The Cornelian Principles
This year at Mayfield, the school community has been focusing on the ‘Principles’ which we may identify as Cornelian, meaning those virtues or qualities which characterised Cornelia’s personality and her manner of living, as a wife, mother and religious woman. A list of these has been posted in every classroom and other prominent positions throughout the school, serving as a daily reminder to us all that these should be the guiding principles of our lives, whether we share Cornelia’s Catholic Christian faith or not. They are: Joy, Compassion, Integrity, Generosity, Gratitude, Respect and Courage. These were set out in such a way, that it was possible to detect an acrostic running throughout, spelling OPERARE , the Latin verb ‘to work’. The idea being to make some connection with the motto of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus and our school: Facta non Verba: Actions not Words.
The life of Mother Connelly is well-known to us all, and one cannot but be impressed by the absolute integrity and humanity she evinced in what were often extremely trying circumstances . She was, most definitely, someone who practiced what she preached, living by her principles, come what may, even though at times, her fidelity to her vision cost her dear.
GENEROSITY
Generosity is at the very heart of our faith, because we should reflect the generosity of our God towards us. Nothing much can be achieved without it, since to do anything of worth requires a spirit of sacrifice. The foundation of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus would never have been possible had not Cornelia and her sisters in religion been prepared to make the tremendous sacrifices needed to establish community life from scratch and maintain it, as well as to build schools and give their lives to education of the children in their care.
Cornelia admonished the sisters to “Be generous and of great heart.” “Generosity, generosity, generosity must be the beginning and ending of our life,” she said. Nor was she slow in leading the way either. Her entire life was spent trying to discern the will of God and to do it. “There is nothing in the world I would not leave to do his holy will and to satisfy him”. These were not idle words, for when the question of separation from Pierce in order that he might be ordained, began to bite, she wrote “Great as is the sacrifice, if God asks it of me, I am ready to make it to Him with all my heart.”
Such generosity Cornelia expected from the girls, and today, Mayfield students are encouraged to cultivate an awareness of the needs of others, to be practical and involve themselves in the community – to be a traveller and a worker, not a bystander, looking on while others work.
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INTEGRITY
Integrity is a quality we admire in others and which we hope would be easily recognised in ourselves. When ours is questioned we feel aggrieved, since the implied criticism is obvious: that we are not completely honest or authentic, easily swayed by what others think or want, or fearful of what others may think of us. Possibly Mother Cornelia’s most well- known dictum is “Be yourself but make that self what our Lord wants it to be.” It is beautifully simple, encouraging the sisters and girls to be true to themselves, while stressing that honesty before God is the ultimate principle here. In this she encouraged individuality and not uniformity in others. Cornelia wrote often of the will of God: “Do not wish for more than God wishes from you, but simply that his holy will and designs be accomplished.” She maintained that “To be a saint is to will what God wills, [and) to be wise is to judge of things as God judges them”. “Let us take God’s view. What does God think of this? How shall I view this in eternity?” Sound advice, requiring the openness and honesty needed to “be ourselves.”
The Old Cornelian SUMMER 2017
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