This piece entitled ‘The Mercy Window’ is situated within the Playhouse, the original the site of the Convent of Mercy in Pump St. Derry. Sr. Aloysius was invited by the staff at the Playhouse to design the window. This was the last piece the iconographer worked on before her death in 2008. The Sister’s friend and fellow artist Brother Joe Connolly completed the design, a tribute to the work of the Sisters of Mercy from when they arrived in Derry in 1848.
Sr. Perpetua McVeigh, Sr. Aloysius’ sister reflects on the development of the project.
“Sr. Aloysius stained glass window was unveiled in the Playhouse, in Artillery St. Derry on the night of 20th December. This was her last commission and one very dear to her heart. She had been asked to design a window depicting something of the life and work of the Sisters of Mercy in Derry over the years since our arrival here in 1848. She had been working hard for months before her illness, developing her ideas and sketches. When she was taken to the Hospice she asked me to bring her things down there- pens paper, paints brushes, inks, overhead lamps etc. There in her ‘apartment’, which she called ‘Enumah’ a Greek word meaning ‘Trust in God’, she continued working on her sketches during her rest periods. – When she was free from visitors! For as long as she was able.
Finally she had to give it up and she asked her friend and fellow artist Brother Joe Connolly to bring the work to completion. This he has very successfully done. There is a good description and explanation in the Programme for the event. It is a very lovely work detailing the Martha and Mary aspects of the works of Mercy, initiated under the guidance of the Holy Spirit by our Foundress Catherine McAuley. A lovely reminder to all who visit the Playhouse of the continuing Love and Mercy of God for all people, especially the poor, the sick, those under privileged or in any way deprived or in need of help, spiritually or intellectually.”
Source: www.sistersofmercy.ie