Mother Mary Magdalen Jackson, IHM
Mother Mary Magdalen Jackson, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Thursday, April 13, 1899, at St. Cecilia’s Convent in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
She was born on June 9, 1842 in Middleboro in Yorkshire England, and given the name Elizabeth R. She was the daughter of the late David and Christiana Fawcett Jackson, and the step-daughter of Sarah Eastwood Jackson, and grew up in Ontario, Canada. She was the first postulant received in the newly formed Scranton Diocese on August 15, 1871. She received the religious habit on February 2, 1872 at St. John's Novitiate in Pittston, PA, and made profession of her vows on August 14, 1874.
Mother Mary Magdalen was an accomplished musician, and served as a music teacher at St. Cecilia Academy in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and St. Rose School in Carbondale, Pennsylvania.
Mother Mary Magdalen was elected the Superior General of the IHM Congregation on July 22, 1889 which is the feast of St. Mary Magdalen and was re-elected on August 15, 1895. In 1893, she purchased 30 acres of the land that is now known as Marywood University. At the time of her death there were 29 novices and 224 professed sisters in the community.
She is preceded in death by a brother, David, and a sister, Dorothy Cochrane.
She is survived by a sister, Mary Ann, a brother, William George of North Carolina, nieces and nephews.
Interment is at Cathedral Cemetery in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Memorial contributions may be made to support the retired IHM Sisters c/o the IHM Sisters Retirement Fund, IHM Center, 2300 Adams Avenue, Scranton, PA 18509.
"The family came to Canada in 1852 and settled in Ontario, where Elizabeth Jackson, the future Mother Mary, was educated in a private academy under the auspices of the Church of England. She was her father's favorite daughter and during the vacations was his constant companion. She was highly endowed intellectually and later, when she had finished school, she shared with her father the philosophical studies in which he was deeply engrossed."
Excerpted from The Sisters of the I.H.M.: The Story of The Founding of The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Their Work In The Scranton Diocese by Sister M. Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, NY, 1921, p. 218
"Mother Mary, the first novice to be professed in the Scranton Diocese, was unanimously elected and took her place as mother superior amid the rejoicing of the whole community. The ceremony of her installation took place on the day of her election, July 22nd, the feast day of her patron, Saint Mary Magdalen."
Excerpted from The Sisters of the I.H.M.: The Story of The Founding of The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Their Work In The Scranton Diocese by Sister M. Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, NY, 1921, p. 217
"Elizabeth Jackson was admitted to the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart at Pittston, the first postulant received in the newly-formed province of the Order. "
"After her profession Sister Mary, being an accomplished musician, was placed in charge of the music department at Saint Cecilia's. After some years she was transferred to Saint Rose's, where she was superior at the time of her call by the community to fill the office of mother superior. By a singular coincidence, she who had been the first postulant to be received in the new foundation, was the first superior to be installed by the election of the Sisters."
Excerpted from The Sisters of the I.H.M.: The Story of The Founding of The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Their Work In The Scranton Diocese by Sister M. Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, NY, 1921, p. 221, 222
"Good Friday of the year 1899 was an especially sorrowful day for the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for on that day they were made aware that their beloved Mother Mary was so near to the end of her earthly career that she had but a few days to live. She had been taken to the Moses Taylor Hospital where an examination revealed the presence of cancer. As there was no hope of her recovery she was brought back to Saint Cecilia's, where her remaining days were made as happy as possible. With lively faith she received the last sacraments and then calmly awaited the end. Earth and the things of earth no longer concerned her. She looked forward to the moment when she could surrender her soul to God. On the afternoon of April 13th her sufferings were at an end. An expression of deep calm overspread her face, the expression she wore in life, intensified; the holy, peaceful look giving the appearance that after the strife of life's little day, rest had come with eventide. By a fortunate circumstance it fell to the lot of Father McManus to preach her funeral sermon. Speaking of the close of her life in his eulogy he said : "I will not dare enter the sanctuary of her thoughts when our Lord visited her, assuring her that though she should walk in the valley of death she should fear no evil for He, Christ, was with her. She who did everything with a big heart, what for her must have been her last Communion with her Divine Lord in the Sacrament of His love? Then was the decision and resolution of her youth rewarded when she said, *I have left father and mother to follow Thee. Bring me to the promised treasures in Heaven.' "
"At the close of Mother Mary's term, the "Flag of the Free" waved over fourteen convent schools of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Diocese of Scranton. In the period of thirty years which had elapsed since the foundation, membership in the Community had increased to the number of two hundred and twenty-four professed Sisters and twenty-nine novice Sisters."
Excerpted from The Sisters of the I.H.M.: The Story of The Founding of The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Their Work In The Scranton Diocese by Sister M. Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, NY, 1921, p 273, 274
