Mary Jane Wilson

Venerable

Mary Jane Wilson

Born| 3 October 1840
Hurryhur, Mysore, Karnataka, British Raj
Died| 18 October 1916(1916-10-18) (aged 76)
Câmara de Lobos, Madeira, Portugal

Mary Jane Wilson DamTE (3 October 1840 – 18 October 1916), also known as Sister Maria of Saint Francis (Portuguese: Irmã Maria de São Francisco), was an Englishwoman born in India who founded the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Victories. Wilson was declared venerable by Pope Francis.[1]

## Biography

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Wilson was born in Hurryhur, Mysore to English parents, and grew up in the Anglican faith. After the death of her parents she moved to England to the care of an aunt. She converted to Catholicism, and was baptised in France on 11 May 1873.[2]

In 1881 she moved to Madeira island, in Portugal, to nurse an Englishwoman. She settled in Funchal and lived the rest of her life on Madeira. In 1884 she co-founded, with Amélia Amaro de Sá, the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Victories [pt][3] (FNSV, in Portuguese: Congregação das Irmãs Franciscanas de Nossa Senhora das Vitórias). In 1907 she nursed patients throughout a smallpox epidemic, and was awarded the honour of Tower and Sword (Torre e Espada). The revolution of October 1910 forced her to leave Madeira, but she returned a year later. She died in Madeira, aged 76, on 18 October 1916.[2] She was declared venerable on 9 October 2013.[4]

A small museum in Funchal is dedicated to her life and work,[5] and there is a sculpture of her, by Luís Paixão, in the municipal gardens in Santa Cruz.[6] Furthermore, in Largo Severiano Ferraz, also in Funchal, there is a bronze statue of her likeness, sculpted in 2006 by Ricardo Velosa.[7] A book on her life, The invincible Victorian, the life of Mary Jane Wilson by Terry Dunphy, was published in about 1950 by the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Victories.[8]

## Honours

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* Dame of Order of Tower and Sword, Portugal (1907)[9]

## References

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1. ^ "Venerable Mary Jane Wilson". CatholicSaints.info. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
2. ^ a b "Mary Jane Wilson" (in Portuguese). Congregação das Irmãs Franciscanas de Nossa Senhora das Vitórias. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
3. ^ "Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Victories". Catholic Directory of India 2010. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016. NB Text of page uses "... Victories"
4. ^ "1916: 18 October". Hagiography Circle. Retrieved 26 March 2016. Source gives dates and details of the steps leading to the decree
5. ^ "Museum Nucleus Mary Jane Wilson". Madeira-Cultura. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
6. ^ "Sculpture of Sister Mary Jane Wilson". Madeira Islands. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
7. ^ Funchal: Ciudade com Arte (PDF). p. 57. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
8. ^ "Catalogue record for "The Invincible Victorian"". British Library. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
9. ^ "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 13 July 2016.

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