The Catholic Weekly 5 April 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 8 NEWS 5, April, 2020 AT THE end of March 1919, Eileen O’Connor asked her Nurses if they would go into the homes of the Poor and care for those who were suf- fering from ‘Flue’. The pneumonic influen- za which had been afflicting the Northern Hemisphere for close to a year had now made its way to Australian shores. The state of New South Wales had been declared an infected area, and significant restrictions – including the closure of churches, schools, dance halls and picture shows – had been put in place. But this was exactly the sort of work for which Our Lady’s Nurses were equipped, both professionally and spiritually, and each one of them agreed to undertake the potentially life-threatening activity. We read in their Medical Journal that they spent Sun- day 30 March 1919 in prepa- ration, “making Gowns, Caps & Masks”; and that a car was organised by the Patrician Brothers for their use, “lent by Rev Brother Patrick, Ryde.” The Nurses loaded their baskets with linseed for poul- tices, with pneumonia jackets and hypodermic needles, as well as with beef tea, mut- ton broth, boiled rice and barley water, and set out to the homes of the flu-stricken The individual currently considered a potential second official saint for Australia knew the dangers of a pandemic. It makes her evenmore relevant to today’s crisis ¾ ¾ Jocelyn Hedley Eileen O’Connor and the Influenza Pandemic of 1919 Web rosary grows WHAT BEGAN as an initia- tive by Catholic students in Sydney to pray online during the COVID-19 pandemic has now become a tool for solidar- ity between young Catholics across the globe. Last week, young Catho- lic students in Sydney rallied together in the wake of the closure of their usual campus ministries due to COVID-19 to continue their faith online with daily online rosary via the Zoomweb app. The event was reported in The Catholic Weekly and sub- sequently received the world- wide attention – in particular. Now, the online rosary held at 12pm Australian Eastern poor. All of this was done with the undergirding of prayer. The Nurses prayed togeth- er in the mornings and again when they returned to Our Lady’s Home in Coogee when the day’s work was done. But Eileen was an extreme- ly light sleeper, and so added many more hours of prayer through the night. One suspects that when three of her Nurses, togeth- er with the society’s Matron, contracted the flu themselves, she prayed all the harder. Eileen and Our Lady’s Nurses knew all of the diffi- culties of living in a virus-in- fected world. They knew all of the anx- ieties and the uncertainties — and, indeed, they knew the pain. For Matron McRae did not recover from the flu but, tragically, she “gave her life in helping to fight this dreadful disease,” the Medical Journal tells us. And then we come to to- day, to our own profoundly difficult situation, and we see once again the way that Ei- leen O’Connor is a saint for us in our own time. For Eileen has lived through that which we are living through now, and with far less in the way of medical assistance than is available to us today. Eileen put her trust in God when she asked her Nurses to go into the district to care for those suffering from the flu. No doubt she experienced uncertainties at times, yet still she continued along the path that had been placed before her. As she did so, she kept her eyes fixed always on Our Lord, and sought ever the intercession of Our Blessed Mother. Eileen’s faith and witness encourage us likewise to put our trust in God as we tread the strange and difficult path that lies before us. She urges us to keep our eyes fixed on Our Lord and not give up in our prayers to Our Lady now in the midst of our own pandemic a hundred years after hers. She models for us a life lived in confidence and trust, even in the darkest of days. And she stands as a sign of No doubt she experienced uncertainties at times, yet still she continued along the path that had been placed before her. As she did she kept her eyes fixed always on Our Lord, and sought Mary’s intercession.” Servant of God Eileen O’Connor, no stranger to pain and suffering, is seen pictured in her wheelchair. Find the career you deserve catholicjobsonline.com.au SEE OUR LATEST JOBS God’s great love for us, of how He does not leave us without hope. Eileen O’Connor, Serv- ant of God: Pray for us. Dr Jocelyn Hedley is the author of And here begin the work of Heaven: The spiritu- ality of Eileen O’Connor Standard Time, will not only have participants from Syd- ney, Australia but also partic- ipants from young Catholic societies in Canada, Honduras and the United States – tech savvy Catholics united in faith from the confines of their homes. Tony Mattar, University Chaplain co-ordinator at the Archdiocese of Sydney, told The Catholic Weekly the trend to Zoom rosaries is a testa- mony to the resilience of the faith despite immediate trials at hand. “I think it’s great that what started once as a daily rosary with Catholics in university campuses in Sydney Australia has grown to become an in- ternational thing with other young Catholics around the world,” he said. “It is as if the rosary is the chain connecting us from con- tinent to continent – young people united in prayer. Loca- tion is no longer a restriction but rather a testament to the faith of Catholics around the world.” “This just goes to show that despite church doors being closed, the doors of the homes and are truly becoming the domestic churches that the young people are eager for and finding comfort and solace in.” All are welcome to partici- pate and can join the interna- tional online rosary at 12pm AEST onThursday 2 April. ¾ ¾ David Ryan