(MOTHER M. MAGDALEN TAYLOR)

Superior General, and foundress of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God, born 20 Jan., 1832; died in London, 9 June, 1900. Her father was a Protestant clergyman, the vicar of a Lincolnshire parish where her early years were spent in works of charity among the poor. She was a very clever woman, full of energy, with a wide sympathetic nature and a remarkably retentive memory. In 1854 her patriotism moved her to join Miss Nightingale's staff of nurses, and to go with them to the Crimean War. This threw her into contact with Catholic priests, Sisters of Mercy, and soldiers, and opened her eyes to the truth of the Catholic religion. After instruction she was received into the Church by Father Woollett, S.J. On her return to England she first worked among the poor of London, and made the acquaintance of Lady Georgiana Fullerton, with whose co-operation she laid the foundation of her institute. In addition to this, and to opening various refuges, convents, schools, etc., she did a great deal of literary work. She wrote a good many stories and always employed her pen for the promotion of the Catholic religion. For some time she edited "The Lamp ", and helped to start both "The Month", and "The Messenger of the Sacred Heart ", to which, as to other Catholic papers and periodicals of the day, she contributed. She had imbibed from Father Dignam, S.J., a great devotion to the Sacred Heart, and was very active in spreading this devotion and the Apostleship of Prayer, especially in Ireland. In 1892 her health gave way, and the rest of her life was suffering, borne with exemplary patience. She died in a home she had founded for penitents in Soho Square; London. Her works are "Memoir of Father Dignam, S.J."; "Retreats given by Father Dignam, S.J."; "Conferences by Father Dignam, S.J."; "The Inner Life of Lady Georgiana Fullerton"; "Tyborne and Who Went Thither"; "Convent Stories"; "Lost, and Other Tales"; "Dame Dolores"; "Life of Father Curtis S.J."; "Religious Orders"; "Holywell and Its Pilgrims"; "The Stoneleighs of Stoneleigh"; "Irish Homes and Irish Hearts"; "Eastern Hospitals and English Nurses."

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online