Frances Margaret Taylor - Charism and Spirit

Charism and Spirit

Sister Mary Campion Troughton, her first biographer, has written of Frances Taylor’s impact on the community she founded. This was achieved through her determination to ensure proper training for the sisters, both spiritual and professional; her care for all of her charges, both in the community and among those whom they served; and in her concern to be a personal example of humility and labour.

She had a particular devotion to the Incarnation, to the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The paintings of the ‘Sacred Heart Pleading’ and the Annunciation which were designed (though not executed) by her are effectively visual expressions of her theological beliefs.

For Frances Taylor, the Sacred Heart was both a symbol of the Incarnation and the most perfect expression of God’s love for humankind. Hence her close collaboration with Father Dignam in his work for the Apostleship of Prayer, which had the aim of spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart, particularly amongst the urban poor, and she also sought to encourage the work of the Apostleship in Ireland. She also had been strongly influenced by French models of the spiritual and religious life, particularly the example of St Vincent de Paul, and this French influence is reflected in her attachment to the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, rather unusual in an English context.