“On January 16th we remember Fr. John Gowan CM. assisted in the founding of the new congregation of the Holy Faith Sisters. …
Margaret Aylward wrote that it was he who was largely responsible for the idea of opening schools for the ‘most abandoned and most destitute children’ in Dublin.
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” On January 16th we remember Fr. John Gowan CM. He was born in Skerries, Co. Dublin in 1817. First ordained to the priesthood in the Dublin Diocese, he later became a Vincentian, and was assigned to the Vincentian Mission Team in St. Peter’s Church in Phibsboro, Dublin.
It was here that in 1853 he met Margaret Aylward and shared her concern for the welfare of the city poor. As her friend and spiritual adviser, he assisted in the founding of the new congregation of the Holy Faith Sisters. He died in Glasnevin Convent on January 16th 1897.
Margaret Aylward wrote that it was he who was largely responsible for the idea of opening schools for the ‘most abandoned and most destitute children’ in Dublin.
He lived to see the growth and expansion of the congregation he had helped to found, and Holy Faith Sisters everywhere celebrate his life on January 16th every year.
http://www.holyfaithsisters.net/
