The Legacy of Mother Ignatia Campbell

Mother Ignatia

St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, Ontario recently mounted a special exhibit honoring the life and legacy of Mother Ignatia Campbell. On October 15, 165 years ago she took her final vows and then, 135 years ago, also on October 15, she founded St. Joseph’s Hospital in 1888. This was just 20 years after she and four Sisters travelled from Toronto to London to establish a community on Dec. 11, 1858. The staff of the fledgling hospital was 2 Sisters and 4 doctors, with a capacity of 24 patients.  Compare those numbers with today’s numerous programs and hundreds of staff.

The stirring Mother Ignatia exhibit is a collaboration between Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Archives and St. Joseph’s Hospital. The display consists of a variety of artifacts including Mother Ignatia’s prayer book, rosary, and pocket watch.  A beautiful, black Sister’s habit is also featured. Medical articles from both the hospital and Mount Hope across the street are of interest. On view is an 1870 coal oil lamp used at Mount Hope as well as a large brass bell, and chapel artifacts.

Standing in the quiet serenity of the tiny exhibit room, surveying medical items from another era is reminiscent of the simplicity of the medical world of over a century ago.  Among the artifacts in Dr. Luney’s treasured doctor’s bag is an irrigator circa 1880, a hematocytometer circa 1900, an atomizer circa 1909, and a pocket surgical kit circa 1880.

The steady progression of improvements, adaptations, and growth experienced by St. Joseph’s throughout the intervening decades right to our present day is mindboggling.  The trail blazers of dedicated men and women such as Mother Ignatia, have instilled the values of compassion, care, and excellence as each generation of healers gives way to the next.  Despite the many changes in health care and medical technology, one aspect that has never wavered is the love and compassion of caregivers.  The city of London and St. Joseph’s Hospital in 2023 are a far cry from the horse and buggy days of Mother Ignatia Campbell and her companions but the values of excellence and compassionate care remain unchanged.

-Sister Jean Moylan, CSJ

Photos: Photos of display taken by Noelle Tangredi.

The exhibit is displayed in the heritage corner at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Zone A, Level 1, near the Richmond Street entrance. It will be up from October 2023 to January 2024 and can be visited between 8:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday to Friday.

Connection Between Leisure Time and Contemplative Spirituality

As I took up my pen to write a few thoughts on the connection between leisure time and  contemplative spirituality, I decided that a little music would set the tone for such musings.  The first tape that I picked up was entitled “A Passion for Melody” and it struck me that this spoke aptly to the subject at hand.  For what is at the heart of contemplative spirituality if not a passion for the melody of creation woven by God into every aspect of our lives. 

Image: Unsplash/Ruslan Sikunov

In contemplative spirituality we begin to see creation with new eyes - its beauty, its grandeur, its power – like the phrases of a melody flowing from the mind and heart of a great composer.  This melody has many tempos and many cadences.  It is found in the slow, soft tones of imageless prayer; it is found in the measured beat of meaningful work; it is found in the ecstasy of love and in the playful intervals of leisure time.   

Contemplative spiritualty opens the door to this melody, allows us to see the unity, the oneness of all creation in God.  And thus seeing, we begin to understand that leisure time spent in activities which promote connectedness and “in-tune-ness” with ourselves and others, are as much a part of this grand composition as are the quiet intervals of meditation or the quickened tempo of ministerial labors. 

Leisure is one of the things that helps us to stay focused on God’s melody. Because we are more relaxed, to binds us more closely to the present moment where God, the great composer is always at work.  Conversely, if we do not engage in healthy leisure, we risk the danger of being “out of tune” with the melody of creation in our everyday life. We succumb to the worry, anxiety and busyness and gradually lose the passion for God’s melody. 

IMAGE: Unsplash/Ira Selendripity

Contemplative spirituality which touches all areas of our life (including leisure), keeps us attuned to the unifying quality of the melody of God.  In time we begin to hum that melody in our heart as we go about our daily tasks.  And if we should falter, we always have the presence of our Master Conductor, Jesus Christ, to call us back to what we already know in our heart – that any moment can be a contemplative moment, a moment of deep connectedness with God and all of God’s creation.  May the melody play on. 

Written by Sister Margaret Ferris , d. Nov.12, 2017.

IMAGE: UNSPLASH/Jigar Panchal

Remembrance Day 2023

As a child of the 50’s, preparation for and attendance at Remembrance Day ceremonies was exciting and significant. My Dad and two uncles had served in World War II so it was very exciting to watch them parade down our main street with their comrades proud with the thought there would be no more war. In school we prepared by memorizing and reciting “In Flanders Fields”. Though I am sure our teachers told us the story of the poem’s origin, now in my 70s, I have lost memory of those details and wonder if you may have too.

John McCrae, The author of “In Flanders Fields” was born in Guelph, Ontario to Scottish parents. John was described as warm and sensitive to people and animals. A bright student, he showed interest in the military and in writing poetry. He was the first student from Guelph to win a scholarship to the University of Toronto. There he completed his medical training while also publishing many poems and short stories. He joined the military and led a battery with the Canadian field artillery during the South African war. In 1914, when Britain declared war with Germany, John McRae enlisted - along with the 45,000 other Canadians stepping forward to serve. He was 42 at the time so was posted as a medical officer. In 1915 while in Ypres, Belgium, his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was brutally killed in action. Lieutenant Helmer’s remains were buried in a makeshift grave in a field where many crosses marked the graves of so many unknown soldiers. The poppies were just beginning to bloom. The next day John, while sitting on the footboard of an ambulance reflecting on the tragedy of the day before, penned “In Flanders Fields” in 20 minutes. It is the most widely read poem in honour of those who have given their lives in the hope for peace.

I would invite you to read his beautiful poem with me every day we pray for peace.

-Maureen Condon, Associate, Sisters of St. Joseph