Nano Nagle nurtured her partnership with the Divine and became a captive flame- a woman ablaze with love. Fidelity to the daily mysticism of encounter, nurtured her confident trust that she was indeed “the beloved of God.” This experiential knowledge of being beloved enabled her to recognise the other as beloved. This recognition was central her who life’s project.
Nano’s spirituality held no dualism. The contemplative and active was one seamless robe: “The more she moved among the people, especially the poor, the more she was drawn to prayer and mystical union with God, the source of her energy and her mission.” (Presentation Sisters’ Constitution 7).
She lived the mysticism of encounter. Daily the wick of her life was dipped into the oil of Divine Love. There was a delicate leaning on the heartbeat of God in the hours she spent contemplating the face of God revealed in the person and actions of Jesus.
Nano became the dance partner of the Spirit of God. She displayed a deep alertness and openness to the breath of the Wind of God. Such awareness deepened her confidence and trust in Divine Providence, to lead and guide her every action: “The Almighty presided at the counsels of her heart”. (Nano Nagle and the Presentation Sisters, Appendix B p.395)
The breath of God filled her whole being. It drew her out into the lanes and hovels of Cork, where daily she encountered the broken body of Christ. Her mission: to bind up their wounds, to heal the broken hearted, to restore their sense of dignity, that they would know they, too, were the beloved of God. Her life became a living witness to the mysticism of encounter. God is on the side of the poor and vulnerable; and the poor were important. Her radical stance of open mind and open heart gradually changed her. By extension, her life effected change not only in Ireland but right across the world. Those who walk in her footsteps are called to continue to be Lantern lights witnessing to God in joyful service: “Not words, but deeds.” (Nagle family motto)