Margaret Anna Cusack, Mother Francis Clare

Give women their rights, then, for these rights are justice - justice to men as well as women, for the interests of men and women cannot be separated (Women's Work).  Today, The Peoples Companion to the Breviary honors Margaret Anna Cusack, Mother Francis Clare.  A woman for our times, Margaret Anna (born in Dublin around 1830) "dedicated herself to writing, especially on behalf of the liberation of women and children who were victims of oppression in the Church and Society".  


"In 1884 Margaret Anna founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. Seeking funds to support her sisters' work with women and children, in 1885 she set off for America. Soon after arriving, she established a home for migrant women who, upon arrival in New York, often found themselves to be homeless and jobless.

The success of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace spread. By 1890 the Sisters were being asked to go West to serve the needs of frontier settlements springing up in the Pacific Northwest. It was in August of this year that Sisters set off from Jersey City, New Jersey on what was to be the beginning of PeaceHealth, and the continuation of the vision of Margaret Anna Cusack.