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ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW OF SISTER MARY CLARE HUGHES, D.C.
JUNE 17, 2019
CONDUCTED BY SISTER MAUREEN SCHMALZRIED, D.C.
Transcribed July 9, 2019 by Scott Keefer
Sister Mary Clare, Welcome. It’s good to have you with us today. I wonder if you could tell us
something about your vocation story.
Well I’m happy to be with you and to talk about the community rather than my vocation story,
but I’ll tell you a little bit about how I came to the community.
In the summer of [19]42, my sister said to me, “Clare, are you going to the community or not?”
And I said “OK, do you have to know?” Well, she said, “if you’re going to the community, I’ll
get married in August. If you’re not, I’ll have a Thanksgiving wedding.” Well, I said, “Kitty,
maybe you’d better consider August.” So she was married August 29, and I left home on
September 8.
I already had one brother in the seminary and one other sister married, and shortly after I came to
the community, two brothers were conscripted, and there was no one home with my mother. So
if I hadn’t come that September of ’42, I don’t know when I might have come, or if I would have
come.
But anyway, I did come in September of ’42, and I postulated at old Mt. Hope [in Baltimore],
and we had about 20-some other women postulating with me at Mt. Hope, and it was a great
time. Getting used to living with more than your own family, getting used to living with the
sisters day by day – because in high school we went home at the end of the day. We didn’t live
with them-- Mt. Hope eventually became Seton, but when I was in postulatum, it was called Mt.
Hope, so I should be referring to it as Mt. Hope. I left Mt. Hope to go to the seminary around
December 2 of 1942, and my vocation date – the day I recorded as entering the community – is
December 14, 1942.
I was in the seminary ‘til January of ’44, and I was missioned to St. Joseph’s School,
Martinsburg, West Virginia, and I was missioned to the third and fourth grade. Of course, I
knew discipline was a problem, but Sister Imelda Maillette was a first and second grade teacher
separated from me by a cloak room. So she helped me out, and gradually the discipline became
possible for me.
So you began as a teacher?
I began as a teacher, but, in January of 1946 my Sister Servant received a call from Emmitsburg
to ask me if I would consider entering nursing. Well, I had one time thought of nursing, so I
couldn’t say no to the community, although I was very, very happy teaching and happy in
Martinsburg. But as I say, I couldn’t say no.
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So I left there within a week to come up to St. Joseph’s, because I was getting to the class in the
College, and the second semester had already started. So that was the reason for my quick exit
from Martinsburg.
I had two other sister companions, Sister Annina Scharper and Sister – I think her name became
Mary, I’m not sure – I knew her as Angelica Ahl, and the three of us went through nursing
together. [note: Sister Angelica’s name became Sister Margaret] From the College, we went
down to old Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., and we had women companions in class
with us, and they were delightful. We went through our basic nursing with some courses out at
Catholic University, because we were matriculating for a Bachelor’s of Science in nursing, so the
degree had to come from the Catholic University. It was called Providence Hospital’s School of
Nursing at the Catholic University when I went there.
As I finished my nursing program with my baccalaureate, Sister Isabelle [Toohey] asked me if I
would continue and matriculate with my Master’s program, which I did do. So I didn’t leave
Providence Hospital until January of ’51, at which time I was missioned to Jacksonville, Florida.
On my first mission to Jacksonville, Florida, I was named Director of Nurses, and in those years,
the Director of Nursing had both nursing service and nursing school, but of course I had an
assistant in the school and an assistant in nursing service, but they were very happy years.
I was a very young sister on that. There was only one other young one, Sister Jane Francis
Fairley. All the other sisters were elderly and it so happened that the community asked me in
May of – I’m not sure the year, but I’ll think of it later – if I would become the Sister Servant
and administrator. Well, my father and mother had taught me obedience, so no matter how I felt
about it I had to say yes. So I followed Sister Evelyn Roach as the administrator and Sister
Servant.
The sisters were delightful. They were just delightful. They supported me in many many ways.
For instance, one sister was approached by one of the doctors, and he said, “Sister isn’t Sister
very young to become the administrator?” And Sister Philomen [Scholl] said to him, “Doctor,
Sister is older than the Queen of England.” She didn’t say by a couple weeks though. But that
was the type of support I received and it was just delightful.
That helped a lot, didn’t it?
It was a great help, a great help. And I had others. Pauline Mitchell who was just a wit of our
creation and so many other sisters. Of course, in those days, we had many more sisters assigned
in the hospital. Unfortunately, they began to dwindle.
I was administrator there for just two years when the community asked me if I would go to
Saginaw, Michigan as the administrator because Sister Camilla, who had been the administrator
there was chosen as our treasurer. So sister came to Emmitsburg, and I went from Jacksonville,
Florida to Saginaw, Michigan in January, the coldest month.
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When I got to Saginaw, all I could see was grey. It was grey outside. Everything inside was
painted grey. It was just a grey situation. Sister Constantia Clark was assigned to help me in
Saginaw the construction being done when I went there. She also thought it was too grey for
everybody, so when it came to painting our refectory, we had three grey walls and one coral
wall, and it just made all the difference in the world in our lives, because three times a day we
had the benefit of that brightness and looking at our sisters in a very bright way. So we loved it,
and I loved it, and I loved Saginaw.
Another advantage, one block away was St. Vincent’s Home. So we had another community of
sisters nearby, and that was delightful. They came over every Sunday morning for the second
mass. Those were the years when we had a second mass on Sunday, and then we went back to
St. Vincent’s to have breakfast with them. It was just such a comradery, and we looked forward
to those weekends, and they looked forward to our coming over to their house.
Nice community time.
It was a beautiful community time. I received word, however, after two years in Saginaw that I
was going to be missioned here to the Provincial House, and I was going to be a member of the
Council. Sister Eleanor [McNabb] had just been made Visitatrix in August.
In January, I was missioned from Saginaw – you’ll note that was two years exactly that I was in
Saginaw – and Sister Marie Daly happened to be in Saginaw when I left. So we drove down to
get a train in Detroit, and as we drove down to Detroit, we listened to the takeoff of [Alan]
Shepherd going out into outer space. So I always remember that astronaut’s feat in relation to
when I left Saginaw.
What a memory!
Then I came here to Emmitsburg and found out that I was going to be acting as the assistant to
Sister Eleanor, which I thought would never going to work out, that I didn’t have enough
experience, that I wasn’t old enough. However, God was very generous in his graces, and his
sisters again-- the support, they practically carried me along. I couldn’t help but do OK. I don’t
know that I did well, but I did OK.
I remained here, believe it or not—I think I was here 21 years, 12 years as assistant to Sister
Eleanor and nine years as Visitatrix. So that totals I think 21 years.
In those 21 years, many things happened as far as community and vocation is concerned, and I’ll
bring them up as we talk a little bit more, like the canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the
beginning and continuation of general assemblies in the community. It was a great grace to be at
the first one. We had one that was scheduled for two years in a row over Christmas and New
Year. It was I think 1968 to 1969. The Perfectae Caritatis indicated that all communities must
have assemblies and elect their general superiors. Well we were already electing our General
Superiors by the Sister Servants of Paris. But with the new constitution, that election was
designated to be carried out by the general assembly.
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During the 21 years that I was here at Emmitsburg at that time, many, many major events took
place, and I was very blessed to be here for those particular events.
For instance, we closed the [St. Joseph] College. That wasn’t a fortuitous event, but it was a
historical one, and it occurred in 1973, but there were other community events that were even
more historical that I shared in, such as going to the general assembly. That only could be an
experience that I wish every Daughter of Charity could in her lifetime experience.
It is such a community event that—it’s just almost unbelievable to tell somebody when you think
that there is a Visitatrix and one or two delegates from every province in the world participating
in that meeting, and you just realize the depth of community experience that’s there and the love
of the community as expressed by those members of the general assembly and how for the sake
of the community they worked hours and hours into the evening and early morning hours to get
the best in our constitutions so that our community could have the strongest community life in
order that we would take care of the poorest of the poor.
And oh! Some of those sisters lived in such poor countries. To hear the representatives from
Madagascar and Mozambique speak, it was wonderful for we Americans to learn from them
exactly how they took care of the poor. It encouraged us, motivated us to come back to our
country, our United States of America, and do even more for the poor if that were possible. It
was just such an experience of service of the poor as we experienced an even wider community
living among the members of the assembly, and we were doing that to strengthen our community
life, our prayer life, for the service of the poor.
What a grace!
Such a wonderful privilege and such a wonderful, wonderful grace!
The assembly started in Rome because that’s where the Church asked us to start. But guess
what. The mayor of Rome had all these religious communities moving into Rome, and we were
tax-free. So he went to the Holy Father and asked that the Church stop asking the communities
to have their headquarters in Rome because he needed more tax money, and we were coming in
and coming in, but not taxable.
How interesting!
In the summer of 1946, I was home here at St. Joseph’s for summer courses, and Mother
Antoinette Blanchot was elected during that summer. She stopped here at Emmitsburg, so we
had an opportunity to meet her, and what a fortunate occasion that was because we all became
fascinated with her writings as she took office in Paris. It was just a great gift to have met her on
the way to Paris.
That was special.
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I came to Emmitsburg from Saginaw in January of 1952, and I do think I’ve mentioned this
before, but I was here for the exhumation of the remains of Elizabeth Seton, which took place on
October 26, 1962.
For those of us who have never been present for one, I was very taken with the strict legality of
it. We all had to take oaths that we would not touch anything, that we would not move anything,
and we kind of stayed in the same position all during the exhumation. And when the two
pathologists took the bones of Elizabeth from the coffin that she was in and laid them out on—I
would say a door, it was a long board—they put all the bones out to identify them, and they
identified them by her height and other indications that they – the professionals – knew but I
didn’t know.
One of the things they told all of us was that one of the phalanxes of one of the toes of Elizabeth
Seton was missing, and they could not go on without that. So we all were quite concerned that
this would throw off the process of the beatification, but fortunately one of the secretaries
remembered that there was a relic of Elizabeth Seton in the safe of the Visitarix’s office. So we
waited while she went and got that phalanx, and that pathologist verified that it was the missing
phalanx of the toe and then they verified that it was a completed skeletal remains of Elizabeth
Seton. What a privilege that was.
Was any of the clothing left?
You know, I don’t remember whether any of the clothing was left, but if it were, it would have
been just pieces of clothing. I would have remembered if it were a dress or a cape or her cap, but
I do not remember that. All I remember was the dust and the bones and the little coffin.
I came to Emmitsburg in January of 1962 and was named, God help me, Provincial assistant to
Sister Eleanor McNabb. Of course, because I was assistant, I had opportunities for which I am
most grateful and which I thank God every day that they were available to me.
I was present for the beatification of Elizabeth Ann Seton on March 17, 1963, and that was the
last official act of Saint John XXIII. Of course he was not Saint then, he was John XXIII. But
we could tell even then that he was not well. You could tell it from his eyes, the dark, dark, dark
circles of his eyes. But it was such a glorious occasion. We who were there had to thank the
many, many sisters, college graduates, friends of the community who had worked so hard for
Elizabeth’s beatification. They had had all types of petitions signed and sent to Rome, and it was
they that should have been fortunate enough to be there. But we tried to represent them by
expressing our gratitude to them to Elizabeth on that special occasion.
In December of 1963, Mother Guillemin visited Emmitsburg. I should know much more about
that visit. But unfortunately, at this point, I remember just the highlights. One of the highlights
was Mother wanted to see the lights of New York. That amazed me because I know the city of
Paris is called the City of Lights, but she wanted to see New York. So we went to New York in
the early evening. We crossed all the bridges of New York so that Mother Guillemin would have
a good look at New York City from different vantage points. The next day we took her to view
the windows so she could see the windows along Fifth Avenue that were fixed for Christmas,
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and of course, we took her in to Saks Fifth Avenue so that she could see the decorations. But
you know right well we didn’t buy anything at Saks Fifth Avenue. And of course, Mother didn’t
know what Saks Fifth Avenue was, but the decorations were glorious to view, and we were
happy that we were able to show them to Mother Guillemin.
And she was happy to see them.
Oh, I’m sure she was happy to see them.
Of course, there are two very particular occasions that occurred later in the month of September
of 1964, and the first one was the change of the habit. And if I recall correctly, it was September
12, and, miraculously, the whole world changed on December [correction: September] 12,
whenever that date was in their country. Because Father Slattery and Mother Guillemin had
gone to Spain because the Spanish sisters would be the ones that would gave up the most in
changing the habit, since they had had—even while we wore the cornette, they wore a different
headpiece. But Father and Mother asked them if they would change, and they agreed to change.
So the whole world changed on that date of September 12. We’ve had to be very grateful.
So they agreed to go along with it, and that’s why everyone was so grateful.
They agreed, and they changed. It’s remarkable, I was here at the Provincial House, and we
were a much larger group of sisters here then than we are now that it went so smoothly. But one
sister, after mass, went back upstairs and took off her new coif and put on her cornette and went
about her daily chores. One of the workmen saw her and immediately got in touch with another
sister to tell her that Sister Frances Miller had changed back into the old habit. So the sister
explained to her that we would no longer change after mass and put on a different coif or a
different cornette, because in the old days that’s what we did. We wore a special a apron and a
special cornette to mass and holy communion and after breakfast. We changed them, and that’s
what Sister Frances did.
She was just keeping with tradition.
But it was wonderful that everyone was able to change throughout the world. And of course you
know, as everybody does, that the coif changed quite quickly. I don’t remember the date that we
got word that the white wouldn’t curl underneath the blue as we first did it and it was straighter
and looked much more finished and tailored. But everybody... it’s remarkable, the simplicity
that was manifested in that change. All regretted losing the cornette because it was so widely
known and we received it when we received the habit. But everyone was so simple in accepting
the decision to change the habit, and, as we all remember, it was recommended by the Second
Vatican Council. And I was just so amazed and full of thanksgiving that that change went as
well as it did.
It was all grace.
Grace through and through.
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Later that same month of September, the 20th to be exact, I think only something like eight days,
a week and a day, another enormous change took place for all the sisters here in Emmitsburg,
and that was our move from the old Provincial House to the new Provincial House. Remember,
that was two gigantic changes for the sisters in this mission, because they were primarily the
older sisters of the province, the older ones who were here because they could no longer manage
steps or some of the physical conditions on the missions, or they were in the infirmary. We had
a great number of sisters here, but they accepted that change so beautifully. The sisters came in
from the missions to help walk with the sisters, or if they needed to be driven down to the new
provincial house, they went along with them.
In essence, it became a bit of excitement instead of a chore. It became almost a celebration, and
that helped to make everybody so accepting and so grateful, because when they saw the new
provincial house and all the amenities it had provided each one of us, we couldn’t help but be
grateful.
It was beautiful.
It was beautiful, there’s no doubt about it. Of course, as you recall, we didn’t have the basilica
for many, many, many months. The chapel was in the large room beneath the basilica, which
was not divided up as it is now, it was just a large auditorium at that period.
The alter was on the stage, but as I approached that chapel one morning, that’s when I became
aware of the difference in our habit. I entered those three little steps down into what is now the
museum of the basilica, and you saw nothing but the dark, dark, dark headpieces, which you
didn’t see upstairs because the sisters weren’t in rows next to one another. But down there we
had to sit in rows in order to fit ourselves in, and it was the area where I was very aware of the
difference in the habit. But again, that was just a feeling, and I could thank God that the change
went well, and it was better for everybody that we had change.
I remember people saying how dark everything was because we were used to seeing the white
cornette and the white collar in the back, and it was all dark blue.
Yes, it was very, very dark
And just another P.S., I was a postulant in 1964, and we could not wait to get into the basilica,
which we called the big chapel. And we decided we would be in for Christmas, and Christmas
came and went and we did not get in it. So we finally went in it on January 16, 1965, and we
declared, that must be Christmas.
I think that’s very important that it be known and recognized that we really didn’t move in ‘til
’65.
January 16, that date sticks into my mind. And the crucifix had a corpus on both sides.
That’s right. The large crucifix over the alter had a corpus on either side of the cross. Later, I’d
say maybe a year or so, might have been earlier, someone pointed out that that was not
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liturgically correct, that we just had the corpus on the side of the cross that the congregation
viewed. So the figure on the reverse side of the cross was removed, and I have to say I don’t
know where it went or what happened to it. But it was a gorgeous figure, but unfortunately...
I’m sure some church has it now.
Someone told me that they gave it to some church. I don’t know which one it was.
I’m sure it was given to a church, but I’m not sure which one at the moment.
Another momentous occasion arose during my years up here, and that was the establishment of
the domestic, provincial, and general assemblies, and it was so edifying – and that’s the word
that meant the most to me, it means the most to me right now – it was edifying to see how
everyone in this facility entered into that preparation. Because those of us who were in the
community at that time remember we had to fill in little blocks along the edges of all the papers,
and that was a bit hard for fingers that were arthritic or old, but the sisters entered into that very,
very industriously. And they wanted to share, because this was the community’s future, they
wanted to share in those questions, and knew that their questions would represent them at the
assembly. So they worked very hard on those first questionnaires. It was wonderful to see.
And then of course, after those went to Paris, we entered into our first provincial assembly, and
that was held in what is now the Shrine. It was the large space under the big chapel as it was
called then. It was not yet known as the basilica, and that assembly was held in that room. And
we do have pictures to go along with this, I know. But the table was up front, and at the table sat
Sister Eleanor and Father [Charles] O’Connor, and, I’m pretty sure it was sister Mary Carol Eby
was the secretary of the assembly. Although by constitution, it was probably the provincial
secretary, so I think Mary Carol must be up there reporting, but I’ve seen a picture and reviewed
it so often, and it shows Father and Sister Eleanor and Sister Mary Carol giving a report at the
microphone, and I think that’s why her name immediately came to my mind.
That room was filled because our province then comprised the whole Eastern seaboard, Ohio,
and Michigan. So that room was filled. But at the election of delegates for the assembly during
those days, Sister Hilda Gleason and myself were elected as delegates to the first international
assembly.
The reason I’m stressing the word international is that assemblies were held in the community
before this, but they were only attended by the Sister Servants of Paris. And of course we had to
remember that we had a couple hundred houses in Paris. So it was a large assembly, but it was
limited to the particular geographical area. Again, by mandate of Perfectae Caritatis, our
constitutions were looked at and updated and representation from all the provinces was indicated
as the best way for all the Daughters of Charity to be represented at the general assembly. So it
was with such anticipation that we went to that general assembly, and believe me, we took every
Daughter of Charity with us, because we knew that we were only there as delegates it was
emphasized.
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Now, the Visitatrixes were ex officio, but the delegates were delegates elected by the provincial
assemblies. So we were very conscious. It’s amazing, when you are elected, how conscious you
are of being the representatives of those who elect you.
But it was such unusually new experience for the delegates who were there. We learned how to
accept and sit while somebody spoke in Portuguese, or somebody spoke in Spanish, or somebody
spoke in Italian, or somebody spoke in French, or somebody spoke in English to be very mindful
of what they were saying. And this was not as difficult as it sounds, because we had
simultaneous translation. Every member of the assembly had simultaneous translation, and that
was such a great benefit to each one of us, because no matter what the delegate or Visitatrix, no
matter what language she spoke in, we got the translation in our own language. What a
tremendous benefit that was.
During the assembly, on August 11, 1968, Sister Hilda Gleason was elected a General
Councillor, and that was a real privilege that she should come from our province. We know now
that the holy spirit was behind our voting that day, because Sister Hilda, after her term as
General Councillor, was missioned to Taiwan, as Vice-Visitatrix of Taiwan, and then later
became the Visitatrix of Taiwan and served the community so admirably both as General
Councillor going all over the world in that role and then establishing the community and
similarly helping to establish the Church in Taiwan with such a tremendous role, and Sister filled
it admirably well.
Two of the Sisters in Taiwan under Sister Hilda were Sister Evelyn Frank and Sister Annina
Scharper. Neither of them had any study in the Chinese language, so they were both named to
go to the University, and they attended the University for two years and became, in that being
together, great friends, and that friendship has endured to this day. When Sister Evelyn was
Mother General, she had occasion to come here to the United States on business, and she always
stopped to see Sisters Annina. It showed us that a happy friendship can exist in our community
and remain very strong and loving and still be just such a boon to everybody around them, not
just the two of them, because we shared in that friendship as well.
It’s not my intention to give a chronological history in giving my autobiography, but as I relate
community events, I think it’s important to name the date when something happened, or to give
the date when something happened, so I am aware that as I mention what happened in my life, I
am giving dates and just ask you to forgive that and understand why I’m doing it.
We like to have dates.
Oh good, we like to have dates, well that’s good.
Mother Chiron came to Emmitsburg in January of 1969 for the erection of the five provinces of
the United States. From the original two provinces, which were established in 1910, the St.
Louis and the Emmitsburg province, were to be subdivided into five provinces. For that
occasion, Mother Chiron came to Emmitsburg, as did the sisters, as many as could, from the
other provinces to be present for that at the establishment of their new provinces. It was a
wonderful occasion.
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We know that the provinces of Los Altos Hills [California]; St. Louis, Missouri; Evansville,
Indiana; Albany, New York; and Emmitsburg, Maryland were established in January of 1969.
Many wonderful things occurred because of that division into those five provinces, and we see
God’s hand in that because more Daughters were able to become acquainted with other aspects
of their province, of their missions, of their ministries, and able to take greater part in it. We see
that that was a wonderful event not just for the community, but for the Church, because we were
better able to serve the poor through the division of the provinces.
Of course, history has changed that, and we’ve reunited, but that is history. That’s what happens
in history, but at the time of the division into the five provinces, there was an upsurge in interest
in the community and a greater ability to serve the poor in our various missions of the five
provinces, so it was a wonderful event.
It was the right thing to do at that time.
Right thing to do at that time. It was the right thing.
A major change occurred for the Emmitsburg province in July of 1972 when the sisters of Villa
St. Michael in Baltimore, Maryland moved here to the Emmitsburg campus, and that involved
133 sisters. I was on-deck for that, and it was so remarkable, and so enjoyable, and so edifying if
I may still use that word to see how those sisters took that change. Now you remember, most of
them would be in the 80s and 90s and some even in the 100s, but they came up here as delighted
as they had been to go on their first mission, because it was something new for them, and it gave
fresh views and fresh things to do to sisters who had been settled in their retirement in
Emmitsburg. It was wonderful occasion for us who lived here as well as for those who were
coming to join us in our community life here in Emmitsburg.
Believe it or not, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, now Saint Teresa of Calcutta, visited Emmitsburg in
October of 1975, and I have done a little bit of math on that, that was just the following month
Mother Seton was canonized in September of ’75, and Mother Teresa came in October. And her
reason—expressed reason for her visit was to visit the tomb of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.
It was an unusual visit in every sense of the word. The Council had to be the night before in
Wheeling, West Virginia for the retirement festivities of Bishop Hodge Joseph Hodges [Joseph
Howard Hodges]. He had been a product of our St. Joseph’s School in Martinsburg and had kept
close to the community all through the years, so the Council was scheduled, and the people in
Wheeling had bene notified that the entire Council would come.
When we heard about Mother Teresa’s wish to come here, and her schedule wouldn’t allow for
any changes, so we were in Wheeling ‘til about 11:30, and then we drove back to Emmitsburg,
and I don’t think anybody who took that trip was in bed before 2:30 or 3:00, and Mother was due
here at 8 in the morning. That’s the only time that her schedule would allow. But you know, it’s
like everything else, if you turn it over to God, it works out well. We didn’t show too much
fatigue that day, and Mother was bright eyed and so interested in anything we could share with
her about Saint Elizabeth Ann.
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She stayed through the dinner hour, and I can still see her standing by the mike, where you so
often stand Maureen [addressing interviewer], just where that mike is now. She stood and talked
to the entire community.
And what did she talk about? She talked about love. How all of us need and appreciate loving
and how anyone with whom we come in contact in our various apostolates, as they were called
then, needs to be shown love. It was such a simple but effective message for every Daughter in
that refectory, and we had to express our gratitude to Mother Teresa for that, because it was
message that everyone valued, and it also showed Mother Teresa’s great sensitivity to any
audience that she might be speaking with, and I think her visit brought great benefit to any of us
who were present here for it.
Recently, there was an anniversary of that visit, the 50th anniversary of that visit, and the pictures
came up on the email on the iPhones, and one of my nieces told me that her son had pictures of
Mother Teresa visiting Emmitsburg that day. They were on email; we had not put them there.
So I think that maybe the Frederick Post would come that day to take pictures of Mother Teresa
and seen that they got on the email for the 50th anniversary of her visit. Because to Frederick,
that was a visit to Frederick County, not just to St. Joseph’s, Emmitsburg.
Richard McCullen, our Superior General, visit Emmitsburg in 1982. His warmth, his wit, and
his wisdom charmed all of us. Two stories associated with his visit are always in my mind.
The first is that the five Visitatrixes came together with Father to receive council and to ask
questions of him, and during that visit, the five Visitatrixes and Father went out to the Shrine of
Saint Vincent on the grounds of the Provincial grounds because it was in a new setting, and
Father was going to re-bless the statue. He did do that, and we were conscious during the
blessing that there was a reporter there because she had her little pad and was making notes with
what was occurring and what remarks Father might have made. But it surprised us because we
finished the blessing, but the young lady cornered Father and kept him for quite amount of time,
and we just stood off waiting for him to join us for our continuation of our meeting.
However, it went to over half an hour. So the other Visitatrixes went inside, but I waited for
Father. When the young lady finally left, he came to me and said “Sister, I’m sorry about that,
but that was that young lady’s livelihood.” How conscious I was by that remark, that Father was
always conscious of his service of the poor and showed his great compassion and understanding
of other people.
Another story that happened while Father was here. He was very busy during the day, so he
went to see the Villa sisters after supper. Of course, many of them were already in bed, but that
didn’t phase Father. He went from room to room, and he’d say to the Sister as he entered
“Sister, would you care to receive my blessing?” and of course they’d say yes.
We went into this one room, and he said that to the sister, and the sister said “Oh Father, I’d be
happy to have your blessing.” And with that, she pulled her hands out from under the covers,
and she had black woolen gloves on [holds hands together in front of her]. Of course, Father and
I wanted to laugh, but we had to hold our mirth until we left sister, because it just showed her
�12
great reverence for the blessing of God, particularly when it was given to us by our Superior
General.
That visit showed his great concern for every sister, because it wasn’t just the Visitatrixes he met
with. He’d greet every sister, and if she wanted to stop, he’d stop. It just showed me a
completely wonderful side of Father, just to see him in action, and his gift of sharing himself
totally. He really gave himself completely.
During that same time period, Jimmy Carter, the President of the United States, also visited the
Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Accompanying him were his wife, Rosalyn, and her mother,
his mother-in-law. After touring the Shrine and listening to a brief account of Elizabeth Ann
Seton’s life, he was very relaxed, comfortable, enjoyed what he was seeing and hearing, and did
not seem a bit hurried.
As he was leaving, the sisters gathered around the front door, and he was there among us, and I
mean among us because the Daughters surrounded him. As he left, he gave me an embrace, and
that picture was picked up by many of the newspapers in our country, and circulated, but happily
it was because he was at the Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.
That was special to have him visit wasn’t it?
Oh, it was very special to have him visit. Rosalyn was very simple also, and the mother-in-law...
She was part of the little party. They stood in the Shrine over by the alter of Elizabeth Ann
Seton and just asked any questions and listened to our responses and anything we shared with
them. It was a lesson for me in true simplicity. True simplicity. And I’m sure other sisters
could tell you many other things about that visit of President Carter. But it was really a highlight
of my years here in Emmitsburg. The President of the United States and the head of the
Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity. I see them as two wonderful events
in my time at Emmitsburg.
I should have said this first. The day before our President came to the Provincial House, the FBI
crawled all over our place. Every nook and cranny of the Basilica, the corridors that he was
going to traverse, the lobby that he was going to enter in to, it was crawling with FBI men. But
of course, the Daughters enjoyed it, because they saw what happens when you do have a person
who is subject to all types of untoward people who might want to get a hold of him. They have
to be very careful where he goes. We understood it, and we just enjoyed the FBI men. We
would try to converse with them, but they were serious about they work. They didn’t really enter
in. They were gentlemen, but they were about their business.
Throughout my terms here in Emmitsburg, I was very much aware of the support I received from
our Vincentian brothers, and that included believe it or not Father [William] Slattery, Father
[James] Richardson, and Father McCullen during my terms. I was also here for other terms like
Father [George Gregory] Gay’s, but it was after I was out of office that he came. However,
Father Slattery was not only admired by we the Daughters of Charity of Emmitsburg and the
United States. When we did go over to the assembly, we saw the respect, love, genuine
appreciation of our French sisters for Father Slattery.
�13
This is just a little aside, but you know when we changed the habit back in 1964, the whole
world changed at the same time, because Mother Guillemin and Father Slattery went to Spain
and asked the sisters of the two different habits there if they would change to the universal one,
and they all agreed. So on that day of the change of habit, the whole world changed, and I just
thought the pair of them, Sister Guillemin and Father Slattery could convince anybody to do
what the Lord wanted us to do.
Thank God for that.
Yes, thank God for that.
In addition to the generals that gave assistance to me, I have to be very aware of the Directors
who shared their understanding, their knowledge of the community, their appreciation of what
the Daughters of Charity were doing with me and what an assistance that was in my years, and I
must particularly mention Father [Charles] O’Connor and Father [John] Cusack. I know they’re
both in Heaven now, and I hope they’re praying for this province and the larger St. Louis
province as it is now, because they really worked with us at the grassroots, and I think they can
present our situation to God and get his adit. We always have God’s support, I’ve no doubt of
that. But even more mindful they will make him of what we are doing down here, I’m sure.
I cannot forget though that we also had the Brothers in town. At one point we had five priests at
the priests’ house in town. They came over here for confessions. They came over here for all
types of liturgies because the Shrine was fairly new at that time. We had many, many types of
events and liturgies, and our Vincentian brothers were always on deck. You could count on
them. We could have 15 bishops, but hidden behind those bishops were our dear C.M. brothers,
and were they wonderful to us. I’ll have to tell almighty God how grateful I am for them.
As I listen to myself, I keep hearing the word “thanksgiving,” and that’s a word I know I will
always associate with my vocation, my years in Emmitsburg, my understanding and working
with so many different wonderful sisters and priests, particularly our Superiors. There all owed a
deep gratitude, but I’ll come back to that a little later.
After I left the terms up here in Emmitsburg, I worked for a number of years in different
apostolates. I was at Providence Hospital for two years, Jacksonville for another two,
Bladensburg for two, and then in 2000, I was asked to assume the directorship of the Shrine of
Saint Elizabeth Ann, and I filled that role to 2005.
That made me so aware, as I was jotting those dates down of how my life here in Emmitsburg
was so intertwined with that of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, our American foundress, because I
was here for her exhumation, her beatification, her canonization, her removal of relics from the
College chapel to our Provincial House chapel, her removal relics from above the alter of the
Provincial House chapel to where they are now in her little Shrine in our basilica.
As the years passed, I saw what other Directors in the Shrine have done and how they have had
so many different programs and booklets and occasions to invite the public and how we are
�14
progressing in making Elizabeth Ann Seton known to more and more Catholics. It is, as I want
to emphasize, the part of so many of our lay staff that are doing that.
But the seed is growing.
The seed if growing because so many come and are greeted so well by our staff of the Seton
Shrine that many of them do return, and even return from distances. It is with great gratitude that
I’m aware that that’s occurring.
From the Shrine, I was assigned to the ministry of prayer in the Villa St. Michael, and I came
here in January of 2006. What a tremendous missioning that was for me because being here at
St. Michael’s Villa, has really been the zenith of my vocation. I am here among many wonderful
Daughters of Charity who have had all types of experiences, all types of encounters with the
poor, all types of experiences that they share with us, we share with one another, and it has been
so enriching. I myself must say, I think my years at the Villa, as I remarked earlier, are the
zenith of my vocation. It is such a grace and a blessing to be here among them.
Here I celebrated my 75th year of vocation, and here, as I said, I live with such marvelous
Daughters, and without trying, just being, there is a togetherness that is most unusual, and so
affectionate, so caring, so supportive.
I just think that God saved the Villa, and he saves it for many sisters, as their last mission
because I am with so many excellent Daughters, and we are all on the road to deeper
companionship with Jesus, so there is a union among, and a purposefulness among us, not
artificial, it’s just there. It’s part of us. It’s such a great experience of community.
I have always loved the community, but I think I have experienced it in it’s completeness, it it’s
fullness here at Villa St. Michael. Thank God for the Villa. Thank God for my sister
companions. If I could sing, I would sing the hymn “Praise God from Whom All Blessings
Flow,” for as I worked on these taped minutes of my autobiography, I was more and more aware
of the fact that my life was one complete succession of graces and benefits from God.
I know family, faith, community are tremendous blessings from God, but all of them, faith,
family, and community, have become deeper in my awareness of God’s goodness to us by living
in the Villa. I cannot stress that enough.
I would put that at the basis of all my happiness in all my final years of community living.
We’re all getting ready to join him. We’re all trying to deepen our companionship with Jesus, so
that when he comes for us, we will love him as much as we can, and that forms a bond that I’ve
never felt before. I’ve always loved community, always stressed that the three middle words are
“You” and “I,” and it has to be together we form community. But in the Villa, it is not just
expressed, it is lived and it is felt. And it propels me forward, and I thank God with all my heart
for my years at the Villa, and also for all his blessings of faith, community, family, anyone else
that I received during my whole life, I want to thank him for them. But the zenith is the Villa.
And we thank you, because you have been a blessing to us also.
�
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise
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Title
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Hughes, Sister Mary Clare, D.C. Oral History
Subject
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Hughes, Sister Mary Clare, D.C.
Catholic hospitals
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. Emmitsburg Province
Description
An account of the resource
Sister Mary Clare Hughes, D.C. discussed her life in community as a Daughter of Charity. She began her career as a nurse at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Jacksonville, FL and St. Mary’s Hospital, Saginaw, MI before becoming Assistant Visitatrix of the Eastern Province of the Daughters from 1962-1969, Assistant Visitatrix of the Southeast Province from 1969-1974, and Visitatrix of the Southeast Province from 1974-1983. Relating to her time in office, she discusses the first Provincial and General Assemblies of the community after Vatican II, the changing of the Daughters of Charity habit, the exhumation of Elizabeth Ann Seton in anticipation of her beatification, the division of the five provinces in 1969, the closing of St. Joseph College, the building of the new provincial campus in Emmitsburg, and important guests such as Saint Teresa of Calcutta and President Jimmy Carter. She also discusses her close collaboration with General Councillor Sister Hilda Gleason and Vincentian Superior Father Richard McCullen.
Creator
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Hughes, Sister Mary Clare, D.C.
Schmalzried, Sister Maureen, D.C.
Source
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Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise
Date
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2019-06-17
Contributor
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Keefer, Scott (Transcriber)
Rights
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Rights owned by Sister Maureen Schmalzried, D.C. Permission for any type of publication of archival materials, including text, photographs, video, or audio must be secured from the Daughters of Charity Communications Director before publication. Contact archives staff for appropriate forms and contact information.
Relation
A related resource
RG 1-3 Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Collection
RG 3-4 Habit Collection
RG 4-31 Rev. Richard McCullen Collection
RG 6 (General Councillors) Hilda Gleason
RG 7-4-5 Erection of Five USA Provinces Collection
RG 9-4-1 Sister Eleanor McNabb Collection
RG 11 Emmitsburg, MD – St. Joseph’s Provincial House Collection
RG 11 Emmitsburg, MD – Seton Shrine Center Collection
RG 11 Emmitsburg, MD – Villa St. Michael Collection
RG 15 Provincial and General Assemblies
Format
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1:08:20
Audio/mp3
Application/pdf
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English
Type
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Oral History
Identifier
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Hughes, Sister Mary Clare, D.C. Oral History
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1924-2019
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PDF Text
Text
ORAL HISTORY OF SR. ANNINA SCHARPER, D.C.
INTERVIEWED BY SR. MAUREEN SCHMALZRIED, D.C.
APRIL 21, 2017
TRANSCRIBED BY SCOTT KEEFER, JUNE 2019
Sister Annina, welcome!
Thank you
Tell us about your life.
“My soul magnifies the Lord.” When God breathed the breath of life in my soul in my
mother’s womb, she did not know that I was there. I tried to tell her, but she was busy
baking bread and washing clothes for my dad and the other eight children in my family.
Soon she felt me growing. Then she said, “This child will be special.” I have always felt
this as a blessing. “Holy is his name.” I was born on Friday, March 7, 1924 at 6 am, the
ninth and last child of my parents, Marie Louise and William Albert Scharper. I had six
brothers and two sisters. Louise – that was Sister Dolores [Scharper], our oldest sister
– shared with me the story of the morning of my birth. My father told the children that
they had a baby sister which did not make them very happy. Then my father, who was
not a Catholic, suggested that they get ready to go to Mass because it was the First
Friday. They announced to him that they were not going to Mass. Whereupon he
consulted my mother. Returning with the message, your mother said, “You are to go to
Mass.” They complied although reluctantly.
My Baptism took place on March 16, 1924 at St. Dominic Church in Baltimore. I was
given the name Mary Nina. Nina, not because I was the ninth child, but after my
godmother who lived with us, my Aunt Nina. When I was three years old, all the other
children were in school, so my mother had to take me wherever she needed to go. I
was probably the youngest person who ever made Our Lady of Grace Novena at St.
Ignatius Church.
My mother and father loved each other very deeply and if they ever argued, it was never
in front of the children.
I went to Corpus Christi School and was taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
excellent teachers. My sister Ann was only two years older than I and she was my role
model. I thought that everything she did was the right way to do it. When Ann
graduated from grade school, she won a scholarship to Notre Dame of Maryland. I
thought I would do the same. However, although I took the examination, I didn’t win a
scholarship. So, I went to Seton High School. I did not like my first year at Seton
because I was disappointed about being there. After I recovered from that, I loved
Seton. I loved the Daughters of Charity and the care they had for each other, the
attention they gave to each student and the good curriculum. It was during my
sophomore year that my father died. He was laid out at home. Some of my teachers
came to the wake and funeral. I was very touched by this. This is what he told my
1
�mother, that he wished to become a Catholic. This was a great blessing for our family.
In my senior year, Sr. Mary Agnes Barry, my homeroom teacher, talked to me about
vocation. I knew that God was calling me to be a Daughter of Charity and I was
convinced that I would not be happy unless I answered that call. I graduated from
Seton in May 1942. I worked at Glen Allen Martin airplane factory and the blueprint
department for three months. I made a lot of money! But I knew that I had to follow my
call, so my mother was very happy to have the money.
I applied to the community through Sister Mary Louise Doyle, Sister Servant at Seton.
After acceptance, on September 8, 1942 I was sent to St. Joseph School in
Martinsburg, West Virginia for Postulatum. Here I taught English to the high school
seniors until I left for the Seminary. I spent a year in the Seminary learning about the
community and learning about myself. My first mission in February 1944 was St.
Ambrose School in Endicott, New York where I taught the third grade for two years and
then was asked if I had any aversion to nursing, to which I responded negatively. I
spent four years studying nursing, graduating from the Catholic University in 1950 with a
Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. St. Mary’s Hospital in Troy, New York
welcomed me as supervisor of obstetrics and a teacher of the students at the college of
St. Rose in Albany. From 1955 to 1959 I was on the school of nursing faculty at St.
Mary’s Hospital, Saginaw, Michigan where I taught medical surgical nursing. Here I
gained new insights into curriculum, faculty requirements, and clinical supervision of
students.
With this helpful background, I was asked to go to DePaul House of Studies in Jamaica
[Queens, New York City] to study for a master’s degree in nursing administration. An
internship at St. Vincent Hospital in Greenwich Village, operated by the New York
Sisters of Charity, proved to be an excellent experience for me. In January 1960 I was
missioned to DePaul Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia to be the Director of the School of
Nursing. This was the first in a series of four Directorships: Sacred Heart School of
Nursing in Pensacola, Florida; St. Vincent School of Nursing in Jacksonville, Florida;
and Director of the Psychiatric Affiliation Program at Seton Institute in Baltimore. I felt it
was a special privilege to encourage these young women to reach their potential and to
become excellent nurses. While there I was Sister Servant with a wonderful group of
Sisters, very dedicated to the patients, full of community spirit, and we all worked very
well together. I will always be grateful that during my years at Seton Institute, I had the
opportunity to visit my dear mother. She was at Jenkins Memorial Hospital. I loved her
very much and I thank God for the positive, grace-filled influence that she had on me. A
gentle woman, she guided all of us by her example and her words of wisdom. She died
at the age of 93, gently slipping away to heaven.
When the decision was made to close Seton Institute, I was missioned to minister to
single moms at Catholic Charities in Raleigh, North Carolina. This was followed by a
return to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola as Director of Nursing Services. Then at
St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, I was Hospital Education Director. Then I fulfilled a
desire I had for several years: I volunteered for the missions. I volunteered in April of
1982 and was not accepted until November of 1983. I was accepted with an assignment
2
�to Taiwan. Sister Dorothy Folmer and I left for Paris on March 10, 1984 to spend two
months at the Mission Center where we were assigned to take care of two sisters in the
infirmary. I was the nurse and Sr. Dorothy gave all the directions in French. So we were
a very good couple. We were able to start our Chinese classes while still in Paris. With
joyful anticipation, we left for Taiwan in April with our first assignment to attend
language school – quite a challenge! After a year and a half of study, I was assigned to
St. Mary Hospital in Taitung where I was Sister Servant and I was Nursing Educator. I
loved St. Mary Hospital and I loved the staff. It was an unforgettable experience to work
with an entirely different culture and to learn to appreciate and participate in their life
and culture. It was also a beautiful experience to live and work with Sisters of different
cultures.
When I returned home, I had several short stay missions: Martinsburg, West Virginia as
Parish Nurse, DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk as Pastoral Care and also as Sister
Servant, a docent at the Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton, Coordinator of Support
Services and Sister Servant at St. Ann’s Infant Home, Executive Director of Mother and
Child Ministries and Sister Servant at St. Louise House in Macon, Georgia. St. Vincent
Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida gave me the opportunity to serve as a Pastoral
Care Chaplain.
I came to Villa St. Michael on April 15, 2004 having made the decision to retire while I
was still active, 80 years old, and could be of service to the Sisters. Some of my
services were: to accompany the Sisters to the doctors’ appointments, massage
ministry, relieving in the Villa Gift Shop, delivering laundry and household supplies. I
thank God that I can do these services and I did these services, and I thank God that
the Sisters have been an inspiration to me.
Sister Annina, one thing I was wondering about. In the beginning of your life, were you
born in the hospital or at home?
None of us were born in the hospital. My mother wouldn’t even think about that! I was
born in my mother’s bed with her. And at the foot of the bed this cat was sleeping. He
didn’t bother either one of us during this process of being born. But it’s always caught in
my mind because I guess, this is when I first started to like cats.
And you have liked cats ever since!
I have.
And I think they like you, too [laughter]. And maybe that’s why – you’ve been bonded
since the beginning!
That could be. We always had cats in our family at home. Never had a dog – always
cats. Never more than two.
3
�Your mother had so many kids, she could only handle two cats. Good, you had a
wonderful story and you told it so well. Many, many different experiences filled your life.
As you look back now, what closing statements would you like to say?
I would like to say that I have had a wonderful life. I think when you listen to the things I
did and the places I went and the services I had, I think you will agree that I had a very
- not really integrated experiences – but I look at them now and see where they were
part of the whole.
And one built on the other.
Yes, even though they were different places and different activities, I am very grateful
that I had the opportunity to have all of those various experiences. Like going to Paris,
and going to Taiwan, and I never really. … my nurses in the hospital in Taiwan, they
didn’t know much… they had had English taught to them every year that they went to
school but they never used it. So, I made them use it. And they helped me to do a little
Chinese, too, so it was reciprocal. What I liked about my experience in Taiwan was that
the Chinese people would bring their patients to the hospital. The people that lived up
north in the mountains, they would bring their mothers and their fathers to the hospital.
And they would just leave them there and never come back to see them. So we would
take care of them until… most of them were borderline dying and we would stay with
them. But I really felt it was special for me because I would sit with them. If we had any
patient that we knew was going to die, I would sit there with the patient til the very end.
That was very special to me because I did not want them there by themselves. And the
nurses – they wouldn’t go. That wasn’t part of their service. That was a wonderful
experience for me.
Thank you very much and thank you for sharing your beautiful life with us.
It has been beautiful and I’ve loved every minute of it. And I thank you, my Sisters,
you’re all part of my life now. So I’m very grateful to you for supporting me and being
with me. Amen.
Amen!
4
�
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Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Schmalzried, Sister Maureen, D.C.
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Scharper, Sister Annina, D.C.
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Emmitsburg, MD
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MP4
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0:17:26
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Scharper, Sr. Annina, D.C. Oral History
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Scharper, Sr. Annina, D.C.; Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
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Sister Annina Scharper discusses her life as a teacher, nurse and admnistrator as a sister of the Daughters of Charity.
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Scharper, Sr. Annina, D.C.; Schmalzried, Sr. Maureen, D.C.
Source
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Daughters of Charity Archives, Province of St. Louise, Emmitsburg, MD
Date
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4/21/2017
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Keefer, Scott (Transcriber)
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Permission for any type of publication of archival materials, including text, photographs, video, or audio must be secured from the Daughters of Charity Communications Director before publication.ÿ Contact archvies staff for appropriate forms and contact information During the lifetime of the interviewer and interviewee, permission must be secured from the individuals directly.
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Audio/mp3; Application/pdf
Language
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English
Type
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Oral History
Identifier
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Scharper, Sister Annina Oral History
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1924-2017
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Education
Healthcare
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1
ORAL HISTORY OF SR. HELEN BREWER
INTERVIEWED BY SISTER CECILE MATUSHEK, D.C.
RECORDED JULY 2019
My name is Sister Helen Brewer. I’m a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. I was born in
Perryville, Missouri on November 24, 1934, and I was baptized the following Sunday on December 2,
1934 at the Church of the Assumption. My parents are Stella Ann Bass Brewer and Edward Louis
Brewer, and I’m the fifth of seven children. Three of my siblings – Louis, Maura, and Dorothy – are
deceased. The other three are Victoria, Dennis, and Albert. The four of us are able to visit regularly as
they live relatively close to where I presently live in Missouri. I have 23 nieces and nephews.
The Daughters of Charity and the Vincentian priests have always been a part of my life. The church of
the Assumption was also known as St. Mary’s of the Barrens. My parish church was also the chapel of
the Vincentian seminarians studying for the priesthood.
Long before I was born, the seminarians built a grotto honoring Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.
The Vincentians established near that time the Association of the Miraculous Medal. The Daughters of
Charity arrived in Perryville in 1907. Actually, the first establishment of the Vincentians was in Perryville
in the St. Louis Archdiocese in 1818. So, they were there many years, and then the Daughters came in
1907 and established the St. Vincent’s School. They taught there for 95 years before it was necessary to
leave because of assignments.
I was taught by the Daughters of Charity the 12 years of my grade and high school education. The
church, and the grotto, and the Shrine, and the Seminary, and the parish Catholic school are all a part of
my education and formation. When I think about those times of my youth, my growing up, they were
special times that my family was together and those were – like the Christmas Novena, and the Stations
of the Cross, and the triduum before Easter, and the May procession and the Corpus Christi procession.
We went as a family. And of course the Seminary picnic. You had to go to the Seminary picnic.
[laughter]
Of course. I love the Seminary picnic.
Me too
I loved to be around the Daughters of Charity, helping them around the school. Clapping the erasers
was an important thing to do, and cleaning the chalkboard, and decorating the bulletin boards. Several
of the girls in my class when we were about the third and fourth grade, we would race up the sidewalk
to the sisters’ house as they came back from lunch, because we had to be the first one to be able to grab
sister’s hand and hold her hand back to the school.
Sisters Regina [Henley] and Aurea [Ayler] and Blanche [O’Malley] and Clotilda [Landry], and Helena
[O’Shea] and Frances Mary [Rutt] and Frances [Proffitt] were all sisters that I remember closely. They
were a special part of my life. And they made a part of the decision that I made to be a Daughter of
Charity. Principally because they seemed happy, and they enjoyed what they were doing.
One of my significant memories of the possibility of becoming a Daughter took place when I was
completing my junior year in high school. I had asked one of the priests of the seminary if they would
�2
provide a reference for me to take into St. Mary’s Hospital in St. Louis. I was applying for a summer
position between my junior and senior year to serve as a nurses’ aide. He agreed, but as I was turning to
leave, he called out to me and said, “Don’t let them get you.” I really stopped in my tracks because it
was the first time I think that I realized that I should seriously consider what I was going to do after high
school. He was talking not about the Daughters, but more about the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, who
operated the hospital in St. Louis to which I was trying to be a nurses’ aide. It really was the first of my
thoughts with regard to becoming a Daughter of Charity.
When I remember some of my childhood memories of growing up, in addition to the church and school
activities and living with six brothers and sisters, one of the major memories of my life has to do with
the Second World War. I remember coming home from seeing an afternoon movie and finding my
parents concerned about what they were listening to on the radio, learning that what was happening
was the destruction of Pearl Harbor, and the President of United States was declaring war.
The Second World War was part of my growing up. I was seven years old when the war started. Both of
my older brothers served in the war in the Navy. One brother was in the Atlantic, and the other was in
the Pacific. My mother used to help with the American Red Cross, and my father, as a member of the
American Legion, used to assist families when their loved ones did not come home. One of my most
vivid memories at the end of the war was going to church and thanking God with all of the rest of the
parishioners and the townspeople. It was a very moving moment.
When I think about my vocation, I have to think about it in terms of my classmates in high school. It
wasn’t unusual for more than one classmate to join a religious order of priests or sisters, and in my
particular class, there were three of us who joined the Daughters of Charity this year – this is one
graduating class. One of our classmates joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame, and one of the boys
went into the seminary toward the priesthood.
I joined the Daughters of Charity, and I entered postulatum on June 16th, 1952, and I served my period of
postulatum, or preparation to become a Daughter, at St. Philomena’s in St. Louis, which was a daycare
center and a social service center in midtown St. Louis. After a period of I think about three or four or
five months, I went to Marillac Seminary in St. Louis, and on November 25, 1952, a day after my 18th
birthday, I became a member of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
Following that time or that year in the seminary, I was given the habit of the Daughters of Charity on the
Feast of the Miraculous Medal in November 27, 1953. In that time in our history, the sisters did not just
first get a college degree and then you were sent on mission. Actually, you were sent on mission while
you were studying and working for your college degree whether that would be in summer school as you
came back from one year to the other or evening classes and Saturday classes at colleges where you
were.
I want to talk a little bit about my missions and my ministries. I’ve divided my many missions and
ministries into several time periods. First, what my ministry was, and then to share some of the
thoughts I had at several of those ministries.
The first 10-15 years of my being a Daughters of Charity, I spent as a teacher at the elementary school
level. I was first assigned to Mobile, Alabama; and then I was at Salt Lake City, Utah; and then back to
St. Louis. Part of coming back to St. Louis was to finish my Bachelor’s degree.
�3
The second 10 to 15 years I spent as a teacher at the elementary school level and secondary level at the
Labouré High School teacher and Ritter High School principal and vice principal. And there I was in San
Francisco, and then Dallas, and again back into St. Louis.
The third 10-15 years, 1976-1988 I served as the Director of Religious Education and pastoral ministry
programs and diocesan level Director of Religious Education and the director of Renew. I’ll talk about
those things later. I was located in Springfield, Missouri, and I was located in West Plains, and Willow
Springs, and White Church, and Thayer in Southern Missouri.
The next 10 years from the late 80s through 1998 were a different kind of ministry. It was a 10 year
period. It felt like a longer period than that. I was a docent in Emmitsburg, and then I served as a
Director of Religious Education in a parish in St. Charles, Missouri.
The next thing that I did in that same period of time was I was assigned to be vice president of Mission
Integration at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Ft. Worth, and then, following that, I served in the mission
leadership position at our National Health System in St. Louis and then a ministry councilor for the
Daughters of Charity from 1995-98 here in St. Louis.
That takes care probably of about the first 40 years of my ministry from a teacher to a principal to a
director to a leadership position.
When you were on the Council, was that the days when we were health, ministry, and social work
[positions]?
Mm-hmm.
And so you were the health...?
No, no, no, I was education.
Education on the Council! Ok.
Actually, when I looked at it, it looked like—It just says “Ministry.” In my head... but it was in education.
I wasn’t in the healthcare. I don’t know if that’s how we were.
That’s what I was trying to remember myself. At St. Joseph’s, what was interesting was that was not one
of our hospitals to begin with I recall. It was the St... I think it they were St. Joseph’s Sisters, because you
and I would get together...
Yeah, St. Joseph’s in...
Ft. Worth.
In Ft. Worth was a hospital of the Sisters of Incarnate Word of San Antonio. We purchased it from them.
They had had it for almost 100 years, and then they were not able to continue it.
So those were challenges I guess?
It was a challenging time for sure.
I’d like to just take a couple of experiences to share some thoughts that I had. One of them was my first
mission in Mobile, Alabama. It was a period of the time in which schools and parishes and everything at
�4
life was to be integrated. It was a period of integration in the 1950s. Several of my experiences—One
had to do with the procession that was held annually in the Diocese of Mobile at Corpus Christi time in
which the celebration was to take the Blessed Sacrament through the city of Mobile and bring it to the
center of downtown Mobile. In that particular year, the schools were to be lined up according to the
year in which they were founded. In that particular year, a school with black boys and girls, with black
children, was placed in front of St. Vincent’s School of Mobile, the Daughters’ school. My experience
was that at one point, as the procession was starting, when the families found out that the black
children were walking in front of the white children, the parents came and removed their children from
the procession. Took them out. It was a shocking thought for—I was twenty-one years old.
It’s shocking still isn’t it.
Right, shocking still. I also remember times when I would see women who I knew were waitresses or
housekeepers walking instead of riding the bus, and also to know that, in the church, in St. Vincent’s
church, the people who were black sat in the last pews, and there was a rope that was hooked to the
wall and the pew, which was an indicator that if you were not white, that you should not go beyond that
rope in church in church in St. Vincent’s Church in Mobile, Alabama.
Was that the time of the bus boycott as well and the boycott as well of the bank industry?
Yes, it was the time of the bus boycott as well. That’s why all of those people were walking toward their
work because they didn’t... They were not going to ride those busses at that point.
When I was at San Francisco at the girls’ high school... This was the period of time in history when
Haight-Ashbury was the most dominant part of what was happening in the drug scene, and we would
have some of our high school girls disappear in the maze of the Haight-Ashbury district. Cathedral High
School was located not too far from the Haight-Ashbury district.
One of the most memorable moments for me was when one of the high school girls in class just burst
out in tears and she said “Why do they have to keep killing our leaders?” She was referring to Dr.
Martin Luther King and the Kennedy assassination as well.
You meant Bobby?
Bobby. Yeah. All of that was occurring in similar time when I was missioned in the San Francisco
Cathedral High School for Girls.
Another one of the experiences that I wanted to share was when I was in Springfield, Missouri working
with the diocesan religious education programs as well as working with the Renew program. This was a
time following the Second Vatican Council in which the expansion of the opportunity for people to
participate more actively in the life of the Church was taking place. One of the memories has to do with
the enthusiasm that occurred surrounding the opportunity when families could more actively
participate in activities of the church but also in the development of their own spirituality through the
participation of Renew. Renew was the name that was given to a small group family-centered
discussion, school centered and family-centered opportunities to learn more about sacred scripture,
learn more about their faith. And that was part of the Second Vatican Council’s expansion of activities
for the Church to be more fully among the people
And that was very new for the Church at that time wasn’t it?
�5
It was.
You were there.
Right. In the midst of it. Right in the middle of it. Trying to spread that message of the active
participation of people in the Church.
When I was in Austin, Texas-- Mobile; San Francisco; Springfield, Missouri; Austin, Texas—I arrived in
Austin at the time that the federal government was initiating the Children’s Health Insurance Program
[CHIP]. I got into it right at the very beginning because, when I first went to Austin I was serving as an
advocate and a person lobbying for issues surrounding the state capital, the issues in the state of Texas.
Part of that energy that I had at the time was my participation in the development and the acceptance
of the CHIP program for the state of Texas and also distinguish the eligibility programs of whether the
child was eligible for Medicaid or whether they were eligible for the CHIP program. So I did some
lobbying, and I actively engaged with some of our Senators and Representatives at the time. It was a
great experience.
Those were big days for that.
Yes they were. They were the big days.
I spent probably the last 20 years—a little less than 20 years of my ministry, I was in Austin, Texas.
During that time, the expansion of health care services in the Central Texas area, and I was really blessed
to be a part of that expansion, part of that growth in Central Texas. I served as a member of the board,
and also as chair of the board for some time. It was a big lesson for me.
Was that the time that we took over the city hospital in Austin, when we acquired that as well? Which
was mammoth.
Yes, it was. The City/County Hospital – Brackenridge Hospital – was a major, wonderful tradition, but
unable to sustain the cost of maintaining the City/County hospital. So Ascension and Seton Hospital-Ascension took over and developed a relationship with the City/County hospital. It was very very
difficult because it entailed the birth and...
All of the above.
All of the above areas abortion and birth control that would have been possible had it been a public
hospital, but now it was coming under a Catholic hospital system. It had to do with the directives for
health care...
The big directives.
We were dealing with Rome, and we were dealing with the Catholic Dioceses of the United States. So
yes, Brackenridge was a big party.
And Bishop [John E.] McCarthy was so good.
Yes, he was. Bishop McCarthy just recently died, and he was a great help too.
In order to serve the poor. And it’s still going on I believe.
�6
Yes, it is.
With a new one, a whole new hospital.
Yes, it is. Children’s. Yes it is.
That’s great.
When I look back... When I was preparing for this, I was 67 years of service as a Daughter of Charity, and
I look back at it, and it’s been an honor, it’s been a privilege, and I see it with gratitude and with
thanksgiving for having had numerous opportunities to serve. Actually, I forgot a couple.
As I concluded my ministry in Austin, I also had the opportunity to serve in Gould, Arkansas; and also in
El Paso, Texas; and in Nashville, Tennessee, either as a board chair of the health ministries there or as a
committee member in St. Thomas Health in Nashville. And I also had two other areas, including
ministries, were in Nashville and in Perryville. Going back to Perryville, I served on the board of the
Association of the Miraculous Medal for a period of time.
That was full circle from your very beginning?
Yes, it was full circle from the very beginning.
I look back at my life and I see special opportunities over and over again of many times when I was
encouraged to grow both spiritually, physically, and emotionally. I was encouraged to develop those
qualities that would bring me closer to the people and closer to God, and when I was looking at the
material and answering the questions and working through those, I came to the realization that I had
not said about my sister companions, the sisters that I lived with. When I looked back...
There’s a bunch of them.
I lived in community all of those—My sisters in community, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did if
I didn’t live in community with the companions—There’s a song “Companions on my Journey,”and
definitely I recall those many missions that I had, included in those mission is my relationship with all the
sisters. So, I lived with them, I worked with them, I ministered with them, I agreed with them, I
disagreed with them, I grew beside them, and I am grateful for all those who were part of my life.
Sister Helen, you’ve shared a lot about how you were really present for a lot of the big major moments
both in our country with the Civil Rights and with the assassinations and then also with the church with
the Vatican Council. I wondered if you’d take a couple minutes if you would to reflect on life now, here,
where our biggest thing is reading the paper or watching the news. How do you feel about living here
[The Sarah Community in Bridgeton, MO]? It’s not all Daughters. We live with other communities. We
live with laypeople. You’re experiences would lead you this direction I would think, but, do you have any
thoughts on the life now as your ministry here?
First of all, I’m very happy to be here.
Yes, me too.
I’m very happy to be living here. I find it very welcoming place. I often tell people that it feels very
much at home. I feel good about being here. People are not nosy. They’re very helpful if you need
help, but they’re not nosy. So you have the opportunity to be in your apartment and be in the chapel
�7
and have the opportunity for Mass. It’s a great blessing. It’s a great blessing. I’m trying to learn how to
role. I’m trying to learn how it is that this is my life now. However long God gives me, for the rest of my
life, the opportunity to not have such a rigid schedule or so many opportunities that I can’t just sit back
and say, “Well, maybe I can do that tomorrow. Or maybe I can do that the next day.” I’m very grateful
to be here. You talk about there are widows and widowers, there are couples, there are sisters of
various congregations. All of us live in a sense in community, but at the same time, there’s a privacy and
there’s a community that comes together very easily. Very easily. I really do love it here.
Me too. It’s great. And we have time for prayer.
Oh, yes.
We were so busy in our apostolic life. Not that we’re not apostolic.
Yes, very much.
Well thank you so much.
You’re welcome.
That was wonderful. I learned a lot from you myself.
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Matushek, Sister Cecile, D.C.
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Brewer, Sister Helen, D.C.
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St. Louis, MO
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MP4
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0:31:40
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Brewer, Sr. Helen, D.C. Oral History
Subject
The topic of the resource
Brewer, Sr. Helen, D.C.; Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; School integration; Children's Health Insurance Program (U.S.)
Description
An account of the resource
Sister Helen Brewer discusses her education by the Daughters of Charity, her decision to join the community, her family life during World War II, desegregation of schools in the South, teaching in San Francisco in the late 1960s, and the challenges of expanding health service at Seton Medical Center in Austin, TX
Creator
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Brewer, Sr. Helen, D.C.; Matushek, Sr. Cecile, D.C.
Source
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Daughters of Charity Archives, Province of St. Louise, Emmitsburg, MD
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-07
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Keefer, Scott (Transcriber)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Permission for any type of publication of archival materials, including text, photographs, video, or audio must be secured from the Daughters of Charity Communications Director before publication.ÿ Contact archvies staff for appropriate forms and contact information During the lifetime of the interviewer and interviewee, permission must be secured from the individuals directly.
Format
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Audio/mp3; Application/pdf
Language
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English
Type
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Oral History
Identifier
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Brewer, Sister Helen Oral History
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1934-2019
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Education
Healthcare
-
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Text
SISTER CYRILLA VERHALEN [Excerpt]
BIOGRAPHY
INTERVIEW BY SISTER JOSEPHINE TARQUINI
JANUARY 21, 1988
Sr. Cyrilla: Today is the very day that I left the Seminary to go out to San Francisco.
Sr. Josephine: And when was that Sister?
Sr. Cyrilla: It was the Feast of St. Agnes, and it was during that dreadful year when
everybody was having the flu [The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic].
Sr. Josephine: 1918?
Sr. Cyrilla: 1918. And it was the funeral day of that dear Sister who came from
California [possibly Sister Agnes McEleney]. She was the biggest, the strongest, the
healthiest looking Sister, and from the very beginning the doctor said, “No earthly power
can save her.” So she died, and she was being buried on her name day but in the
general, big cemetery [Calvary Cemetery], because they didn't have any cemetery yet
at the Marillac.
Sr. Josephine: Sister, you are not exactly sweet sixteen. When were you born?
Sr. Cyrilla: I was born in 1894.
Sr. Josephine: And what was your birthday?
Sr. Cyrilla: The third of August.
Sr. Josephine: The third of August 1894. When that date comes around, you'll be how
old then?
Sr. Cyrilla: I'll be 94 years old.
Sr. Josephine: Ninety-four. Isn’t that wonderful.
[Jump in excerpt of recording]
Sr. Josephine: You entered at the Marillac, Sister?
Sr. Cyrilla: Yes.
Sr. Josephine: Who was the Visitatrix then? [Sister] Eugenia Fealy?
Sr. Cyrilla: That was her.
1
�Sr. Josephine: And who was your Directress?
Sr. Cyrilla: I have to think of her name. She was the first Directress of the whole
Province.
Sr. Josephine: Was that [Sister] Madeleine Morris?
Sr. Cyrilla: She had a brother who was a bishop.
Sr. Josephine: That was Sr. Madeleine Morris, and then she went over to France and
was a Secretary [Sr. Madeleine became General Secretary for the English-speaking
provinces in 1945].
Sr. Cyrilla: She really knew French so well that she could translate it right through and
just read French.
Sr. Josephine: What did you think of the Seminary?
Sr. Cyrilla: Sister, I was too sick to think of anything. Do you know what I had when I
was three weeks right after Thanksgiving while I was at St. Anne's [Asylum] a
postulant? I got sick and was having a high fever, and it lasted for three weeks, and the
doctors didn't know what was-- What is it? What’s the matter? What am I getting? And
jaundice! Yellow jaundice. And Sister, imagine getting out of bed of yellow jaundice and
going to the Seminary and then handfuls of chocolate.
[Portion redacted from transcript]
Sr. Josephine: Well, then you got the habit
Sr. Cyrilla: And we were stuck there with the flu, the terrible flu, and they kept us there.
This is a funny thing Sister. We were kept over so that we wouldn't get the flu.
Sr. Josephine: And, of course, you got it?
Sr. Cyrilla: And you know how we got it? The Sister sacristan, not knowing how
dangerous it was, went to visit the man that scrubbed the floors. Had the flu. She
brought it home, and all these young, new Sisters who had received the habit were
helping in the chapel, and we all got it. On Christmas Day, one after the other got sick,
and so the doctor said, “Sister, take the temperature of all of them.” I was a goner,
because I knew I had a terrible night. I didn’t want to go to bed on Christmas.
Sr. Josephine: When you got over the flu, then you went out on mission, where did you
go?
Sr. Cyrilla: To Sister Caroline.
2
�Sr. Josephine: In San Francisco.
Sr. Cyrilla: St. Vincent's School or the St. Patrick's Parish [Her first mission was St.
Vincent’s High School].
Sr. Josephine: And how long were you there?
Sr. Cyrilla: I was there until 1932 I think it was.
3
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Tarquini, Sister Josephine, D.C.
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Verhalen, Sister Cyrilla, D.C.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Cassette
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
0:04:31
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Verhalen, Sr. Cyrilla, D.C. Oral History (Excerpt)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Verhalen, Sr. Cyrilla, D.C.; Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919
Description
An account of the resource
Sister Cyrilla Verhalen discusses her time in the Seminary of the Daughters of Charity and her first mission in Perryville, Missouri during the outbreak of the Spanish flu in 1918
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Verhalen, Sr. Cyrilla, D.C.; Tarquini, Sr. Josephine, D.C.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Daughters of Charity Archives, Province of St. Louise, Emmitsburg, MD
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1/21/1988
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Keefer, Scott (Editor)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Permission for any type of publication of archival materials, including text, photographs, video, or audio must be secured from the Daughters of Charity Communications Director before publication.ÿ Contact archvies staff for appropriate forms and contact information
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Audio/mp3; Application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral History
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Verhalen, Sister Cyrilla Oral History
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1918
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Healthcare
Religious Formation
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Text
INTERVIEW WITH SISTER ROSA DALY
CONCERNING THE VISIT OF DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY
HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATORS TO THE WHITE HOUSE AND CAPITAL
ON MARCH 26, 1974
Interviewed by Sister Eleanor Casey
July 7, 2005
Proofed by Scott Keefer, May 18, 2020
Sr. Eleanor: Today is Thursday, July 7, 2005. This is Sister Eleanor Casey with Sister Rosa
Daly who is recounting her experiences on Capitol Hill in 1974, when she visited Senator [J.
Glenn] Beall and Vice President [Gerald] Ford and also went to the White House.
Sr. Rosa: Okay. As far as I can remember. Yeah, okay. We assembled in the White
House to talk to—and the gentlemen's name is in your folder there [Dr. James H. Cavanaugh,
Deputy Director for Operations of the Domestic Council for President Richard M. Nixon.],
someone in charge of economy, and we were all assembled in a conference room in the White
House. And then we went to Vice President’s, Ford's office and had our picture taken and met
Vice President Ford, and then we went to Senator Beall's office and had a picture taken. Then
he took us by the little car that goes from his office to the Capitol, and we had our lunch at the
lunchroom for congressmen.
The most thrilling experience was, he reserved a table right inside the door so that he
would sit and watch the people coming in the door. As they came in, he'd say, "Oh, here comes
[Senator John] Tower from Texas. Anybody here from Texas? What's your name?" And he
would say, "Senator," he said, "got one of your constituents here, "he said. "We've just been
meeting for so-and-so and so-and so, and she wants to tell you about that bill that we're
contemplating." So sister would talk to him. Then he'd go, "Anybody here from Louisiana?
Here comes so-and-so from Louisiana. Senator, one of your constituents here." It was really
interesting to see the way he behaved to get his point across, you know.
We read about these congressmen, and you say, "Oh, yes, they're, you know, big power".
But really, he was so interested because he appreciated the number of hospitals we had in that
time, and what this Taft-Hartley exemption was gonna' mean to our hospitals and to tell you the
truth I don't remember what the outcome was, that’s the worst part.1
1
Research by Mr. Michael Riley, provincial CFO, shows that the meeting probably
concerned whether hospitals sponsored by the Daughters of Charity might find it advantageous to
administer their individual pension plans as a group. On September 9, 1974 congress enacted the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) which codified federal law
pertaining to employee pension and welfare benefit plans.
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Casey, Sister Eleanor, D.C.
Interviewee
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Daly, Sister Rosa, D.C.
Original Format
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Cassette
Duration
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0:03:00
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Daly, Sister Rosa Interview
Subject
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"Daly, Sister Rosa, D.C.; Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; Daughters of Charity National Health System; Ford, Gerald R., 1913-2006; Beall, J. Glenn (John Glenn), Jr., 1927-2006
Description
An account of the resource
Sister Rosa Daly, D.C. describes meeting with Senator John Glenn Beall and Vice President Gerald Ford in 1974, along with other Senators, regarding hospitals operated by the Daughters of Charity.
Creator
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"Daly, Sr. Rosa, D.C.
Casey, Sr. Eleanor, D.C."
Source
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Daughters of Charity Archives, Province of St. Louise, Emmitsburg, MD
Date
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2005/07/07
Contributor
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Keefer, Scott (Editor)
Rights
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Permission for any type of publication of archival materials, including text, photographs, video, or audio must be secured from the Daughters of Charity Communications Director before publication.ÿ Contact archvies staff for appropriate forms and contact information
Format
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Audio/mp3; Application/pdf
Language
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English
Type
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Oral History
Identifier
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Daly, Sister Rosa Oral History
Coverage
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1974/26/03
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Healthcare
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PDF Text
Text
Name of Sister:
Sr. Dorothy Marie Hill [Excerpt]
Format:
Audio-Cassette (35-TC; #712)
Original Recording: August 26, 2003
Interviewer:
Sister Elaine Wheeler
Transcriber and date of transcription:
Elissa Armater, December 3, 2005
Which Daughter of Charity seemed to impress you most and sort of led you into the
Community?
No one Sister had any major influence. I applied. When I finally came to the
Community, I finished college at St. John’s [University], and I don’t know why I became
a Daughter of Charity. My ambition as I was finishing college was to be a cloistered nun,
and I approached in very tentative ways both the Carmelites and the Trappestines. I
really can’t at this length of time pin down why I became a Daughter of Charity. I
remember looking at the time. There were no Sisters [referring to the Daughters] in
Brooklyn or in New York. The whole difficulties between the black caps [Sisters of
Charity of New York] and the white caps had kept them away.
I remember looking up “Daughters of Charity” in the Catholic Encyclopedia and reading
that St. Vincent’s telling them that “The Poor shall be your Office.” One of my great
ambitions was to recite the Divine Office in choir as the cloistered sisters did, which was
one of the reasons I wanted to be a cloistered nun. And that saying, which I have never
seen any place else except that article in the Catholic Encyclopedia, impressed me very
much.
I joined the Community on September 8, 1951 as a postulant at Emmitsburg. We were
the first band that made our postulatum at Emmitsburg and there were 38 of us.
Postulatum was extremely disappointing to me. I had a very good time, but I felt as if I
was in boarding school with a whole bunch of young kids because I was a mature woman
at 21 and they were all 17 or 19!
The seminary was more satisfying. My father was in awe of the whole thing, but my
mother kept saying what a peculiar outfit this was. And she meant not just the clothing,
which she found very peculiar, but the entire outfit. Everything about it struck her as
funny or horrifying.
I received the habit in January of 1953 and went to Seton High School very soon after
that as my first mission. I spent 25 years teaching high school at Seton High School, at
Bishop England High School in Charleston, South Carolina; in Portsmouth [Virginia;
Portsmouth Catholic High School], in Syracuse [Cathedral Academy], in Petersburg
[Virginia; St. Joseph’s School], and in Emmitsburg [Maryland; St. Joseph’s High
1
�School]. My 25 years of teaching were a delight. I enjoyed the subject matter, I enjoyed
the children, and I think I was fairly successful.
What subjects did you teach?
Mostly English and later Religion. I had other things, as we all do, but those were the
subjects I was prepared in and enjoyed teaching.
I gave you a list of places I was, and they were all high schools. Most of them, either the
Sisters aren’t teaching in the school anymore, as in Bishop England High School, or the
school is closed. When I was thinking about saying all this, I began to think about how
trendy my life has been. The closing of the schools that I attended and the schools I was
taught at is one of the big marks of the history of the Church in the United States during
these years, the 20’s through the 60’s. It certainly has affected my life but whether it has
been for the good of the Church or for its loss, we’re too close to to really come to any
well thought out conclusion, but my own history certainly does prove out.
One of the great turning points of my life came right about the time that I finished
thinking about teaching for 25 years. I went to Seton High School actually three times on
mission – my first mission and then in the 60’s again. When Vatican Council II was just
coming to an end – I think it ended in ’59?
I think it’s closer to ’62.
Sixty-two. At that time, when it was still in session, but very close to an end, I was at
Seton High School teaching English. Sister Enrica Federal was the principal, and Sister
Enrica, an innovator and very impulsive sort of person, and she decided it would be good
to institute a real religion department as an academic unit rather than as a frill, which it
was up to that time. Every Sister that had a home room taught religion, which meant that
you really had no professional religion teachers. She decided that it would be good to
make it an academic department and get a few people trained in the new trends that
would be coming with the end of Vatican II. She went around, and she asked people if
they’d like to study religion or theology. I had the sense to say yes, and three of us went.
It was very delightful experience and a soul changing, life changing experience. Three of
us from Seton High School in Baltimore went every Friday night by train. We went up to
New York City, stayed at Kennedy [Child Study] Center [where Daughters were
missioned], and on Saturday morning went up to Fordham [University] and took a course
with the Novak Brothers [Joseph and Vincent Novak], who were Jesuits who were trying
to form a Vatican II curriculum for high school religion departments. Every Saturday
morning for a semester, we went up there and listened to the Novaks.
One of the high points, one of the magnificent things that happened, one Saturday
morning, Vincent Novack brought in the New York Times for that morning, and he read
to us the unofficial translation of the Vatican document on the Liturgy. We were sitting
in the back of the classroom, because we were still were wearing the cornette, and I sat
2
�and listened to Vince Novak and cried like a baby because it was so – it fulfilled all the
aspirations and yearnings that I had had about Liturgy and what Liturgy should mean in
our lives. That was only one of the great excitements. And sure enough through the next
couple years, the religion classes at Seton became the equal of all the other classes and
we had a religion department with a faculty and tried to form a modern Vatican II
curriculum. Those days of the Council and of the post-Councillor changes – I don’t like
to call them changes because it’s a more profound conversion than just changes – were
probably the most exciting and hopeful optimistic days of my whole life because so many
of the wishes and dreams and ideals that were hardly expressed or hardly recognized
began to become true.
Sister Cecilia Geary and I in I think it was 1964 went out to St. Louis to the liturgical
conference, and it was the first time in the United States that a congregation, an assembly,
at Mass had recited the Our Father in unison in English. With a huge stadium type
meeting hall in St. Louis, so you had thousands of people all as excited as I was about
Vatican II saying the Our Father together. Again, it was this exciting high point in
individuals’ lives and in the life of the Church.
For me, one of the big effects of all of this Liturgy and Bible study – that’s when I got
into the Bible. I went to Catholic University for a couple summers in the religious
education department and had a few Bible courses and just fell into Bible study. I didn’t
go to school enough. I would have liked to have gone more, but I was not permitted to.
But I’ve been able to follow on my own Bible study, and I must say, it has so enthralled
me that, I’m more disciplined about Bible study than about any studying that I’ve ever
done in my whole life.
One of the effects of all this was that I came to the conclusion that I should not teach in
high school any more because the service of the poor became more and more important
and primary in my life. High school became more and more expensive so that the service
of the economically poor was almost impossible. That’s when I decided that I would try
change my ministry. I was lucky enough to come to the Northeastern Province where
Sister Mary Basil [Roarke] at the time was the Provincial. She looked very kindly on
those sorts of aspirations. So without too much ceremony, I was able to go to St. Mary’s
Parish in Troy [New York] to become a Parish Associate.
I went to St. Mary’s – I forget the year [1973-74 school year] – but it was the year St.
Mary’s School closed, which was extremely traumatic on everybody because St. Mary’s
for the Community was such an old mission. Sisters had been teaching there for 150
years or something since 1848. That hundred and more years had become so traditional,
and for the Parish, the institution of the school was one of their great prides. They gave it
up not just with reluctance but with hostility. That year in which the school closed was
very traumatic, but it was a very happy year for me, because we had priests in the parish
at the time who were very anxious to form a team ministry and to share ministry not just
among themselves but with the whole Parish. We formed a team ministry of priests and
sisters and lay people, seven people all together. I remained at St. Mary’s for six years.
It was, for me, a very happy experience.
3
�Because of the freedom of that team ministry and the members of the team, I was able to
minister in very untraditional ways. We did the traditional things. One of the joys was
that I taught the First Communion class. I became sort of a a paralegal, an advocate for
people on welfare, food stamps, SSI – Social Security – what have you, to help them
negotiate those systems. These were the poorest of the poor, and Troy was rich in poor
people. Again, it was a turning point in my life to discover the poor and to discover the
joy. St. Vincent said, “The poor are my burden and my sorrow,” and I found that to be
true, but I also found it to be true that the poor were my joy and my delight.
As that period of my life ended, I was missioned to Boston to Laboure Center in South
Boston. I was supposed to work there, but somehow I just didn’t fit in. I didn’t fit into
South Boston, and I didn’t fit in very well to the work of Laboure Center. Just by
accident, truly – I’m sure not accident, but providence, but it seemed very casual at the
time – I met a group of people who were interested in serving the homeless, and we
became friends, and eventually just very sweetly it worked out that we started a shelter
for homeless families, the fist shelter for homeless families in Boston. Sister Adele
Waters was part of the circle, and the other four founders were a Jesuit priest and three
young graduate school students all in their twenties, very wise, very charming young
people [According to the National Jesuit News, the three other founders were Father
Andrew Sedensky, S.J., Patti Muldoon, and Mike Whelan].
By guess and by gosh, we managed to find the money to find a building, a parish rectory
in Roxbury in Boston and to start Sojourner House. S-O-U-J-O-U-R-N-E-R, Sojourner.
It was named for Sojourner Truth, one of the great heroines of the abolition movement
and of Women’s Rights in 19th Century America. It was also named in honor of the
Biblical concept of the Sojourner. In the Book of Deuteronomy, it speaks of the
Sojourner in your midst that Israel must always look out for the Sojourner and take care
of the Sojourner and not oppress the Sojourner even though that Sojourner is far from
being an Israelite.
That again was another high point in my life because we were penetrating further into the
depths of poverty and into the depths of the wealth of the poor and the straights to which
poverty can drive people.
We finally, I think it was the fourth year of operation, when we realized we had a budget
of $150,000. Up to that point, we had a few small grants, but mostly it was free will
donations. I might mention here that both the Jesuits and Daughters of Charity gave the
services of their members free. The Daughters of Charity never demanded any kind of
salary or compensation and neither did the Jesuits for the work of the Jesuit priests.
I spent six years working without a salary at Sojourner House. Actually, I asked to be
missioned, because I knew if I stayed there much longer I wouldn’t be able to leave.
What kind of people came to Sojourner House?
4
�Homeless families. Generally women and children. The husbands and fathers were
either non-existent or were very shy about coming to live in a family shelter. So in
general, it was women and their children who came. We did have a couple of fathers in
the course of the years. These were people who were... At the time, the homeless
problem in Boston was growing by leaps and bounds. The rental housing was becoming
exorbitantly expensive. There was a great deal of gentrification of parts of Boston that
had been low income. The rate of vacancy in rental housing was estimated at one
percent, which meant that actually there wasn’t any. So that there were many, many
families who were either doubled up with relatives or friends in horrible circumstances or
actually living on the streets.
We had one very beautiful young woman who came to us who was unmarried and had a
child about 18 months old when she came to our house. When I asked her how long she
had been homeless, she told us she had been homeless since she left the hospital with the
baby. I said, “What did you do with a newborn baby and no place to go?” She said, “Oh,
I left her here and there.”
We had another woman who had two small children who was in somewhat the same
straights. She used to leave her children at McDonald’s. She would go in and buy food
and then leave them there and go about whatever business she had. One of the problems
with being homeless is that, at the time, it was very hard for people to get welfare if they
were homeless because the welfare system in its wisdom wouldn’t give them rent money
because they were homeless and therefore they didn’t have to pay rent! So they ended up
with literally nothing. To negotiate the ins and outs of welfare is a full-time job. These
were the sorts of people that were referred to us. What happened was that we came to
know the workers in the welfare department, and they would refer people to us that they
were not able to help. So it was the lowest aspect of the welfare system were the people
who were referred to us, and they were treated in exactly that way, as the lowest kind of
human being.
Sojourner House was a residential shelter in that we stayed open all the time. Nobody
had to leave at 8 o’clock in the morning or anything like that because they were children,
or the vast majority. We could only accommodate only six families at a time. We had
part of a very old large old rectory, St. Joseph’s in Roxbury. People had all their meals
there. When we finally managed to help them to get on welfare, they would give us a
portion of their welfare money, which we banked for them so that they would have some
kind of seed money when they were finally able to find a place to live. Our hope was that
people would stay about three months, but it ended up that they had to stay six months or
more because of the shortage of rental housing.
I went from Sojourner House in Boston to Syracuse and really didn’t find a niche in
Syracuse either. I lived in Syracuse and commuted to Cortland [New York], which is
about 25 miles south of Syracuse and worked in a soup kitchen. I was part-time for the
soup kitten and part-time for Catholic Charities food pantry. That was satisfying, but it
was sort of a comedown from Sojourner House because it wasn’t as – nothing was as
acute as the homelessness that gave rise to Sojourner House.
5
�Is Sojourner House still functioning?
Sojourner House is still functioning. There are no Sisters or priests involved in the
administration any more. It’s become totally lay. It’s independent. We incorporated, so
it’s Sojourner House, Inc., and it’s independent. As far as I know it’s still functioning. I
haven’t had any contact there in three or four years.
I stayed at Cortland for about six years. The soup kitchen was in the Episcopalian
Church in Cortland and I was fortunate enough to become very good friends with the
rector of the Church and his wife [The soup kitchen was called “Loaves and Fishes.” It
was located at “Grace & Holy Spirit Episcopal Church.” The rector of the church was
Rev. William James Greer II]. They were very, very dear people. One of the high points
of my stay in Cortland was that we formed an ecumenical prayer group. There was a
Lutheran minister, a bachelor, and myself, and for a while one of the priests of St. Mary’s
Parish in Cortland, and a few other people. We tried to meet once a month for an hour’s
prayer session, which was very delightful because we all came from such different
prospectives and were able to pray together and talk together in very intimate ways.
6
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise
Oral History
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Interviewer
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Wheeler, Sister Elaine, D.C.
Interviewee
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Hill, Sister Dorothy Marie, D.C.
Original Format
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Cassette
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0:34:11
Dublin Core
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Hill, Sr. Dorothy Marie, D.C. Oral History [Excerpt]
Subject
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Hill, Sr. Dorothy Marie, D.C.; Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; Church and social problems--Catholic Church--History--20th century; Homelessness--Religious aspects
Description
An account of the resource
Sister Dorothy Marie Hill describes the changes that took place in the Catholic Chuch and the Daughters of Charity after the Second Vatican Council and her work combatting houselessness in South Boston.
Creator
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Hill, Sr. Dorothy Marie, D.C.; Wheeler, Sr. Elaine, D.C.
Source
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Daughters of Charity Archives, Province of St. Louise, Emmitsburg, MD
Date
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2003/08/26
Contributor
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Armater, Elissa (Transcriber); Keefer, Scott (editor)
Rights
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Permission for any type of publication of archival materials, including text, photographs, video, or audio must be secured from the Daughters of Charity Communications Director before publication.ÿ Contact archvies staff for appropriate forms and contact information
Format
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Audio/mp3; Application/pdf
Language
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English
Type
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Oral History
Identifier
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Hill, Sister Dorothy Marie Oral History
Coverage
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1951-2003
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Social Service
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Text
1
ORAL HISTORY OF SISTER NANETTE GENTILE, D.C.
INTERVIEWED BY SISTER HELEN BREWER, D.C.
RECORDED JULY 2019
I am Sister Nanette Gentile. I was born September 10, 1933 to Sarah and Peter Gentile. I am the oldest
of three girls, Kathleen who is now Mrs. Ed Sheridan and Patricia who is now Mrs. David Hurst. A threeyear-old boy was born after me and he died of meningitis so that was a sad time in our family.
So, tell us a little bit about your childhood. You have no living brothers; you grew up with sisters.
I grew up in a very happy household. My mother and dad were always there for us as were my
grandparents. We lived with my grandparents and we did things together and had fun together and I
remember even taking a long trip to New York for the World’s Fair. I was in an organdy dress – that was
not comfortable, but I remember it. [laughter]
You remember the dress and then you ended up wearing the big hat! Do you have other childhood
memories that you can think of?
My mother had a very large family. She had three sisters and four brothers and I grew up with them. At
every holiday we celebrated together. At Christmas time we played poker until the wee hours of the
morning on New Year’s Eve. We danced together. I learned to dance at every Italian wedding there
was. I felt like I had a very happy childhood, very grateful for it.
Imagine the Italian weddings. Were there other Italian customs and things that you grew up with that
were particularly important?
Well, I remember at Christmas time, at the end of Advent – because we always fasted – we had certain
rituals. Before midnight Mass, we would have little panini with little fishes in them, and then after
Midnight Mass, we had meat in them. There was always something special that my grandmothers
made. My grandniece got married a year ago and at her wedding, I said, “Where’s the pecans, the
covered pecans that the Italians always had?” She didn’t have those. So we had all those little rituals. It
was good.
Some are being carried on in the next generation, some, not all.
What about your vocation story? How did you meet the Daughters and were you young…?”
Well, I went to a public school for my first six years of education. Then I transferred to St. Philip Neri
School [in St. Louis] for seventh and eighth grades, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet taught at
that school. I enjoyed school, and I enjoyed my family. We’d go to Mass at St. Philip Neri on Sunday,
and the Daughters of Charity taught at a high school near us, Labouré High School. They would come to
their second Mass at St. Philip Neri ,and I would see them in the cornette and say, “I would never be
caught dead wearing that!”
I went to Labouré High School, I joined the Legion of Mary, and I did my service projects going with the
Sisters to visit the chronic hospital in St. Louis, and I learned that there were very poor people. So I
wanted to give my life to helping people. I became a postulant in 1951 and I was at St. Philomena’s in
St. Louis. In December – in those days we had a very short postulancy – I transferred and became a
Seminary Sister at Marillac Provincial House.
�2
Did you come to the Daughters right after high school?
I came to the Daughters in August, right after high school.
So you went to the Seminary…
And spent a year as a novice. And then at the end of that, I was asked to study to prepare for getting a
college degree. So they sent me to my very first mission, St. Patrick School in LaSalle, Illinois and I taught
the fourth and fifth grade.
And you didn’t receive your degree yet? You went right out to teach. Is that correct?
Right. I was in the process of getting the degree but didn’t have it yet. And in fact, after two years they
sent me to St. Vincent School in Perryville, Missouri, so I could ride on Saturdays to St. Louis so that I
could take courses at Marillac College.
Quite a few Sisters did that as well as well, I think, did they not?
Yes, I always had company in the car. One of the older boys of the parish drove us every Saturday, very
faithful to picking us up and bringing us home. In Perryville I taught fourth and fifth grade but also the
eighth grade boys. The custom was in Lent on Fridays we would take the kids to the seminary church
which was down the block and go to Stations [of the Cross]. Well, I began with maybe thirty boys and
ended up with five, because they would all run away! [laughter] I loved my missions and I loved both
places.
Eventually I became a full-time student. They sent me to Montreal to study French and then I also
studied Spanish at St. Louis University, and I taught at Marillac College for twelve years.
Why did they ask you to go into languages?
Because they needed a language teacher, and I happened to be good at it when I was taking my
preparatory courses at Marillac College. At home I heard Italian. I didn’t have an academic knowledge of
Italian, but I heard it, so I was comfortable. I had an ear for languages.
I remember one funny event, it wasn’t so funny then, in Montreal. The people weren’t used to the
Sisters. There were a lot of Sisters – it was a Catholic population – but they weren’t used to the
cornette. I had to take four buses to get to the University of Montreal and they would call me Sputnik
and Dumbo the Elephant. I remember that. I learned a lot because the Sisters only spoke French. I feel
like I’m more fluent in French because I really had to navigate. I had to do it.
After that, when I came back, I was still studying at the University and I was named to be the Seminary
Directress. That means being in charge of our recruits, our novices. I did that for six years, and while I
did it, I commuted to Perryville, Missouri where I taught languages to the Vincentian seminarians. That
was a delightful experience because I was the first woman to accept that position.
It was a groundbreaker.
Yeah, and they tested me at first, trying to throw little paper airplanes until I told them, “OK, boys, this is
the end.” [laughter]
This is not fourth grade!
�3
But it was fun.
After Directress, I went to San Antonio, Texas where I worked in a Mexican-American parish as a DRE
[Director of Religious Education]. I loved it there because the people were so intent on doing the right
thing for their families. Unfortunately, I did not stay there long. I was named to be a Provincial
Councillor and after that, I became the Visitatrix of the Province.
Did you pick up more Spanish when you were in San Antonio?
When I was in San Antonio, I used Spanish more. I finally got my degrees around 1972 and then later in
1974 when I got one in French and one in Spanish.
But never in Italian?
Never in Italian. But, I was Seminary Directress and also Provincial Councillor, they sent me to the varied
congregational meetings that we had in Rome and also in Paris and in Toronto. I had to do Italian the
first time because they didn’t have an Italian translator. So I did do it. A lot of times I listened to the
French and then translated it into Italian. They only asked me to do that one time. Generally, I
translated from French and Spanish into English. That was just a very meaningful experience in my life.
And a lot of work, I bet.
And a lot of work.
Now when you were Councillor, those were the days when they were specialized. I recall health,
education…
I was Formation Councillor. I had been Seminary Directress, so I continued to work with the Sisters who
were preparing for vows and also preparing programs for continuing formation for all of the Sisters. So I
worked with teams, all kinds of committees, went to many intercongregational meetings in St. Louis and
elsewhere to work with others in formation programs.
Then you became the Vis.
Then I became Visitatrix.
How was that?
How was that? I enjoyed going to all the missions and seeing what the Sisters were doing and how
many services they were giving to the poor, no matter where they were or what they were doing. The
Sisters always evinced a great passion for their service, and that kept them going and kept the province
going. I felt like we were very healthy because the Sisters were responding to our newer call to be who
we are.
So that was a great gift.
That was a great gift. I learned a lot from the Sisters. I remember with one of the Seminary Sisters, she
very frankly told me that they were not fifth graders and so I was to talk to them like adults. [laughter]
Good point!
�4
I learned much from the people I lived with and also the ones I visited interactively. It was an awesome
time as Visitatrix because it was a time when we were beginning to discern should we keep this large
Provincial House that serves 200 people and we’re not getting that many recruits. Can we continue the
upkeep and the expense? So we had to go into a two year discernment with the whole Province.
Fortunately, the folks from UMSL, the University of Missouri in St. Louis, wanted to expand their
campus, so they were really eager to buy the Provincial House. We were so fortunate.
Very lucky.
It’s a very healthy operation now – still education – and for the lower-income folks getting degrees.
That was just such a great blessing, and I’m grateful for that.
One more item while you were Visitatrix and you talked about your formation. One of the things that I
remember is the LIM [Loyola Institute for Ministry] Program for the young Sisters. I think that was a big
piece of what you installed as well. Do you want to talk about that?
We worked with Loyola in New Orleans. They had a program where they taught trainers, and trainers
worked with the attendees in the local areas. We had our young Sisters there but we also invited folks
in who were more experienced to dialogue with them because it wasn’t just a head program, it was a
heart and service program. It was an opportunity for them to hear the experiences of other people.
And I think you were part of that [points to Sister Helen].
I was and that’s why I was in touch with it. But I think it was an excellent program because one of the
things was many of the younger Sisters didn’t have a lot of theology in their training so it helped out.
Yes, definitely.
OK, so you weren’t Vis forever. What happened next?
Then I went to the Seton Family of Hospitals in Austin, Texas. I worked in the Education Department for
a long time. I learned how to do my-- I could fax things myself, I could copy things myself. I didn’t have
a secretary, so I learned all these wonderful, practical skills. Then they put me as the Vice President for
Mission Integration, and I worked in leadership formation, almost like a spiritual direction individually
with the executive staff.
Oh, the executives mostly.
That was a good opportunity. Then I was asked to come to St. Louis and be Sister Servant of one of the
groups here at the Sarah Community, the Assisted Living Groups. Well, that’s what I thought, and then
they gave me all the groups!
That was a trick! [laughter]
I did it for four years, but just walking from one end of the building to another was enough of a
challenge for me to say, “That’s really all I can do!” But I love the Sisters, and when I think back on my
ministries – working with the children, they were spontaneous and fun. You never knew what they were
going to do.
Especially with eighth grade boys.
�5
Yes. With the Mexican Americans, I always admired that they would do anything for their families. They
worked very hard. In the health care, the executives wanted to be people of integrity because they
wanted to serve the mission and the poor like the Daughters. They were very sincere about that. In the
international level, there were so many diverse people who had all kinds of ideas and ways that we
should be serving the poor, and I learned from them. I was always appreciative of all the people that I
worked with. So, when I think back, I always said if I had stayed as a good Italian-American girl, I would
have married and had ten kids, and that would have been OK. But I feel that in the community, I have
been given much in the way of education, in the way of opportunity, in the way of grace. I’m a person
right now, thank God, who is very grateful. So when people say, “How are you doing?” I say, “I can’t
complain about anything.”
That’s a great gift. I’m just going to say, I think you missed one thing; when you were in Austin, you also
worked with the Ladies of Charity, one of the very special groups.
Yes, one of the Mission Integration person at Providence in Waco asked me to work with the Ladies of
Charity in Harper Heights. Oh my! What a diverse and loving group. I did that, and then I worked with
other-- the Vincent de Paul Society in Austin and also another group of Ladies of Charity. I loved every
minute of that, too.
They were a great group.
Yes.
Is there anything else you want to add for history’s sake? Do you think you’ve covered it?
I think I’ve covered it. I want to continue to learn from the people I live with. I think because I was in
leadership for a long time, the tendency was working with people. But now I’m not in leadership so I
want to be more with people and learn from them. I do that by praying to the Holy Spirit all the time.
One of the things I think here is, now that you’re at Sarah, we’re at Sarah, and you mentioned diversity a
number of times. The whole idea that we are here at the Sarah community, not just with Daughters, but
with other communities, and lay people. Even men are here, so what is your response to that experience
that we are having now?
That’s a great gift.
I think so, too.
It’s a great gift. Again, I learned from the experiences of all the ninety-year-olds that are here, whether
they are lay or religious and what they experienced, and how they lived, and what they lived through.
And then our staff. It’s such a delight to be in the dining room in the evening and have our food served.
But to be served by young people who are just beginning, and who, in a sense, look to us for support
and we give it. I mean our ministry of prayer is so filled with opportunity that can’t begin to pin it down.
Right.
So, God is good.
God is good. I agree. Thank you, Nanette. This was excellent, very inspiring as well to hear. Thank you.
�6
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Brewer, Sister Helen, D.C.
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Gentile, Sister Nanette, D.C.
Location
The location of the interview
St. Louis, MO
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
0:19:18
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Gentile, Sr. Nanette, D.C. Oral History
Subject
The topic of the resource
Gentile, Sr. Nanette, D.C.,Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Language and education--United States
Description
An account of the resource
Sister Nanette Gentile discusses growing up in an Italian-American family in St. Louis, studying different languages, and her life as a Daughter of Charity. She served as Visitatrix from 1989 to 1998, closed the Marillac College campus, and became the first woman to teach at the Vincentian Seminary in Perryville, MO.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Gentile, Sr. Nannette, D.C., Brewer, Sr. Helen, D.C.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Daughters of Charity Archives, Province of St. Louise, Emmitsburg, MD
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2019-08
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Keefer, Scott (Transcriber)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Permission for any type of publication of archival materials, including text, photographs, video, or audio must be secured from the Daughters of Charity Communications Director before publication. Contact archives staff for appropriate forms and contact information
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Audio/mp3, Application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Oral History
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Gentile, Sister Nanette Oral History
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1933-2019
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Education
Sister Leaders