Who was Mother Mabel Digby?

Mother Mabel Digby was the fifth Superior General of the Sacred Heart Society in 1895, and led the evacuation of the Society at the beginning of the 20th century along with all their possessions.

Mother Mabel Digby (credit: Fran Roche)

Sister Cath Lloyd, the Provincial of the Society of the Sacred Heart for England and Wales, tells us more about who she was and what that evacuation looked like.

"Mother Mabel Digby was an English woman, she was the fifth superior general of the society"

The superior general is known as the international leader. Today, the superior general is Sr Clare Castaing, who took up the post last summer.

"At the time of the story we're talking about in regards to the organ, she was living in France and was leader of the congregation"

"She oversaw the evacuation of all the sisters from France because the French Government had decided they were going to move towards secularisation"

At the beginning of the 20th century, the French Government had enacted the 1905 Law separating Church from State, after the country had experienced religious controversy for centuries, dating back to the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.

The Law was eventually established after decades of tension between Monarchists and Republicans, who viewed religion as a barrier for social development.

"They wanted to expel all the congregations, particularly those that focused on education"

"In response to that, she organised the evacuation of all possessions and assets, because she was determined that the French government weren't going to get their hands on them"

This included the Hammersmith Loret Organ

"One of the things she organised was the movement of the Loret Organ from France to Hammersmith"

The Loret Organ (credit: Fran Roche)

"In 1904, the organ was dismantled and reassembled here in Hammersmith"

This included not only the organ but an array of possessions including the Sacred Heart statue of Jesus

"Around the school there's evidence of the same movement of possessions"

The Sacred Heart Statue (credit: Fran Roche)

"The Sacred heart statue here is iconic in all the schools and universities of the Sacred Heart"

"This particular one came from our school in Lille, and she was determined that the French authorities wouldn't get their hands on it so she had it shipped over here"

"But she also had to find homes for 2,500 sisters almost overnight, and she turned a crisis into an opportunity"

"On her desk were requests for foundations for schools and convents all around the world, and she sent all those sisters off to different parts of the world, and that's why today we're so very international"

"She was practical, she was shrewd, and she showed very strong leadership in a time of crisis"

"If you go around the society now, particularly the older houses, you will find all sorts of things; clocks, dresses, tables, and they had all been sent from France in those years of 1902, 1903, 1904, so it must have been a major operation"

You can check out the full interview with Sr Cath Lloyd here