TODAY (January 23) marks the start of a week-long celebration of the life of the extraordinary woman who founded the religious order at at York convent.

The Bar Convent in Blossom Street is marking Mary Ward Week; an annual celebration of the Yorkshire woman marking the anniversaries of her birth on January 23 1585 and her death on January 30 1645.

In recognition of her revolutionary achievements, the Bar Convent will share stories of Mary’s life and a selection of her best-known and most relevant quotes across social media channels.

Quotes will also be displayed in the windows of the building in the hope that her words can offer inspiration, encouragement or strength during these trying times.

Sister Ann Stafford, Superior at the Bar Convent, said: “Each year our religious communities and schools celebrate the life of Mary Ward, the founder of the religious order the Congregation of Jesus, who reside at the Bar Convent.

“Her fascinating story is told in our exhibition, however, due to the current circumstances, unfortunately we aren’t able to recognise her achievements as we had planned. However, we still hope to raise awareness of the impact that she had on women’s education and equality within religious orders and far beyond.

“We will be sharing some of her wise words and interesting facts each day on our social media channels throughout the week and we have also displayed some of her most powerful quotes in the windows of the Bar Convent Heritage Centre.

“Many of Mary Ward’s words still resonate today. If these words are perhaps able to offer some form of comfort to people during these difficult times, more than 300 years after her death, then I think that is a befitting tribute to her memory.”

Mary Ward’s quotes include: “Love and speak the truth at all times”, “Do good and do it well” and, “There is no such difference between men and women that women may not do great things”.

More than 200 years before women were given the right to vote, and at a time when Catholicism was illegal, Mary Ward was a dedicated pioneer in women’s education, equality and how women’s religious orders carried out God’s work.

She overcame opposition from her family, the Church and the Crown, walked across the Alps, was imprisoned and faced great danger for her cause. Her convictions that ‘there is no such difference between men and women that women may not do great matters’, resulted in the founding of a new revolutionary religious order that was no longer enclosed within an institution and with a mission to work with communities and educate and empower women worldwide.

Following her death in 1645, her companions continued the work that she had begun, establishing schools firstly across Europe, and then the globe, including the

first ever school for girls in York on the site of the Bar Convent in 1686.

Her legacy lives on at the Bar Convent, York, where her followers, now known as the Congregation of Jesus, remain residents today, and in all of the schools and religious communities that continue to thrive in her name.

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