Mary Xavier Molony

Sister Mary Xavier Molony, P.B.V.M. (August 1781 – 8 October 1865) was an Irish Presentation Sister, who was one of the first religious sisters to establish Catholic schools in the Newfoundland.

Baptised Belinda Molony to Francis and Catherine Maloney of Tulla, County Clare, she took the name Mary Xavier upon taking her vows as a Presentation Sister at Galway in 1825. In August 1833 Molony, Mother Mary Bernard Kirwan and two other sisters left Galway for Newfoundland to found a school for orphan girls, at the suggestion of Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming. The group was noted as the first nuns in Newfoundland.

They arrived at St. John's on 21 September, but as no word of their arrival reached their sister back in Galway for another four months, they were thought to be lost at sea. With the result, Solemn Requiem Mass was had for them, and the original copies of their vows were burned.

In 1853, Molony was made the first superior of the convent of Harbour Main, about outside St. John's. It opened on 9 July 1853 and was attended by one hundred and eighty children. However, Molony became ill within three years and had to return to the mother house in St. John's where she remained for the remainder of her life. She occupied herself by painting pious pictures on satin and making altar ornaments. Mary Xavier Molony died, aged 84.