in. ‘When we were finally able to move in, the house was still full of labourers,’ noted the foundress in her notes. The schools of the nuns, soon to be called the Loreto Sisters, were characterised by a special style of education. An example from the pen of Mother Teresa: “Treat the children with motherly affection, never scold them for long. Never give them long lectures, otherwise … they will begin to count the windows.”
The newly founded institute began to grow and flourish. This early success of the foundation cannot be attributed to Teresa Ball alone. Her first companions provided crucial support. Teresa Ball therefore referred to Baptist Therry and Ignatia Arthur as “foundresses” in recognition of the importance they had. From 1841 onwards, Teresa Ball was repeatedly invited and persuaded to found communities in distant countries. During her lifetime, 37 Loreto houses were founded in seven countries and 54 sisters were sent on mission. The first foundation was in India in 1841, quickly followed by Mauritius and Gibraltar in 1845, Canada in 1847 and England and Spain in 1851. As superior, Mother Tersa Ball was in regular correspondence with each superior of these foundations, creating a strong bond with Rathfarnham.
At a time when theology and religious practice mainly taught prohibitions and proclaimed a God of laws and rules who demanded obedience, Teresa was filled with God’s greatness, with a God who wants to give us gifts of himself and his ways. This God taught her to simply trust him and to seek him, an active trusting and seeking that did not allow her to say, ‘enough now, let me rest’.
Teresa Ball invites us today to trust this God and to seek him in everything. Her three daily resolutions, which she wrote down in 1850, can help us in this endeavour:
- Never decide anything without first praying.
- Remember that the mercy I show others will be repaid a hundredfold.
- Every morning I bring all my intentions before God, I want to do this with every single intention.
With material from Sr Monika Glockann CJ and information from the archives of the IBVM
