The first foundation of the WMW was established in 1846 when Mother Mary Frances Warde and five companions, all under the age of 25, arrived in Chicago. Quickly following were establishments of Mercy foundations in San Francisco (the actual beginnings of Burlingame in 1854 and Auburn in 1857) and Grass Valley, Calif. (the first of Omaha's 13 founding foundations in 1863), as well as Cedar Rapids (in 1875). Detroit, which is made up of four foundations, traces its beginnings to Foundation, Iowa, in 1869, but could easily be argued as one of the oldest Mercy communities due to its origins in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1856.
Sister Margaret Quinn is pastoral assistant and music director at Saint Louis Church in Englewood, Colo. A former elementary and high school teacher, she also served as chaplain at Mercy San Juan Hospital in Carmichael, Calif. She moved to Denver in 1985 where her love of music and liturgy became the focus of her ministry. In 2005, while in search for community life since there were no other Sisters of Mercy nearby, she met the Sisters of Loretto. Shortly after, she was invited to move in. “I’ve been truly enriched by the Sisters of Loretto and elated that we have so much in common. A line from the song, ‘River of Glory’ jumps out at this moment: ‘We’re bathed in the glory of God,’” she said in the Sept. 2009 issue of the Loretto Denver Center newsletter.