Each year on September 24 schools in the Joplin Area Catholic School System celebrate Mercy Day. Mercy Day celebrates the day that Catherine McAuley opened the first House of Mercy in 1827. It is also the Feat of Our Lady of Mercy. For JACS, this celebration typically includes a system-wide Mass with Bishop Edward M. Rice and the local Sisters of Mercy renew their vows. This year there will be a Mass for St. Peter’s and McAuley students in the morning and a Mass for St. Mary’s students in the afternoon. Students will continue to celebrate the Sisters of Mercy until Founders Day – October 4. This is the day that the Sisters of Mercy, after arriving in Joplin in July 1885, opened the first Catholic School.
You can see a full schedule of events for the week here. If you would like to send a letter to one of the Sisters of Mercy who taught in the JACS system, ministered at Mercy Hospital or an alumna who entered the Sisters of Mercy upon graduation please contact Sr. Joan Schwager at jschwager@jacss.org or the Development office at development@jacss.org to send a letter.