This year marks 100 years since the passing of Venerable Meri Hōhepa (Mary Joseph) Suzanne Aubert. When she died aged 91, in October 1926, she was widely acclaimed as a holy woman who for over 60 years had worked tirelessly among people in need.

The founder of New Zealand’s Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion, Suzanne Aubert dedicated her life to caring for the most vulnerable – the homeless, the sick, the abandoned. For Suzanne, Christ was in everyone, ‘all creeds or none’.

A towering figure in the history of our church and country, her funeral was the largest ever held for a woman in Aotearoa New Zealand.  

To celebrate the memory of Meri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert and inspire us to reflect her spirit of service in our own lives, Compassion Whānau will hold a series of events: Rau Tau Pūaroha l Celebrate Compassion 2026.

Celebrate Compassion 2026 began with the blessing of a Centennial Candle at the annual Tōtara Point Mass in the Hokianga. This Mass commemorates the first Catholic Mass celebrated in New Zealand in 1838 by Bishop Jean Baptiste François Pompallier at the home of Irish settlers, Thomas and Mary Poynton. It was Bishop Pompallier who in 1859 invited a young Suzanne Aubert to travel from Lyon in France to join his Auckland Diocese.

In February Celebrate Compassion 2026 was included at the annual Waitangi Day Mass celebrations at St Mary of the Angels Church in Wellington, with the Sisters Processing the Centenary Candle at the beginning of the Mass. Each year the Mass, which honours the Te Tiriti o Waitangi signed in 1840, is jointly hosted by St Mary of the Angels Parish and Te Pariha o Te Ngākau Tapu, the personal parish for Māori in the Archdiocese of Wellington.

In March, Hiruhārama | Jerusalem, on the banks of the Whanganui River, Suzanne Aubert’s base from 1883 to 1899 and the ‘Cradle of her Congregation’, was formally blessed before its official re-opening in April, following renovations at the old convent and St Joseph’s Church site.

Other events include a celebration of the work of the Compassion Soup Kitchen in June, commemorating 125 years of service to the vulnerable; a celebration of Suzanne Aubert’s Phrase book and Prayer book in conjunction with Te Reo Māori Language Week in September; a special prayer book for the Month of the Rosary in October; and hīkoi connecting Māori Eucharistic Communities and their Meri Hōhepa links.

Commemorations will culminate with a 100-year Memorial Mass at St Mary of the Angels Church, Wellington in October.

About Meri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert

Meri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert was a visionary, a holy woman, a multi-lingual missionary to Māori people, a teacher, a nurse, a healer, a herbalist knowledgeable in traditional Māori remedies, a woman of courage, and a woman of prayer and compassion.

A clue to her tenacity and service to others may lie in her early years. She fell through a frozen pond at age two, which caused injuries that left her temporarily crippled and blind, with a lasting, permanent cast in one eye. These childhood challenges, requiring her to wear splints until age five, made her the subject of ridicule. In the spiritual realm however, these setbacks developed in her an enduring empathy for the disabled and vulnerable.

These early experiences coupled with a profound faith made her indomitable. Her energy was tireless and her faith and imagination knew no limits. She left her Sisters a treasure-house of spiritual insights that reflect her deep faith – a selection of her sayings was published in 2015 in Suzanne Aubert’s Spiritual Tonics.

In her own words, “Charity never says ‘it is enough’.”

Meri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert is on the path to becoming New Zealand's first Catholic saint, having been declared ‘Venerable’ by Pope Francis in 2016.

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