5 10 108 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/09949f91ef7bf01e600b33aea06d5426.jpg 8326cc3a4657486cd56e51ad20ed8e8c https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/1ed7318f195737913bea8666f0621060.mp3 1fb0fc65ace16bbc8b81ce1604e2ea89 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/c4558a10e8fd2aa8520bac132da57748.pdf 0ef74f0b5bb72e5d3db878f85cb4aaf9 PDF Text Text Sisters of Charity of New York Interview with Sr. Patricia Quinn, SC September 26th, 2019: 10:34AM • 36:32 Angelica Bullock 00:00 Today is September 26th, 2019. The interviewer is Angelica Bullock. The interviewee is Sister Pat Quinn. We are in the Archives at Boyle Hall and we are in the Reading Room. And the time is 1:37 pm. Sr. Pat, can you state your full name? Sr. Pat Quinn 00:25 My full name is Sr. Patricia Ann Quinn. Angelica Bullock 00:32 And your religious name? Sr. Pat Quinn 00:36 My religious name, Patricia Carmel Quinn. Angelica Bullock 00:42 And what is your current age? Sr. Pat Quinn 00:44 Right now? I'm 73. Angelica Bullock 00:48 And do you remember the day that you entered the congregation? Sr. Pat Quinn 00:53 I do remember some of it. I don't remember all of it. I remember coming my parents and my family. And being out on the lawn. And then at a certain, of course, my mother was upset. Not that she wasn't happy for me. She was just upset that I was leaving home, I guess. And then I remember I suppose a bell rang, and we went in to the postulatum and changed into our postulatum, lot of clothes, postulant clothes, and came back out. I think we came back out, I'm not sure. I know we had benediction that day before the parents left. So that's all I remember about that day. It was a long time ago. Angelica Bullock 01:39 Do you remember what was your age? Sr. Pat Quinn 01:41 I was 17 and-one-half at the time, and that was 1963. And I've been in the congregation now 56 years. Hard to believe; the time has gone by very fast. Angelica Bullock 01:56 Okay, so now we're going to just talk a little bit about your family life. Where were you born? -1- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Sr. Pat Quinn 02:03 I was born in Manhattan on the Upper West Side, actually on West 105th Street, and that's where I grew up and lived until the time I entered. My parents had come from Ireland in the 1920s and from the same town, Longford, in Ireland, and I had one sister and four brothers; I'm sorry, not four brothers, three brothers. There were five of us all together. One brother is my twin brother, Mike. So there were five all together. I had a cousin in religious life, she was Sr. John Carmel. That's how I got to have Carmel as part of my religious name and she later became my sponsor when I entered. The parish I belonged to was Ascension on West 107th Street was the church, on 108th street was the school that I went to for grammar school. Then I went onto Blessed Sacrament High School on West 70th Street. Angelica Bullock 03:23 And how did you pick those schools, or how did your parents pick those schools? Well, in those days, like now, you had to take a test to get into the high schools. And that school was close to me, I was on 105th and that school was on West 70th street and it was also a Sister of Charity school. So I guess the location helped a lot, you know, it wasn't that far to go because you had to go by bus. So then when I entered, of course, I went to the college here (College of Mount Saint Vincent). And I also went to Hunter College. I got my master's degree in Hunter (College), and I got another master's degree from St. Joseph's Seminary, Masters of Religious Education. Angelica Bullock 04:19 What was your Masters degree in? Sr. Pat Quinn 04:20 From the Mount (College of Mount Saint Vincent), English. That was my first degree. And at Hunter my Master's was in teaching reading. So I was in school you might say from in college anyway from '63 to '81. Angelica Bullock 04:42 Wow. Sr. Pat Quinn 04:45 And sometimes going down to Hunter after teaching all day, because that's when you took your courses for your Masters. So you taught all day, then you got on the subway, went down to Hunter, came back at night. Angelica Bullock 04:59 That sounds tiring. Sr. Pat Quinn 05:01 It was tiring. Angelica Bullock 05:02 Did you usually do that travel by yourself or were you doing that with other sisters? -2- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Sr. Pat Quinn 05:08 It depended on the course. Another Sister in my group lived with me at the time. I can't remember if we had courses at the same time, though. Could be we went together, I forget. But it was after school and Saturday mornings sometimes, depending on the course, as I said. Angelica Bullock 05:35 And how did you decide to get Master's degrees? Did your superiors suggest that to you? Or was that something you wanted to do? Or a little bit of both? Sr. Pat Quinn 05:44 Well, no, when I first was assigned, I was assigned to St. Peter and Paul School in the South Bronx. And I had to finish my degree here at the Mount. So I went on Saturdays till I got that degree and then after that, we didn't really have superiors assigned to us. So it was really by choice. But you needed to have a Master's degree, you know. And since I was in school, I enjoyed getting the Masters in teaching, reading, since I was teaching younger kids. And then I went on in the Seminary for the MRE. That was a choice also. Angelica Bullock 06:29 Can you talk about your time at the Seminary a little bit? Sr. Pat Quinn 06:33 Well, it was just classes that were held at the Seminary that you could get a Master's in religious education. I wasn't part of the Seminary with the fellows who were studying to be priests. It was classes that you could get after school or on a Saturday so you can get your degree. It was good. The classes were good. It was taught for the most part by Seminary professors who were teaching the seminarians So they were good courses, you know, in dogma, morality, scripture. There was a fourth one I forget what it is, morality, I forget. So I got my degree there and I think it was in '81. Angelica Bullock 07:22 Okay, let's go on. Why did you join the Sisters of Charity of New York? Sr. Pat Quinn 07:28 Primarily because of the Sisters that I met at Ascension and Blessed Sacrament. I had a cousin who was a Sister of Charity at the time, and I wanted to teach especially young children, and that was the charism of the Sisters of Charity; education. I waited till after high school because I kept on fighting with myself whether I really wanted to do this or not. So I said, "I think I will just enter and get this off my mind." So I had a petition to Mother Loretta Bernard, she was the President of the Congregation at the time, and the Council. And I waited til the last possible day to petition and thinking if I didn't like it, well, I will leave, but at least it will be off my mind, and I will stop thinking about whether I wanted to be a Sister of Charity or not. So it's obvious I didn't leave; here I am. My sponsor was my cousin, Jackie Dunne. She was Sr. John Carmel. She was my first cousin. And so she became my sponsor. My parents didn't object, they said whatever you want to do. They wanted me to be happy. So whatever I wanted to do, and that's what I wanted to do. So I petitioned and entered on September 8th, 1963. -3- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Angelica Bullock 09:11 Did you think that maybe it was easier to have a cousin who was already a Sister in the order? Sr. Pat Quinn 09:20 I guess it was, but after I entered I didn't see her, except well, maybe a couple of times during the year, they had Saturday or Sunday that we have sponsored visits. And then everybody's sponsor would come that day, but I didn't see her any more frequently than I did before I entered. Angelica Bullock 09:51 Were you in different buildings? Sr. Pat Quinn 09:55 Well, I was here at the Mount she was over I think at the time at St. Barnabas. When I entered I remember going up there to talk to her at Barnabas. And then she was in other places as the years went on. But that's where she was when I entered. I liked the Sisters that I had in school. I loved my first-grade teacher. Sr. Thomas was her name, Sr. Thomas Marie Callahan. And my eighth-grade teacher, Sr. Marion Margaret Sullivan, both of whom are deceased. And of course then I also had my cousin, But the sisters in grammar school and high school were really an inspiration. You know, they were always there. They gave us a good education. You know, and I liked seeing them walking around the neighborhood. After school, I guess they went out in partners and they walked. We would always see them on the avenue walking. I felt like they were with us, you know, in the neighborhood. When I became a postulant, I had Sr. Agnes Connelly. She was the mistress of postulants and Sr. Kathleen Hanrahan was the mistress of novices. And I truly enjoyed the novitiate. I liked everything about it. Even though at times I was homesick, I still enjoyed being there. You know, and they were very good. Later on we had the juniorate. It was one of the first juniorates and it was located up here in LeGras. Yeah, it was in LeGras and that was the juniory. One time, Sr. Ellen Quirke in charge of the juniory. She gave me a task, she's gave me a can of green paint to go out and paint all the windowsills. Well, I did but, unfortunately, I never stirred the paint. So every windowsill was a different green. So she said, "Didn't you stir the paint?" I said, 'No, I never painted windowsills before in my life.' But anyway, so that was interesting. After the juniory, I went up to St. Joseph's (Seminary) here in Yonkers to live. To get some more courses done. That was an innovation too. Because until then, it took the Sisters years and years to get their first degree. We had the opportunity of studying while we're in the juniory and also, another year after that, we lived on mission and we came back each day for classes. So we really were able to get, credits and that was a great help to us. Because when we were sent down on mission, there weren't that many more courses that you needed to get on a Saturday. Because you had many of your credits done. So then it was at that time of Vatican II. When I was in the novitiate, Vatican II started. Things were always changing in the Community and in the Church, so you kind of got used to rolling with everything. We were the first ones who entered who wore veils, instead of those white shower caps that you see a postulant, pictures of postulants wear; we didn't have any of that. People came with their curlers and -4- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �the veils were see-through, they would just like net and that went across and it tied behind, underneath your hair, see-through So that was a big innovation for the Congregation. Then as time went on when we came to First Vows, they had a habit, a newly designed habit that was supposed to look more like Mother Seton. It was designed by Bergdorf Goodman. It was shorter; the capes were very short. None of us liked it. Angelica Bullock 14:29 Why not? Sr. Pat Quinn 14:31 First of all, we didn't like looking different from everybody else. We did have that same high collar, and we wore black, sheer stockings with it. And pumps, we didn't have those tie Oxfords that we had. We had pumps, but I don't think any of us enjoyed wearing that. We were supposed to wear it on Sundays but most often we went back to what we had been wearing as novices. But things were always changing at that time. And that year after the juniory when I was sent to St. Joseph's, Yonkers is where I met my dear friend, Sr. Kieran (Mulligan). She was stationed and teaching there, and we became fast friends from that time on. I only lived with her there for that one year, but our friendship has endured all these years. Yeah, we just clicked right off. You know, I thought I was going to be staying there because they had said that the mission that you went to where you were studying for that year would be the mission that you would be assigned to. However, there were no class openings. So for most of us, they had to change us, because there were no classes to give us. For the most part, we were teachers. So that's when I was sent after that year down to St. Peter and Paul for my first teaching. I taught the second grade there. Angelica Bullock 16:13 And you have any memories from St. Peter and Paul you would like to share? Sr. Pat Quinn 16:21 Well, we had great kids. We had a big school. We had about 500 kids in that school when I first went there. And it was a very good school. It has since closed, it closed last year there. But the kids were great. The parents were great. It was a nice community there of people and sisters. When I went there, there were 12 sisters. Not that everyone was in the school but they were in the Convent. And we did aside from teaching, we did do home visiting, we visited the families, in their home and a lot of time in the evening you could send for parents. They would come to the Convent if you had problems with the child, to talk to you. So, I also did the CCD and I ran the CCD there. So that was another, from First Communion all the way to Confirmation I taught, and I ran it. So we were very busy there. I was at St. Peter and Paul for 36 years. And then when the Convent closed, I moved up to St. Peter. St. Peter to teach, but I lived up in Sacred Heart at first and then I moved from Sacred Heart to the Mount where I am now. Angelica Bullock 18:06 How did you feel when it closed. The school has been around for a long time? -5- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Sr. Pat Quinn 18:12 The school was still around but what happened was that the Sisters were aging. We had Sisters there, some had died, but we had Sisters who got sickly and had to go to the Convent of Mary the Queen. We couldn't keep that Convent going and it closed in 2014. I traveled back and forth for one year to that school while I lived up in Sacred Heart. But we had no Sisters. Michelle McKeon was the principal there at that time when it did close, just within the last year or two it closed. It's a charter school, I think. We used to have not only our school, but we had a branch of Cathedral (High School) there. They could go there for one year. So we also had the girls from Cathedral. It was a nice school. Angelica Bullock 19:21 Do you have any opinions on Catholic schools now, especially since your schools have Sisters in them? Sr. Pat Quinn 19:31 Well, we don't have many Sisters in the schools. Because we don't have the Sisters. It's unfortunate, but it's harder and harder to run the schools money-wise. So I go to St. Peter twice a week, as do some of the other Sisters as volunteers. But we don't have any sisters on staff. In most of the schools, it's lay faculty. Years ago, the Sisters of Charity had the schools up and down Manhattan, practically every parish up and down there were Sisters in. But we just don't have the Sisters now. But the lay staff is doing a great job with them. But money continues to be a big problem. And it's very hard for people to afford tuition. I don't know how they do it. They must give up a lot because the tuition is so high. A funny thing happened, there was a little boy that I taught at St. Peter. I taught him in the first grade. And every day I would see his mother and say hello to the mother. He was there for first, second, third and I think fourth grade and each day I'd say hello to the mother and sometimes the father would be there waiting to take this little boy home. They moved up to Wappingers Falls, and they lived opposite our school up there, St. Mary's, that we have in Wappingers Falls. We don't have the Sisters there. Sr. Kieran (Mulligan) was there for a long time. Anyway, I was up there one time just within the last three or four weeks. And who did I meet in Walmart of all places, but this mother. And so we're standing there talking, and we're talking and talking. It turned out, I had taught the mother in St. Peter and Paul. Now when I think about her I say I think I do remember her as a little child, but I would have to see a picture. Well, she was so shocked. She said, "I did have a Sr. Patricia," not realizing I was the one. We haven't seen or talked to each other about school, you know. I never realized and she was so shocked, and she said, "Oh, my sister is here. You taught my sister, too." So she brought over her sister who was shopping. We had a great conversation about people they knew, people I knew who was there. They knew the Sisters that had been there. As one of them said, her sister said, "The sisters there were like our mothers because our mothers were working and not there all the time." You know, but they said, "The Sisters were like our mothers. When we were got to school, we were at home." Of course, the little boy goes to school up there now, but she says, "Wait till I tell Ensly," that's the little boy, "wait till I tell him that you were my teacher too." So you never know where you're going to meet these kids now who are not kids anymore. They're adults raising kids, but we had nice people there. Angelica Bullock 23:13 How do you feel about your students that still remembering you and the nice words? -6- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Sr. Pat Quinn 23:19 Oh well, that's nice. Yes. And it's nice to see that they've gone on and they're successful, and that they enjoyed their time in the schools. I'm still in contact with some who have their own children. Now, this girl in Florida that I taught I think I taught her in the fourth grade. She has a girl now who's a senior in high school. And we email back and forth, and she sent pictures and things. It's nice. And it's nice to know that they appreciated the sisters that were there and the education they received. There's a boy in All Hallows that I taught; he's a teacher in All Hallows. So it makes you feel good that they have gotten something from their education and have gone on. Because that was not the greatest neighborhood when we were there. But the kids took advantage of their education and they went on to do well. So that's very good. Now, what I'm doing is going to St. Peter. I'm also teaching English classes here in Sr. Jean (Bocian) and Sr. Therese McElroy's Casa de Esperanza and I enjoy doing that. That's the other end of the spectrum where you have adults. I'm so used to having little kids. Although they have their little babies with them in the classroom, which is sometimes a challenge, but it's nice to be with the adults and they really want to learn their English. So that's good. I wouldn't want to change anything that I've done. Angelica Bullock 25:14 The students at Casa de Esperanza, where are they mostly coming from? What country? Sr. Pat Quinn 25:22 Well, there were was, let me see today in class, I just started this year now today; several from Mexico. There was a Muslim lady, and I couldn't get exactly the country, she said, but she was not Hispanic. Someone was from Guatemala. So a lot of the central Hispanic countries there, Central America, Mexico. Angelica Bullock 25:56 And how much English do they have coming into the classroom? Sr. Pat Quinn 26:01 They've been coming, they came last year every day, four days a week. I think Friday is the only the day that they don't go. So they're pretty good. The ones that I have are what we call the second year. So they have some English and then after the second year there's a class that's all conversation. They're anxious, very anxious to learn. How does it feel still being a teacher? Still teaching? Well, I guess that's what I was made to do. I was made to teach. I enjoy it. Although they bring their babies, sometimes it gets a little noisy. You know, the baby's crying. They want naps and you're trying to teach. But it's still good. And it's nice that they want that English. And it's a nice program for them. You know, I get to meet other young mothers who have little babies like they do, and they can bring the babies with them and that's very important. There is in that same building the Board of Education, Yonkers Board of Education has English classes, but you can't bring your kids with you. Which means these young mothers wouldn't be able to come unless they had someone who would mind the babies and the babies are kind of young to leave them with other people. But this way, they bring them with them and they have little things in the back of the room and they have a woman who takes care of them. They have toys and stuff like that and yet they know their mother is there. And the mothers can learn, they can meet other people. There's coffee after class, so they can have a cup of coffee before they start going home. And they can make friends with other people, who are in the same boat as they are. They drop -7- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �their children off, some of them were telling me they have kids in kindergarten and pre-K in another school that they bring them to first, so it's not easy. Then they come to the English class. So it's not easy for them; they want to learn. That makes it nice being with them. They're a nice group of women. How does the mission of the Sisters of Charity relate to my work? Well, education has always been mission of the Sisters of Charity. So I'm walking in the footsteps of Elizabeth (Mother Seton). And I never wanted to teach older kids. The oldest grade I ever taught was fourth grade for one year. But I wasn't happy with it, that didn't have anything to do with the kids. But I like the spontaneity of the little ones. They're funny, they give you a good laugh every day. Not maybe when you're in the room, but later when you think about it, so that was funny. So I would say, yes, that is the mission of the Sisters of Charity to be in education. And you meet a lot of fine teachers and parents, aside from the kids, so all those relationships are good. When I entered President John F. Kennedy was the President. As a matter of fact, I was only a postulant a couple of months. He was assassinated in November of 1963. We had no TV but they brought a TV into the novitiate room so we could see all the news reports on that. It was also the time Lyndon B. Johnson then of course, took over for him. They gave him the oath in Air Force One. And they didn't have a Bible with them. So they used the St. Joseph's missal, which must have belonged to President Kennedy, because who else would have a Catholic missal in the plane? That's what they used. It was also the years of Martin Luther King, when he had the March on Washington, 250,000. And he gave the 'I Have a Dream' speech. So I was here for that. It was the year that the cassette tape recorder was introduced, larger than that one that you have, but that was like a big innovation to have a cassette tape player. So that was part of the history. Angelica Bullock 29:10 There was a lot going on. Sr. Pat Quinn 31:13 There was a lot going on. And then after that we had the Vietnam War. Yeah, a lot going on. Angelica Bullock 31:19 Did you feel all that stuff going on? Did you feel like you were keeping up with everything current? Or did you feel like you were kind of behind because you were... Sr. Pat Quinn 31:32 We were behind because we were in the novitiate. And the only time we would get to newspapers, was when we took the garbage out and we lined the garbage can with newspapers, but you might not be able to read recent news. Who knows when you got those papers may have been sitting there for months, but at least you could read something while you were lining the garbage can. That was how we got our news. Because we didn't have TV or radio. No. If visitors came, like my mother came for a visit and she said something about, "The Beatles have arrived." I thought it was the bugs. The Beatles. I didn't know what she was talking about. It was the strangest thing. The Beatles have arrived. I said, "What is that?" And she said, "Oh, it's a singing group." We didn't know any of that. No, because you were really closed off. -8- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �However, we did have the World's Fair in let me see, '64. I was a first-year novice. We didn't expect that they would let us go because the first year of novitiate was like cloistering. But we got to go. We went on buses and we had a wonderful time. I remember being there with my mother, my father, my twin brother. I can't remember if my other older brother was there, he may have been. But I know my twin was there. And we had a great time at the World's Fair, wonderful. Part of it was that we just didn't expect, we figured everyone else would go, but we won't be able to go. So things were constantly changing. They were new surprises all the time. Angelica Bullock 33:31 Was it hard to keep up with all of the changes in the outside world, and then also any in your community or were you just used to it? Did it not seem unusual? Sr. Pat Quinn 33:44 Well, we didn't really keep up with the outside world. There was no way without TV, radio and newspapers. You know, unless you heard, as they say, from visitors or something, you know, we were cloistered in that way. Unless somebody mentioned that they heard this or they heard that. You know, you didn't really know. Angelica Bullock 34:12 How did you feel about that? Sr. Pat Quinn 34:16 Looking back I think we just didn't expect that we would be hear what was happening. You knew there were no TVs and no radios, you know. So you just, you know, lived each day. We had our studies to do, we were going over to the college for courses. And that was a new thing also that we took classes with the girls and the college. That was new. Of course, it was hard because we had to do that work, but we were on a very different schedule than the girls. We had a regular regimen and at nighttime, we had a study hour. Well, you know all the work you have to do in college. You had more free time when you were in the juniory. I remember going over to the Castle (Font Hill at Mount Saint Vincent), it was the library at the time. And I was taking Shakespeare, a course in Shakespeare, and they had all the tapes over there. And you could sit in the library and listen to the tape while you were reading it, which made more sense to me than anything, and that was really nice. Then they couldn't use that library anymore. I think the building itself, the structure, I guess, was not safe to have a lot of people in it. But in those days, that was the library and it was nice. You know, but you had to keep up with your classwork. And then we had other duties that we were doing, so you didn't have an awful lot of time when it was study time. You have to really try to put your mind to it. I already mentioned that I have a twin brother, Mike. That was always an Irish joke. There were always jokes about Pat and Mike. And that's what we are, Pat and Mike. I don't see him often because he's in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And I enjoy, I love being a Sister of Charity. I love seeing and meeting and being with a dedicated and fine group of women who have an extraordinary history. -9- Transcribed by https://otter.ai � 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 Sisters of Charity of New York Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Patricia Quinn, SC Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Bullock, Angelica Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) Location The location of the interview Mount Saint Vincent, Bronx, New York 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 Quinn, Sister Patricia, SC, Interview Subject The topic of the resource Quinn, Patricia, SC Interview, Oral History Description An account of the resource Inspired by her cousin Sr. John Carmel Dunne, her sponsor in the Community, Sr. Patricia Quinn details her life as a Sister of Charity of New York from her early experiences as a postulant and novice. Sr. Patricia was an elementary school teacher for over 50 years and during her retirement, continues to tutor at St. Peter and Paul School and at Casa de Esperanza in Yonkers, N.Y. Sr. Patricia earned a Master's degree in Teaching and in Religious Education. Sr. Patricia's love of learning and teaching young children is evident in the stories she relates about her teachers and her students. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Quinn, Patricia, SC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Sisters of Charity of New York Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 9/26/2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Mindy Gordon (Editor) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Permission for reproduction or quotation must be obtained through written application to: Director of Archives, Sisters of Charity of New York, 6301 Riverdale Avenue, Bronx, New York, 10471. This permission is valid only insofar as the Archives of the Sisters of Charity of New York, as owner or custodian, has any rights in the matter and does not remove the responsibility of the author, editor, and publisher to guard against the infringement of any rights; including copyright, that may be held by others. 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 Quinn, Sister Patricia, 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 New York City Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Sisters of Charity of New York Education Sisters of Charity of New York https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/6295285fcb2710d45f92cfe5bdbe3eed.JPG bb4cf132dcd42f97dbbc1d7dc10f56ef https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/cb213558b2908be6bc99d87bff96b741.mp3 b1e35a112c4d5165940bc308322ce610 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/57d56d23cccacd2da4db3c5179bbb676.pdf 629207d244a6d9de5f701060e4bbe84e PDF Text Text SISTER RUTH ANN RODY – ORAL HISTORY [Bracketed words, not names, are additions by the Sister upon review.] SVMF: Today is May 19, 2019, and we're here at the Motherhouse, Sister Ruth Ann Rody and I, Sister Victoria Marie Forde, ready to begin her oral history. So, Ruth Ann, what is anything that you want to add about your childhood before you got to the Sisters of Charity, Vincentian Sisters of Charity. SRAR: Well, I had very wonderful, nourishing parents. They always wanted the best for us, they were very loving. And my siblings--I have one sister and three brothers: Christine, who is also a Sister of Charity; my brother, Bill, was the Vice President of the Union Pacific Railroad and is now retired; my brother, Bob, was the Stage Production Manager for Cleveland Playhouse Squares Association, he is also now retired; and my brother, Rusty is the top maintenance man for a tool and dye company. SVMF: So are they all older than you are? Are you the youngest? SRAR: I'm the youngest girl; brother, Rusty is the youngest. My sister is the oldest, and then there's four years between her and my oldest brother, then two years between my oldest brother and my second brother, and two years between my brother and myself, and then five years between myself and my youngest brother, Rusty. SVMF: And you always lived in Cleveland? SRAR: Bedford, born and raised in Bedford, moved from one end of Bedford to the other. SVMF: So tell me about your life before you entered the Sisters. �SRAR: Well, I entered twice. SVMF: Now that's an interesting point. SRAR: I entered right after eighth grade. I can remember as a kid always wanting to be a mother and have twelve kids. And then during grade school I used to help Sister Irene Mraz [Mary Michalene] in the Sacristy and stuff, and we would talk. Sister Maris Stella [Pramik] was another Sister that I used to hang out with. My brothers and I would walk to school, and we'd get there in time to go to Mass, and then after Mass there was time, so we would help the Sisters do different things afterwards until school started. SVMF: So did she talk to you about being a Sister, or no? SRAR: When I was in eighth grade on the weekends I would be at the Rectory and record the envelopes for them and answer the phone.. SVMF: And Christine's already in the convent? SRAR: Yes, she entered when I was eight years old. I entered the first time in 1964 with Dorothy Blatnica. We both entered the same day, and I was four years as an Aspirant. Within that time Lumen Cordium was like the second year that the school was open, but the school wasn't built yet, so they were building the school, and March of my freshman year was when the school was done, and we moved up to the school. SVMF: So then if you were there four years, you graduated then? SRAR: I graduated from Lumen Cordium, yes. [1968] SVMF: As an Aspirant? �SRAR: Yes, for all four years I was an Aspirant. SVMF: You're in class with all the kids? SRAR: Yes, we were treated just like the other girls. It's just that when they would go home, we would go back to the convent. SVMF: Did you dress differently? SRAR: Yes, we did until our senior year, I think. It was like a dress, and we wore black stockings and black shoes, the granny-type shoes. And we had to wear colors. To go to school we had a dark navy blue. We had a tan-colored one that we would clean in, and then light gray color. We had like little tammys that we wore for church. And of course the tammy was always in the opposite end of the building, so you had to run and get your tammy and then run back to church to chapel. SVMF: Were there a lot of you in your class? SRAR: There were 32 in the whole Novitiate, but there were different classes. SVMF: Really, from the eighth grade on? SRAR: Yes, there were six canonical novices or novices. Then there were four seniors. Then there were four juniors. This is my freshman year, there were six of us, my freshman year, and four sophomores. SVMF: So you all lived together became friends and all that? �SRAR: We had dormitories that we lived in. SVMF: Once they were novices, then they moved out? SRAR: It was the old mansion before they tore the mansion down and added the new section. It was a big dormitory that we lived in. and we had a big, large room is what it was. SVMF: What about summertime? SRAR: We went home for the summers. SVMF: Oh, did you? But you came back every time. SRAR: Right. We came back at the end of August or in the middle of August. SVMF: When you went home, then you could just dress normal? SRAR: Yes. SVMF: How interesting. Okay, so then what happened after you graduated? SRAR: After I graduated, the Community sent the rest of us home. Halfway through my senior year I should have become a Postulant and then that summer I should have become a Novice, but instead Mother Joseph [Slavik] came into the study hall and told us that we were all going to be dismissed and not to come back in September. They were disbanding the Novitiate at that point. SVMF: Did she give you any reasons? �SRAR: No, no reason was given. So then Sister Mary Phillip [Maceyko] started the external Associate program to try to keep those vocations alive. We would meet once a month for a weekend, and we would have a mini-retreat kind of thing, and she would have different speakers come in, and we would do different stuff. Then I don't k now what happened, but then she disbanded that also. So, we were supposed to leave for a year and then come back to what was originally started, but I, at that point I was pretty angry with God. I figured if God didn't want me I didn't want any part of God. SVMF: That sounds logical. That's a pretty drastic thing. SRAR: Within that time like I never gave up on prayer, I never gave up because my heart of hearts was with Jesus, was with Christ. And I couldn't see not receiving Eucharist. So that's one of the things that kept me going, and my sister was still in the convent. We would talk and stuff when I would go and see her. When I graduated from high school I went to Marymount School of Practical Nursing and was in practical nursing school when my mom was sick, and basically I was taking care of her and not studying, and so I basically flunked out of nursing school. But I started working at Brentwood Hospital in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. It's up by the Thistledown Race Track. It’s a suburb of Cleveland. So I started working there. I was an aide, and the nurses kept encouraging me to go back to school. So I started at Cuyahoga Community College the Western campus and got into the Nursing program and there became a nurse in 1974. I met my friend, Lenny Piechowsky, and we were dating for a while, and then he said, "You know I have something to tell you." And I thought, "Oh, Gees, here we go." And he said, "I really want to become a priest." So he entered the Franciscans, the Sacred Heart Province, went off to school in Quincy Illinois. And so the one summer he didn't have a way to get back. They were free to come home during the summer and basically get jobs and work to pay for their tuition �and stuff. And so I went out to Quincy to pick him up and met Michael Casuto, and with hanging out with them I met the Wheaton Franciscans. So I was looking at the Wheaton Franciscans, and I went and spent a weekend with them, which was a real trip. We [my friend Sue DeSanTIS left after work, so Wheaton is a suburb of Chicago. And so we got through and the directions they forgot to put down a route to take, so we ended up in Wisconsin and called them and said, "I think we must have turned somewhere." So then they told us how to go, and we got in about 1:00 instead of 10:00. But it was a really good weekend and I thought, Okay. SVMF: So who is "we?" SRAR: My roommate[Sue DeSantis] and I. SVMF: She was interested too? SRAR: No, we were good friends from work. SVMF: She went with you. SRAR: Yes, so we went together just so I would have someone to go with. After the visit I thought that's it, you know. They worked with the poor, and they were all thing--s knowing Vincent and Louise their charism was the closest thing without going back to the Vincentians because they didn't want me, so why should I want them now? At this point Chris was in El Salvador so it had to be the late 70s. SVMF: We can check. SRAR: I entered in '78, so it was like between '74 and '78. SVMF: You mean after you went to visit the Wheaton Franciscans and she's in El Salvador, so how did you get back to the Vincentians? �SRAR: She came home for a summer visit, and I took Christine, Marjorie Grudowski and Petronella [Huzichka], the three of them out for lunch. Well, they were talking about the Community, and how it was changing, and how they were getting more involved with social issues, you know. And after that luncheon I thought, you know (had to be' 78 because end of '77 –'78). So for all the reasons I was going to move to Chicago were right here, you know. And so Marjorie at that point was the Directress of Novices, Formation Director, I should say. And so I thought, "Well," so I went out and called Marjorie and started talking to her, and we had lunch, you know, and I started looking at them, and they asked their questions, and finally decided to enter. So my decision for that was like February 16 I believe because I was at Mass, and I stayed after Mass just to pray because I didn't want to fight the people in the parking lot. And Father Benji, I don't remember his last name, and said to me, "Oh, you must be holy." I said, "Oh, I don't think so. Just listen to one of my confessions, and you'll know I'm not holy." And he said, "Okay, see me." So I made an arrangement to go see him. So he was asking me, "Why are you holding back and not going back into religious life?" And I had no reason even though I was seeing Randy at that point, and the relationship should have gone to marriage now, and my question was instead of "Yes, when are we going to get married?" and all that I said, "Oh, I've got to think about this." And I thought that's not really the question that should have happened, that was the question I came up with. So once I had that all over with, Father Benji just said, "I don't understand why you just don't go pursue religious life." And so I was on 480, and there's a section that you're down in like a valley, but it's not just in the way that they constructed it, and you're coming up, and it's like you're taking off in a plane, and I said, "So why aren't you pursuing it?" And I can remember that distinctly, and I know it was February 16, 1978. And then March 29 of 1978 I entered the Vincentian Sisters in Bedford along with Terry Hines. SVMF: So you answered your question. �SRAR: Yes, I answered the question and moved on from there. SVCMF: And said good bye to Randy. SRAR: Yes, and my dad was I n the hospital when I ran into him. His mom was in the hospital also. I ran into him in the hallway, and he said, "Didn't know what I had until you were gone." SVMF: That was a nice complement. SRAR: But then I thought, I'm sort of glad he sees that. He stopped where he was, and it's like he really needs to get a life. It was the right thing to do. SVMF: So now you've entered. Did you have to do anything over again, or did they count anything you had done? SRAR: No, there was ten years between. SVMF: You had to start from scratch? SRAR: Yes. Well, and it was a different time period. Marjorie was the Directress and then. . . . SVMF: Sister Marjorie? SRAR: Grudowski. She's the one that started Pineville. So I went through the Formation process. �SVMF: Were there very many of you together at this time? SRAR: It was just Terry and myself, and Anita Maroun was received into the Community March 15, 1978. Terry and I entered ,Teresa and I entered March 29, 1978. So there were the three of us in Formation. We did an InterCommunity Formation program. That's when we started that. SVMF: So you were with other communities. There were men and women? SRAR: Yes. It was very good, we learned a lot. Terry and I were received into the Community, and were Novices in September. SVMF: So are you still nurses? SRAR: I was a nurse. SVMF: They still let you continue nursing? SRAR: Until my Canonical year. Then I had to quit for my Canonical year. SVMF: There weren't that many nurses in the Community? SRAR: No, there were six. SVMF: That's a good number. SRAR: Margaret Eileen [Golden] was a nurse and was working at Marymount Hospital. I don't know why they asked me, but I became the Community �infirmarian. I know because up to that point I think Sister Mary Alberta [Vitikatch]. When she was older they asked me to take over. SVMF: Did you have many in the infirmary? SRAR: No, there wasn't. I was basically taking care of wellness checks and taking their blood pressure and that. We never really had anybody bedridden until right before they died. So it was fairly easy because I was working 3-11 at the hospital, and during the day I would take care of the Sisters. There were a couple that I helped assist with their baths. SVMF: You were working at the hospital also? SRAR: Yes. SVMF: As well as, the Community infirmarian. So what hospital are you at? SRAR: Brentwood Hospital where I was before. They kept my seniority because I was only gone for 11 months. But I was working 3-11 and taking care of the Sisters in the morning. Days like 7-3 I'd work as the infirmarian and then 3-11 at the hospital. SVMF: Oh, boy, that's a long day. SRAR: Yes. SVMF: You're still young. �SRAR: Yes, but it was great. It kept me on my toes. During the day it was basically taking vital signs, going and talking to them to see what's going on, and if they were feeling okay. SVMF: Half social work. SRAR: Yes. SVMF: So what happened then when you merged? Were you still doing that until we merged? SRAR: No, because I went to Pineville in 1995. SVMF: So how did that happen? SRAR: How did we get to Pineville? SVMF: How did you get there? SRAR: It was already established by Marjorie. I can't remember what year she went. SVMF: We can always fill in the year. SRAR: Well, Marjorie went down in the 80's. And then Elizabeth [Kochik] went down. Marjorie went down, and as she had emergency surgery and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She came back, and I took care of her. She was living at, at this point I was living at Vincent's House, and Marjorie was living with Sister Barbara Ann [Patruchak] at Marillac House. And it got to the point where Barbara Ann needed somebody to watch her or take care of her during the day. �And so I would go over and take care of her during the day. Barbara Ann would come home from school, and I would go to work so that Marjorie wasn't by herself. Well, Barbara Ann and I took care of her until Marjorie died. So at that point Elizabeth was down in Pineville and Sister [Mary] Imelda Sekerak just finished her term as the Community Sister in charge of the Sisters at the Motherhouse. So she asked to go down to Pineville and help. SVMF: What's in Pineville? SRAR: That's what I was trying to say before. In the Sisters Today magazine there was an ad for anybody that would want to teach full time down in Pineville, Kentucky, teach the literacy program. It had to be right after '77 that's when they had the big flood, and the different ministers came together to have the Christian ministerial meeting. And so they put in advertisement in the magazine for Sisters to come down and work in the area. Well, Mary Ann Flannery was the superior at the time, and she found the article, and so she was looking for summer volunteer places for our Sisters. And so she responded to it. But it was, "Let's see, which ones went down for the summer." But they wanted somebody full time, all year. So Marjorie finished her stint as the Formation Director, so she applied for it, and she went down. So she was the first one in Pineville and started the literacy program for Bell County. And then Elizabeth Kochik came back from Salvador and was looking for a ministry so she went down and lived with Marjorie at that point. And then Marjorie came back and died from cancer, and Elizabeth was there. Imelda went down, so I can't remember how old she was when she went down, but she learned how to drive so she could go down. SVMF: That's right, in her 50's. SRAR: Yes, so then Imelda was with Elizabeth. Well then, shortly, had to be '95, Elizabeth had a recurrence of cancer, and she died. So then Imelda was going to �come back because nobody was there with her' and when I was a kid I read Christy, the book about a young woman, who was a teacher and went and worked in the mountains' and I fell in love with the mountains during reading that book' and I had always wanted to go. And so I asked if I could go, and so I moved. SVMF: But when you went down it wasn't just literacy was it? SRAR: No, I went down, and I was working in a nursing home. My first job down there was night shift in a nursing home. SVMF: Is Imelda with you then? SRAR: Yes, I was living with Imelda in the parish house right next to the church. I was working in a nursing home, and then I got a position in home health nursing in Bell county. So that's where I started working, and I love home health. It was really what I wanted with that whole dream of working in the mountains. SVMF: And with the poor. SRAR: Yes, it was just really what I wanted to do. So I was there for 15 years. SVMF: Were you really? SRAR: Yes. SVMF: Well, Imelda came back. SRAR: Yes, Imelda was getting older and losing strength, and she was developing macular degeneration, and she wanted to be living at the Motherhouse before she �went totally blind, so she could get around. So that's why she moved up, and Sister Barbara Philippart came down. SVMF: Yes, she was looking for a place. SRAR: Yes, she was looking, and we an influx of Hispanics in the area from the migrant workers, the migrant farmers. And they started a restaurant, and it grew into three different restaurants, and there was a large Hispanic Community that weren't being taken care of, and they were all going to the Episcopalians because the pastor there knew Spanish. And so I kept putting out for anybody who knew Spanish to come down, and so Barbara came down and did a lot for the Church in Pineville. When I first went down we were less than 1% Catholic in the area and by the time I left we were at 1%. SVMF: That's good. SRAR: Yes, and they did a lot of work, also. Anyway I came back. SVMF: I thought Sister Mary Barbara said they wanted your house where you were living. SRAR: When we were living in the house right next to the church. They moved that house to one of the hollers because they wanted a social building. So they built us a social hall for the church right next to it, so we were renting the First Christian Church's pastor's home. SVMF: The rectory? SRAR: Yes, they don't call it a rectory, their parish house. And so their pastor died, and they were getting a new pastor, and they needed a place for them to live. So they asked us to move because they needed it for their house. So we looked �around, and we couldn't find a place to live in Pineville. There were two apartments that we looked at that were like we were living in a basement. With our arthritis it just wouldn't work out. It was always damp and wet and cold. But we looked at other places, but it was time to go. So then we moved back to Cincinnati. SVMF: You both came to the Motherhouse then? SRAR: No, I was supposed to live with Nancy Crofton on Cleves Warsaw, and her father died the day she moved into that apartment, and so she had a difficult time living in that place because it was always a reminder that her dad died that day that she moved. We had the apartments on Schwartze, so we moved into the apartments on Schwartze, and I stayed there until. . . . SVMF: And you each had your own apartment? SRAR: Yes, and we had two Franciscans that lived there. SVMF: What were you doing for your ministry? SRAR: At that time I was looking for a job, and I had hurt my back in Pineville, so I knew I couldn't do traditional nursing working in the hospital, that this would not work, so I went back to school and became a legal nurse consultant. I tried to look for a job with a lawyer and couldn't find one. I offered services to Legal Aid, but nothing happened there, so in the meantime the Health Resource Center put out a letter that they needed somebody to be their office manager, but it was all volunteer because they didn't have money for the position. So because of our grants I was able to work there and get money for my position with a Community grant. The Health Resource Center is an out-patient psychiatric clinic for the homeless and indigent. SVMF: That's where you are now. �SRAR: That's where I am presently. And I've been there five, six years. I love it. It's working with the homeless and trying to help them. SVMF: And Mary Barbara helps you with the translation sometimes? SRAR: Yes. SVMF: And when did you move to the Motherhouse? SRAR: Well, that's another story. It was three or four years ago. It's when Trish came back from California, Trish Cruise, and started working with Healthy Moms and Babes. Nancy moved out, and that apartment was empty for over a year, and then the two Franciscan sisters retired and moved back to their Motherhouse, so I was the only one living there. So I went to the administration and asked that since the three apartments were empty, could we not open it up for emergency shelter for battered women, and I would be the care taker. And so they talked about it, and at that point Trish was looking for a place for her homeless mothers. And so the Community set everything up and gave it to the Healthy Moms and Babes, and I was fine with Trish. And I was talking with Trish and offered to be the person there, and she said I couldn't do that because it changes the status of being a shelter to being a medical place because I'm a nurse, and that it would change the insurance. So I had to find a place to live. At that point I contacted Cookie [Crowley], and they only had the room that I'm presently living in. So that's when I moved to the Motherhouse. SVMF: Okay, one thing I was thinking is that you went to England sometimes. SRAR: Father Dane was the pastor at St. Jullian's and St. Anthony's, and he retired and moved back to England and took care of his mom. And Judith Ann [Ansberry], Imelda and I and a friend from Pineville went to England, stayed with him, and he gave us the English tour of England. It was really nice. I also was one of the lucky �ones, this is while we were still Vincentians, who won the Federation retreat in France where St. Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac ministered. We started out in Pouy, where he was born, and then did that whole retreat, and we ended up in Paris at the Motherhouse at the Rue de Bac. SVMF: Who directed that retreat? SRAR: Sister Louise, she was a Daughter of Charity. It was really wonderful, just amazing. SVMF: I know Judy had one, and I'm still sorry to this day that I didn't sign up for that one. SRAR: It was just awesome to walk where Vincent and Louise walked, it was just amazing. And then Rue de Bac seeing their bodies and their chapels. SVMF: If you think of anything else, we can always add it. I usually ask people if they'd like to say anything about….What do you think about the Community right now, future or the Church? SRAR: I think it's a time of wonder. It's exciting in the sense that we're living through historical pieces of where to go and how to get there. SVMF: Are you talking about both the Community and the Church? SRAR: Just the different the changes from the first time I entered until now, so different. Somewhere more positive, it's a Church of hope. I see it as being more responsive to the People of God. Not so black and white, so condemning, it's more like when Jesus started the Church, humbly, and with love. It's an exciting time. �SVMF: I'm glad you see it that way. And then we have this big Federation meeting coming in Chicago, where all the Sisters from all different Charity communities are going to meet. That's exciting. That's coming up. SRAR: Being part of the Federation during Formation is really,-- that's when I was in Formation-- that's when they began it, and it all began. We got involved with it, I should say. And it's just a real exciting time. Anita and I kept saying while we were in Formation that people are talking about that there aren't any leaders in the Community, and people were starting to recycle their leadership. And I said, "You're not teaching the young people to be leaders." I said, "How do you expect them to be leaders if you don't teach them." So I was so happy when they had the Federation Leadership involvement for young Sisters, 65 and under or 60 and under. SVMF: And then that other meeting where we had the young people. SRAR: Well, I guess it's my own little idiosyncrasy. I don't like the term "younger Sister and older Sister". . . . SVMF: It's like a distinction. SRAR: It's new Formation because even the younger Sisters are 50. So it's like at 69, I'm still a younger Sister. I could be a great-grandmother by now. SVMF: That's so interesting that you think it's exciting. I think that's really hopeful and optimistic. I do a lot of oral histories, and I didn't hear too many people say, "It's exciting at this time." SRAR: Oh yes, I mean it's wide open to adventure. The Gospel is alive and living, and we have the opportunity to make it more apparent to people. �SVMF: And then in your ministry you're seeing that. SRAR: Yes, I am. SVMF: It's very hopeful to hear what your ministry is too. SRAR: Well, it also gives Sisters who are Motherhouse-bound opportunity because they give me money towards helping the poor, and so I just now started buying gift cards from Kroger so that they have food because they always run out of food at the end of the month because there's more month than money. That way they can pick out what they want. We also have started a little pantry for our clients, and we have like spaghetti sauce and spaghetti, and then I get little cans of chicken in a can or tuna, some kind of protein so that they have protein because otherwise they are eating carbohydrates. They need to eat protein, and then canned fruit and vegetables, so that they have sort of a balanced meal even though it's all processed food. But you can't keep a fresh ham in the pantry without it smelling! SVMF: Oh, and the other thing we should mention in your oral history especially is your baking and your cooking like for the Mardi Gras. It seems that the group is dependent on you to make those special cookies that take two days to make for example and some other good meals that you and Mary Alice [Stein] and Judith [Ann Asberry] have made for our Area. SRAR: If I had more stamina, I would probably bake and cook more often. SVMF: But you're doing it, and it creates community. I think that's so important here, or else we'd all just be in our rooms without community. SRAR: Well, I entered Community to be community. �SVMF: Yes, I think we all did. SRAR: I have a difficult time with people who don't like, don't love Community. It's like, "Why did you enter? Or" why are you still here?" SVMF: So that's why it's so important to have community, and you've helped create a lot of it. Thank you. SRAR: I hope so. SVMF: Well, if there's anything else you want to add, you can always add it. We can either tape it or we can write it, or whatever you want if you think of something, or if something comes to mind. But for now I thank you very, very much. It was very interesting, an unusual journey that you have had, especially entering twice. SRAR: We didn't talk about the merger. SVMF: Oh, that's right. SRAR: That was the whole time from entrance until the time we merged there was, "What are we going to do? How are we going to do it?" For me it was, I guess the whole thing was exciting because it was like the charism and our mission was so important that we didn't want it to die. So how were we going to keep it alive? That's when we went through that whole process. We did a Community retreat, and it was on the lake at the Cleveland retreat house right on Lake Erie. And the whole week the lake was really rough, and in fact there were sometimes three- to five-foot waves. I mean it was really rough, and then the day that we made our decision and unanimously voted to merge with the Sisters of �Charity, it was like glass. It was so calm. It was like if you didn't believe in the Spirit, all you had to do was watch the lake. It was just marvelous. You knew it was of God. For me and a few others, we've talked about it, and it's been the best thing that we could have done. SVMF: And at our end, you know, there wasn't any suggestion of anything but, "Of course." We met you, we had to learn about you for a couple of years I think. And then vote: "Of course." SRAR: And then the blessing of our memories was a beautiful ceremony. And then we were without vows for an hour! SVMF: You could have left. SRAR: We could have gone off to town and not had to worry about any stuff. And then the ceremony coming down was the way we used to do the ceremonies for Reception and Profession. We had the coming down to the Shrine, and down the Shrine steps to proclaim. SVMF: I was there for that, and that was very powerful. SRAR: It was, yes, yes. And four of the Sisters, they moved to the Motherhouse at that point. They were free of any of the history was with them. They began a new life and really became new people. So it was a wonderful experience. SVMF: For us too. We appreciate it; it was a gift for us. Well, thank you again. That was very powerful, a wonderful oral history. And if you think of anything else, just let me know, and we'll add it. I think you've really given us a lot of information, a lot of what you feel which is interesting. It's not just facts. Thank you very much. �SRAR: You're welcome. SVMF: Is there anything you would like to add before we finish? SRAR: I truly believe in Divine Providence because God always gets me where I am supposed to be when I'm supposed to be there. That's how I've felt on all the jobs I've been and met the people I'm supposed to meet, and helped them along the way. And they helped me along the way. SVMF: Do you want to add that Myers Briggs thing on the flexibility? SRAR: You were talking about that you have to wait to get this oral history transcribed. On the Myers Briggs I'm an ENFP, so I'm high in not having to have things finished. That's why I can make a quilt that takes 12 years! I took a flexibility test on rigid or flexible, and I'm off the grid on flexibility, and the psychiatrist that was administering the test said that he's never met anybody so flexible on the test, that I was off the grid. SVMF: Ah, that's great. That's a blessing for all of us. Well, again, if you think of anything else, we just push the button. �� 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 Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Forde, Sister Victoria Marie, SC Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Rody, Sister Ruth Ann, SC Location The location of the interview Cincinnati (Ohio); Cleveland (Ohio) Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio/mp3 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 56 Minutes 41 Seconds 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 Sister Ruth Ann Rody, SC Interviewed by Sister Victoria Marie Forde, SC May 19, 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati; Monasticism and religious orders for women -- Catholic Church -- History; Nursing--United States--History Description An account of the resource An interview with Sister Ruth Ann Rody by Sister Victoria Marie Forde. Sister Ruth Ann discusses her attempt to enter religious life with the VIncentian Sisters of Charity of Bedford, Ohio during the renewal period following Vatican II as well as her work in nursing, primarily in home health care. The Vincentian Sisters of Charity of Bedford, Ohio were a Catholic congregation of Women Religious. Founded on September 4, 1928, when five Sisters arrived from Pittsburgh in response to an invitation from Cleveland’s Archbishop Joseph Schrembs, the Sisters who arrived were originally members of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of Pittsburgh (founded in 1902). They received the full support of the community to embark on this new spiritual journey in Bedford. The Community did not officially become an autonomous congregation until February 19, 1939. On that day, 44 Sisters took vows as Vincentian Sisters of Charity of Bedford, Ohio. The Archbishop requested that this diocesan community focus on ministering to Cleveland’s Slovak community. This was eventually achieved through ministerial works in a variety of parishes in the Cleveland and Youngstown dioceses, primarily in the fields of elementary education, health care, and domestic service. At its height, the community had 150 members in 1965 and, at that time, were involved in over 20 schools, hospitals, and community organizations. In 2004, the community identified a shared Charism (vision of mission), Vincentian spirituality, and ministry focus with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati; on June 27th of that year, they merged officially and the remaining Vincentian Sisters, including Sister Ruth Ann, became Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. This recording is a part of the oral history series housed at the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Archives. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rody, Sister Ruth Ann, SC; Forde, Sister Victoria Marie, SC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Archives Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Archives Oral History Series Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 5/19/2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Laverty, Jackene (Transcriber) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights, reproduction, and use requests or more information, please contact the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Archivist. 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 Sister Ruth Ann Rody, SC Interviewed by Sister Victoria Marie Forde, SC May 19, 2019 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1950-2019 Healthcare Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Vincentian Sisters of Charity of Bedford Ohio https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/00f7343e2c2e55910bf84a33cb5bc8b0.jpg 41769e07e6efa95b12516b3f81c71dc2 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/26e7b4f1f163e94d0d2153473b875ae2.mp3 3dbf2b325f62f198d34736308140fcc1 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/bcfc7129da4a20b04a1d5a516af7f9d1.pdf 3a5e53f39589cf74fe6877ba1740c9a3 PDF Text Text Sisters of Charity of New York Interview with Sr. Josephine Rog, SC October 3, 2019: 9:37AM • 35:58 Angelica Bullock 00:00 Today is October 8, 2019. The interviewer is Angelica Bullock. The interviewee is Sister Josephine Marie Rog. The interview is taking place at St. Patrick's Villa in Nanuet, New York. Okay, Sister Josephine, can you please state your full name? Sr. Josephine Rog 00:26 My full name is sister Josephine Maria Rog. I was born under the name of Marilyn Rog. Angelica Bullock 00:34 What is your current age? Sr. Josephine Rog 00:36 My current age is 79. I will be 80 in December. Angelica Bullock 00:42 Do you remember the date that you entered the Congregation? Sr. Josephine Rog 00:45 I entered on September 8, 1957. Angelica Bullock 00:51 And how old were you at the time? Sr. Josephine Rog 00:53 17. Angelica Bullock 00:55 Roughly, how many years have you been in the Congregation? Sr. Josephine Rog 00:59 62. Angelica Bullock 01:02 Okay, so first, we're going to start with a little bit of general information, specifically your family life. So can you tell me where were you born? Sr. Josephine Rog 01:12 I was born in Brooklyn, New York. -1- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Angelica Bullock 01:15 And is that where you grew up? Sr. Josephine Rog 01:17 Grew up basically, yes, for school, etc. But spent summers and many of the holidays in Connecticut with relatives, mainly cousins, aunts and uncles. Angelica Bullock 01:30 And could you tell us your parents name and their places of origin? Sr. Josephine Rog 01:34 My father's name is Joseph Rog. And my father was born in Connecticut and moved to New York. In his late teens, because of the father's work, he worked for the government and the United States Post Office at that time, and its side work in electronics. After the end of the war, he worked at Newark Airport, with his knowledge in electronics. Angelica Bullock 02:14 And your mother? Sr. Josephine Rog 02:16 My mother's name is Helen Rog, Helen Folcik, and she was really a housewife most of the years. She did work in food service for maybe 10 years in between that. Angelica Bullock 02:38 And do you have any siblings? Sr. Josephine Rog 02:39 I have one brother, 6 years younger. His name is Joseph Rog. Angelica Bullock 02:48 Do you have any family members in religious life? Sr. Josephine Rog 02:51 I had a grand aunt and a grand uncle. The grand aunt was a sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth, a Polish community. She spent her time between the United States and Poland. And my grand uncle was a priest. He was basically from Poland. But he also was pastor of a parish in Pennsylvania, Immaculate Conception or something similar to that. Angelica Bullock 03:26 And was your grand aunt and grand uncle, were they related to your mother or your father? Sr. Josephine Rog 03:32 The paternal side, my father. -2- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Angelica Bullock 03:35 Were you born into a Catholic family? Sr. Josephine Rog 03:38 Yes. Angelica Bullock 03:39 What parish did you belong to? Sr. Josephine Rog 03:41 At first when I was a baby and young child, I belonged to St. Agnes Parish, Congress Street, Brooklyn. But my life from first grade to graduation and entering the community, was St. Thomas Aquinas Church on Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn. Angelica Bullock 04:05 Okay, so now I'd like to talk a little bit about your education. What grammar school and high school did you attend? Sr. Josephine Rog 04:12 Okay, I attended the School of St. Thomas Aquinas, parish school and graduated from their eighth grade. Angelica Bullock 04:22 And what about high school? Sr. Josephine Rog 04:26 I was very fortunate to be able to get into Bishop McDonnell High School, was a blessing because I didn't have to pay tuition. Angelica Bullock 04:36 And did the Sisters of Charity teach in that school? Sr. Josephine Rog 04:39 Yes, they did. And that is where I met my first Sisters of Charity. If you would like a little story about that meeting, just the idea that I had a young cousin, who was very, very sick and dying. And she was in a Sister of Charity school in Brooklyn. I went every day so that I would relieve the mother so she could go home and cook a meal for the father. And I met Sisters of Charity in that hospital just on a passing. They struck me very deeply. They were very concerned, very loving with my cousin who was unresponsive in the bed. I believe that influence definitely had an impact on me at the time, because I was brought up in my grammar school by the Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, New York. And Sisters of Charity struck me as kindly people. And then when I was in high school, I don't know why but my homeroom sister, a Sister of Charity, Sr. Agnes Carmita (Sheridan), worked very quickly. I arrived in school in September. By October she had me volunteering at St. Joseph's, Willoughby Avenue, the orphanage. Her fast working I think clinched everything. Because at St. Joseph's, I saw the sisters as -3- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �mothers taking care of these children, loving them, washing them, taking care, feeding them in every way. So that was my drawing card. I'm quite sure. Angelica Bullock 06:29 Okay, so now I'd like to talk a little bit more about why you joined in when you joined. So you said you joined when you were 17 years old? Sr. Josephine Rog 06:41 Yes. Angelica Bullock 06:43 And did you need permission since you are 17? How did that work? Sr. Josephine Rog 06:48 Yes, I needed permission. But I was thinking about this a long time before. In seventh grade, I told my mother not my father, that I would like to be a sister, and she objected to it. But she said, “Wait a while, you have a long time to go, you will maybe choose something else.” I always wanted the medical field and to be a doctor and my father was thrilled with that. And when he found out that I wanted to enter religious life, he was not happy. He did not scold me or punish me in any way. He wished me to go to Europe for a year and see how other people live, and that it might mature me a little bit and make me maybe not want to or maybe more so want to go into religious life. I did not wish to do that. And he accepted that not in a very happy way, but without punishing me in any way verbally or physically. And so it worked out that was able to go. Graduated high school in June and went in September to join the Sisters of Charity. Angelica Bullock 08:09 Can you tell us a little bit maybe why your parents were hesitant for you to join? Sr. Josephine Rog 08:18 Well, I think my father, as the only girl in the family and the first born, and I showed some acuity to learning, that I would be able to be an MD (doctor). I think he was kind of set on that. And he bought books and all kinds of things through my old high school. I did very, very well in biology because all that I knew before I even took the class. So I think that was his disappointment. Angelica Bullock 08:49 And can you tell me, what was the process of joining the Sisters of Charity in New York, you're 17... Sr. Josephine Rog 08:57 Right, and since my parents didn't right out any objection, they were going along with it, both of them. My mother was in some ways I know in her heart happy, but not happy for what she considered losing me. But then, of course, my Sister sponsored the Sister who sent me to work at Willoughby Avenue with the children. So quickly as I entered school, became my sponsor, and she brought me to the Mount (Mount Saint Vincent), and we were interviewed. But the mother general at the time mother, Mary Fuller, was not well enough for the interview. So I had to wait for her, to meet her. Now meeting -4- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �her was a strange situation because I was working at the sale, now I'm in high school a junior year not senior year in high school, and I was working at the big sale they had for the community at Grace Institute, New York. And while I was working there, one of the sisters knew that I had to petition to Mother. And my sponsor knew, she was also there. And so what they did was set up two chairs in a room that could not be opened until after the noon hour, because it was the money room, the liquor room, and that kind of thing. They put two chairs in between the boots of the money exchange and the wheel, the money wheel, and that's where I had my interview. And then shortly after that, I received my letter of acceptance so my senior year was all going to the community, basically. Angelica Bullock 10:57 Do you remember anything that happened during the interview? Do you remember any of the questions or do you remember how you felt? Were you nervous? Or... Sr. Josephine Rog 11:09 Maybe the first time that I went to the assistants, I was nervous because I didn't know what was coming, but by the time I met mother at the money wheel and the liquor booth, I did mention the money wheel and liquor booth, I was not nervous. And the question that I remember she asked me so vividly was, aren't you too young? And my answer, I could not believe it, I answered so quickly, “Oh, no mother.” With all that I had done as a camp counselor at camp, at Shoreham with the children and all that, I thought I knew everything. Little did I learn. Angelica Bullock 11:59 We talked a little bit about your family's thoughts about becoming a sister. But did your friends ever express how they felt about you becoming a sister at 17? Sr. Josephine Rog 12:10 My friends were basically other children from Catholic upbringing and most of them were delighted. They got me a little gift, a group of them pitched in and got me a beautiful, miraculous medal to wear. So no, my friends were very happy. My aunts and uncles, some of them were not happy. Some of them thought I was wasting my life, I had so much potential so they said, and they were not happy that I was doing that. Most of the world My grandparents were thrilled. Angelica Bullock 12:55 Do you want to talk a little bit about your life as a novice and your life as a postulant? Anything that comes to mind. Sr. Josephine Rog 13:04 Life in the novitiate, our life was very oriented. And very straightforward, do this this, at this time you did that at that time. I was kind of the one who followed the rule, I didn't really deviate that much, or anything that would bring anything down upon me. So I would say that it just went smoothly. I know it was very tense. during that whole time. I know that and my tension basically came that I had to do everything correct. Otherwise I would be sent out the door. And that was the last thing I wanted. I was desperate to hang-in no matter what happened. So what we had to do, I did and that's it. -5- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Angelica Bullock 13:51 Okay. And what specifically did you have to do? Do you remember? Just like tasks or... Sr. Josephine Rog 13:58 Yes, tasks, duties that we would be given. Silence at certain times. No running up and down the stairs that's one of the things I always got called down for is running on the stairs because I was always go, go, go, go go. And of course, prayer time we had to be on time, that kind of thing. You know, basically following the rules. When the bell rang, you went to someplace. When the bell rang again you went to someplace else. The duties were not hard. They were all physical duties that I was doing at home, scrubbing and mopping. We never had a scrub on the floor with our knees like they say some of the communities had to do you know, we use mops and pails and brooms and brushes. We didn't have any of the other problems. Our food the same thing. The food was good enough, it was it ample enough, and I didn't have any problem with that. Having to eat everything at home that was on the table no matter whether I liked it or not, even in the years I didn't like spinach I had to drink the juice. So as a result when I came, I was already ready to eat anything put on the table. I never had a problem. Even the tripe soup with little fishes in it! Angelica Bullock 15:29 Did you ever feel homesick at any point? Sr. Josephine Rog 15:33 I have to say I missed my family. I missed our customs, especially at the holiday time because we always were very strict with the Polish customs which were very beautiful and very meaningful. I missed that. But I cannot say that was a sickness that was a missing of something that we did that we are no longer doing however, in the novitiate, they had little surprises for us that made up for some of it. As far as real homesickness goes, I would feel that because I was used to going to all relatives houses all summer, I was away from my actual family, my mom and dad, my brother, and also the fact that I was camp counselor summer after summer after summer for weeks on end. As a result, I also was not with my family. So that homesickness I get over with very, very young. Angelica Bullock 16:37 You mentioned surprises that they gave you. When you were a novice? Sr. Josephine Rog 16:42 Yes. One of the the, I guess one of the things that most of us remember mostly, is the fact that it was it was a surprise. They took us down to a whole big room and it was life sized creche scene of Mary and Joseph in real clothes and the baby in real clothes, and the animals, not real, and the whole thing. And that was something that was like just a total surprise. We were told something was coming, something very nice was coming. But we never told what it was until we were ushered downstairs to the room they had set up. And it just was so beautiful. It stayed with us for me up until today that it was such a beautiful thing. And then they had a nice dinner. And we each got a little gift. I don't remember what it was. It wasn't something big, it wasn't money that's for sure; we couldn't have money. So whatever it was maybe a prayer card or I don't really remember, but we did get a little gift at the table. And then there were prayer services that were very beautiful. The Chapel was fixed up ultra-beautiful and that -6- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �was another beautiful surprise. We were given a free day around the holidays that we could walk anywhere we wanted, go anywhere we wanted, basically within the structure of the novitiate and, you know, be more free. Angelica Bullock 18:22 And what would you do on your free day? Do you remember? Sr. Josephine Rog 18:27 On that free day? Yes. You know, I guess most of us took a little bit extra time in the Chapel because we were not, we went to our prayers, our devotions, but we never had really much time extra. So I know I did that. I know I walked outside, which was a blessing. And when winter Christmas we're not that freezing, you can go outside and you know, could get some good fresh air, and then talk with my fellow novices, which we did not have much time to do. Angelica Bullock 19:08 And how large was your circle? Sr. Josephine Rog 19:13 Oh, we entered on September 8, '57 with 50. Angelica Bullock 19:19 50? Sr. Josephine Rog 19:20 50. 5, 0. Angelica Bullock 19:21 Wow. Sr. Josephine Rog 19:21 The next morning we woke up, one left, so we had 49 for most of the next months. Now after that, a few left one by one, I don't recall when or how many at that time. It is in the 1960s that we lost most. Angelica Bullock 19:47 And how did it feel to be joining with 50 or 49 or how many others, that's a lot of girls. Sr. Josephine Rog 19:58 That;s a lot, yes. Angelica Bullock 20:02 Did that feel more comforting to you or was that just the norm? Sr. Josephine Rog 20:06 -7- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �It was the normal, I knew there would be many and we did not have much time to talk with each other except at our recreation at night. And then you would be in a group and we'd be assigned group, you get your seat so that there was not much communication between them. On a free day, you know, you could talk to them and that was a joy, but we didn't have many of those. Angelica Bullock 20:32 Did you know anyone that joined the same time as you? Sr. Josephine Rog 20:37 I knew two, one was Jane Iannucelli, who was the former President, and the other was Helen, her married name Helen Fitzpatrick; she left. Helen left, after making vows and being on mission. So she was with us quite a few years. Both of us went to high school and graduated together and entered the same day. Angelica Bullock 21:05 Did they tell you beforehand that they were entering? Sr. Josephine Rog 21:09 Yes, yes. Angelica Bullock 21:12 And when did you finally have time to talk to the other sisters? Is that when you became a sister, an official sister? Sr. Josephine Rog 21:22 Yes, yes, after vows and coming on mission, we had more, you know, talking with each other. But even then we weren't allowed to visit the Convent. So it was mostly at meetings, that kind of thing. And then, of course, we became more friendly, like right now, three of us live here, who entered the same day. And so now, you know, really, and one of them I lived with at St. Agatha's for many, many years. So we are, we are friends, putting it that way. We really are. Angelica Bullock 21:59 So how does that feel to you, be with people that you have known, most of your.... Sr. Josephine Rog 22:09 Delightful! One, getting to know her much better, Evyleen Larkin and Sheila Finucane because I've lived with her so long at St. Agatha's, it's just nice not to have to give up that relationship and even at St. Agatha, we really were friends, and we shared the same TV and almost the same living quarters, because there we lived all over, all the different buildings. Angelica Bullock 22:35 So when I think about that, you've known those two sisters for 62 years, I think in the general public people would be surprised. Most people don't have friendships that long. So how do you feel about that? -8- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Sr. Josephine Rog 22:55 I think is a very wonderful thing. However, you have to remember at the beginning, we didn't see much of each other. But then when Sheila came to St. Agatha's, I was already there. So we got very close together. We think the same, you know, we have same goals and that kind of thing so we really hit it off right away. Sister Evyleen, I got to know her a lot better when she was in this house. But, while I was in the other house, but the two houses had a lot of connection, so I got to know her better then and now that I'm living with her, of course, I know her lot better. And it is wonderful to think of all the things we've been through together and now we're reliving to tell it for as long as we live. Angelica Bullock 23:55 When you entered at the age of 17 at that time was it uncommon for a 17 or 18-year-old to be considered an adult, or were you still viewed as a child? I say that as now. Sr. Josephine Rog 24:14 Definitely different from now. I was nine years old, I was babysitting for a newborn infant. Who would put a newborn infant in the hands of a nine year old today. Times were different. We grew up without so much extra things, bought things, we didn't have everything that the children have today. And so we grew up a little older, little harsher side. Happy, happy and wonderful. Nothing wrong with it. But I think we grew up a little bit faster. Angelica Bullock 24:50 So when you enter at 17 that was, you were... Sr. Josephine Rog 24:55 It was acceptable and most of the girls in our group were 17, 18, 19. There may be 2 who were a little bit older and that was the unusual. The older ones were the unusual ones. Angelica Bullock 25:18 How did you feel when you finally received your vows? Or, wait, I don't know the proper terminology. How did you feel? Sr. Josephine Rog 25:29 I really have to say that that was my goal. That's what I really wanted. Above and beyond everything else, it was vows when Vow Day came. For me, it was such a devotional kind of thing. I think I felt making vows in my very being as part of my own soul, because that was what I was wanting more than anything. Angelica Bullock 25:58 And for Vow Day, how does that work? Sr. Josephine Rog 26:02 -9- Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Mother General, Mother Mary in my time, knelt, or maybe she sat on a chair, and we went up to a priedieu and knelt in front of her and said our vows to her into God. Her as the head of the community, that we were vowing our life to, and to God, who is our God. Angelica Bullock 26:26 And did every sister say the same vows? Sr. Josephine Rog 26:29 Yes, with their own name. Angelica Bullock 26:31 And during Vow Day was your family there? Sr. Josephine Rog 26:34 My mother, my father and my two grandmothers. In the novitiate, I had to get special permission to have my grandmothers come on our visit. They were so close to me, I could not have them not come on a visit. And my brother was at the age of 'forget it.' Angelica Bullock 26:54 Do you remember your family's emotions during that day. Sr. Josephine Rog 26:58 They all cried. I don't know about my father but they said my mother was sobbing. And my two grandmothers tears were coming down fully. Both of those grandmothers were born in Poland, as well as my grandfathers. That's why I was brought up so close to the Polish traditions. Angelica Bullock 27:20 So for our last couple of minutes, I'd like for us to talk about your ministries. Sr. Josephine Rog 27:26 I'm going to talk quickly. To my first mission, I was in Sacred Heart, West 51st Street, Hell's Kitchen, very tough neighborhood. Most wonderful children, street wise, language, whoo!, etc. But, heart of gold absolute heart of gold. I love those children. Taught first grade. Most of their families had a family member, mother or father or both, working down in Broadway. They were either dancers or they were theater managers or they had to do with setting-up the skits in the background and all of that for the place. They did a lot of odd jobs. But most of them were from there and they were just very wonderful children. Some were very bright and I sent them to the hospital down the road that had courses for gifted children. So that was that. Okay, from there, I went to St. Agatha Home. I was a group mother for 16 boys, at one point 18 boys, and they were mostly teenagers from 12, 13 up to 16. And that was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot from them. I learned football, I never knew about football, I learned football and just they were rough children, rough. Because they'd been with city children. And the first experience I had going into the cottage, was a boy down the stairs to the playroom and kept telling me I hate nuns. I hate nuns. So I yelled out. "Oh," I said, "David, you are so funny. Come on up and join us." I never had trouble with him again in all the years at the cottage. That was my first. - 10 - Transcribed by https://otter.ai �Angelica Bullock 27:26 Can you talk a little bit about the voice the boys that you were mothering like how they got to see St. Agatha Home. Sr. Josephine Rog 29:35 They were court committed. They're usually a member of their family was in jail or on drugs. Possibly, both of them had a problem. Most of them had a visitor on one Sunday a month from the city. But it was a very cold kind of visit. They sat at the table. Basically didn't talk to each other just was there, had the lunch we provided and then off went the parent. It was not a warm situation. A few had a warm situation, but very, very few. They were very responsive. They were grateful for what you did. They were mischievous. They were sexually active which was very hard. And I had a lot of night trouble. I had to get up during the night and check because they would be with each other. The were wonderful in sports. They liked anything I did for them extra. My aunt worked at Schwartz, if you ever remember a Schwartz, and she would get all the cakes that they couldn't use because they were smashed or banged or some icing taken off and she would save that for me. And the boys absolutely loved them. Angelica Bullock 30:54 How did it feel to be their mother? Right? Sr. Josephine Rog 30:58 I got the feeling that from the very, very beginning, knowing that I was the person who meant anything to them in their lifetime, whether they liked me or not, I was still there. I still provided for them. I gave them everything. I got them their food, I got people to cook it or me to cook it. It came from the kitchen or heated up, whatever but I learned that. And after we left, I got a call from one of the boys and all he could say is, "You're the only mother I knew in my life." And that got to me, really got to me. And others would say the same thing not in those words. Angelica Bullock 31:44 And how long did you work at St. Agatha Home? Sr. Josephine Rog 31:48 I worked there in different positions from 1963 to 1982. And I worked 11 years in the cottage with the boys. Or sometimes I was changed to girls, but whatever. Then I worked in the school on the grounds, public school. And then I worked, a public school closed by the way so I had to change jobs. I worked in purchasing at the home. Angelica Bullock 32:22 And did you like your time working there through all the different jobs you had? Sr. Josephine Rog 32:26 Very much, it was a wonderful place. None of us had an easy time because taking care of the children was not easy. We had long walks every day, going from the cottage down to the main building for our prayers and for our meals. We did not eat with the children. And we had to keep our own community so - 11 - Transcribed by https://otter.ai �we came down to the main building. It's a long walk, sometimes very difficult in snow and cold. But nevertheless, we were young and it was wonderful for our health to do that, so it was a plus. The sisters were very good. We were very happy with each other. We had a lot of nice times when we get to meals and that kind of thing. We enjoyed each other's company. Angelica Bullock 32:59 Do you want to talk any more about ministries? Or? Sr. Josephine Rog 33:19 Well, I could say that from St. Agatha Home. I went to the rectory at New Rochelle, St. Gabriel's. Then from there, I could only stay there for a year I asked for a year to go there. I was granted it. I went to Convent of Mary the Queen in Yonkers, with our senior Sisters. And I was there until my mother needed care. So I spent about 30 years there. Angelica Bullock 33:50 And do you remember how you felt when Mary the Queen closed? Sr. Josephine Rog 33:56 Terrible. I didn't know what we were going to do with our Sisters. Even now, I just don't know. They're going to different places and it's very difficult. It's part of the times, it has to be. I know that and I understand that I'm not knocking it or blaming anybody for it. But what I do have to say I had hoped that in our later years, we could all be together and live our community together. And of course that's not working out. However, Kittay (nursing home, Bronx, N.Y.) and ALP (Assisted Living Program, Bronx, N.Y.) worked out beautifully. So I'm grateful for that. And those who are in Cabrini or St. Patrick's, there a little bit beyond that. So you know, maybe it did work out for the best but I'm still sad. And people on the outside when they find out I'm 62 years completed. They say to me, "Are you happy you went to the Sisters of Charity? Wouldn't you have been happy to be a doctor that you wanted to be? Wouldn't you be happier if you got married and had children?" I don't know. Those things are not uppermost in my mind. I'm happy I entered the Sisters of Charity. Am I happy that I entered at 17? Yes, I am. I don't know what would have happened during those years. I don't know what kind of young men I would meet and what we would do when all; I don't know. I may have been naive and gotten into trouble. I don't know, I really don't. I'm very happy. I entered the year I entered and the life we live. There are ups and downs. There are ups and downs in every life. If I had an abusive husband, I would be a wreck. I've never had abuse in community. I know. So yes, I am happy. And certainly my prayer life has brought me closer to our God which we're all trying to do in one way or another. Angelica Bullock 35:53 I think that's a great way to end. Okay, thank you, Sister. - 12 - Transcribed by https://otter.ai � 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 Sisters of Charity of New York Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Josephine Rog, SC Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Bullock, Angelica Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 35:58:00 Location The location of the interview St. Patrick Villa, Nanuet, New York 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 Rog, Josephine, SC, Interview Subject The topic of the resource Rog, Josephine, SC Interview, Oral History Description An account of the resource Sr. Josephine Rog discusses her life as a Sister of Charity of New York. The only girl and first child in her family, her parents hoped she would become a doctor however, accepted her decision to enter the order. Sr. Josephine details the daily experience as a novice at Mount Saint Vincent, and the challenges of teaching in Hell's Kitchen, and caring for orphan boys at St. Agatha Home, Nanuet. She emphasizes the influence of the Sisters in her life from her time as a volunteer at St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum, and the enrichment of her life through the comraderie she enjoys with other members of the Community. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rog, Josephine, SC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Sisters of Charity of New York Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 10/3/2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Mindy Gordon (Editor) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Permission for reproduction or quotation must be obtained through written application to: Director of Archives, Sisters of Charity of New York, 6301 Riverdale Avenue, Bronx, New York, 10471. This permission is valid only insofar as the Archives of the Sisters of Charity of New York, as owner or custodian, has any rights in the matter and does not remove the responsibility of the author, editor, and publisher to guard against the infringement of any rights; including copyright, that may be held by others. 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 Rog, Sister Josephine, SC, 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 New York City Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Sisters of Charity of New York Education Sisters of Charity of New York https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/89cf9c9c9e784f0ad4fc0a96b38e00c2.jpg 465489867d7eba778d2383545718ca31 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/72ecaed52cb3afe3a1ae15c3163741ba.mp3 0c106bae067317378b1c76c950e2dcb2 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/20a6392e75533da22f392f7f2a7546f7.pdf bd0c6482566d93604619fa81ecc1a97b PDF Text Text Sister DePaul Sandoval in her room at St. Mary's in the Motherhouse interviewed by S. Victoria Marie Forde - July 26, 2007 Sister DePaul Sandoval, 94, in her room at St. Mary's in the Motherhouse interviewed by S. Victoria Marie Forde - July 26, 2007 Sister, what was your life like before entering the Sisters of Charity? Very busy. I was from a family of 12; 3 had died before I was born. We lived on a ranch in Colorado and we all pitched in to help. Our life was very busy; we all had our duties. I was one of five girls. There were four boys, and they needed more help out doors with hay, and with the garden. And my brothers used to train horses, and when one brother finished training them, when he thought it was safe enough for someone else to ride them, he would let me ride them. That was very exciting for me. I loved the outdoors. I worked in the garden with my mother, and I helped her with the cows and calves. In the evening I'd get on my horse and go find the cows wherever they happened to be. They were very stubborn and decided to start eating when I would find them, so I'd be very angry, and by the time I got home it was dark. I loved that work because it was all outdoors. How many acres? Oh, I don't know. It was a very large ranch. There was a mountain this side, and a mountain on the other side. My brother used to have to go up and feed the cattle in the winter and the summer and check on them, and the roads weren't very safe. After my father and sisters died, my nephew was left in charge of the ranch. He sold the mountain and the land down the plain. Then he piped in water from the mountain; that way there was enough water for the summer because it could get very dry. So he piped in water from the springs, and it is much easier now. My nephew and his son run the ranch. Do they still have horses and cows? They still have horses and cows and a lot of work. This past winter was pretty difficult because of the snow, and they were trapped. The county made a road, but they made it one way. If they met someone coming, they would have to move back up. So they're still working out there. They have charge of their property, and they have a meeting, but I'm out of it. I'm not in it at all; I signed over my part to the family when I left. Tell me about when you left. How did you know the Sisters of Charity? I always knew from when I was very young that I wanted to be a Sister. My sister used to get literature from Miraculous Medal Association and holy cards with a picture of St. Vincent DePaul, and I looked at St. Vincent DePaul and I looked at St. Vincent de Paul and I just loved him, with the children. I thought, "Well, that's going to be my choice." I was sent to the Sisters of Mercy high school because they had a boarding school. Where? in Raton? Yes, Raton. I was there four years; I graduated from St. Patrick's Academy. I enjoyed it very much. It was during the Depression, and there wasn't much money around, so we used to pitch in and help the Sisters doing janitorial work and taking care of the younger children. There was one brought in about two months old, and the Sisters took care of her until she graduated from high school. We had all kinds of children small girls and boys. There were some who came from the East with tuberculosis for the clean air and I used to help them go up the stairs, because they were short of breath. I loved to work with those people. There was a lady there from Dayton who had tuberculosis and she was kind of confined to an area in the parlor. She used to play the piano beautifully. While the Sisters were saying their prayers, I let her play my music pieces while I read a book. She later died in New Mexico. It kept us very busy. We'd rather have a janitor. We had a security man who worked between the Novitiate and the Motherhouse. The Sisters entered there; they went East. They were not amalgamated. They entered in Raton; from Raton they didn't have the potential of getting their instructions that they needed, so they put them to work right away. I liked the Mercies, but I was not attracted to their way of life; they were too scattered. They were in different places, �having to teach in different places, and I didn't think there was enough time for religious life—being together and praying together. I still had in my mind that picture of St. Vincent DePaul. I never forgot it. My Sister used to tease me about it "that little old man." I had devotion to St. Vincent. When I finished high school, I went to Trinidad Junior College for one year, and I used to pray my "office" every day and kind of looked at the Sisters of Charity, but I couldn't make up my mind—but I knew 1 wanted to be a Sister if nothing else. What were you studying? I was studying history and languages—a few things, psychology. We walked a lot. One student had a car -there were about 28 students. The boy with the car put all the boys on the fenders wherever he would go; the rest of us walked. It was during the Depression. I felt attracted to the children of the ministers because they behaved better than the others. I used to go to their homes. I felt close to them—from different churches. My Dad was the same way. To him there were no nationalities, no religions. People were people; he loved them all. I followed that pattern because he just loved everybody. He had friends of every nationality, everywhere. Were you bilingual? Yes, I spoke Spanish and English. After I went one year of junior college, my brother died. We couldn't hire workers. I helped as much as I could with the cattle. In the mornings we would gather them and get them out to the pasture. So I stayed home that year and the following year. During the Depression gas was hard to get, and the cars were in terrible condition. We had to push them half the way. One day we stopped, my sister and I—we went to Trinidad with my brother (the one who had died from brain cancer), and as we were going past Holy Trinity Convent (my sister had gone to Holy Trinity for one year in Trinidad), my sister said, "Let's stop by and see Sister Cornelius," and I said, "Oh, I bet she's busy." Well, she opened the door, and she was so gracious and so polite and so sweet to us. She took us up to the parlor and listened to us. My sister, of course, knowing her, was telling her, "My sister is teaching catechism to kids." While I was driving the cattle, I would see these children who were going to the public school—a rural school, and I said to myself, "Those children have not received their First Holy Communion. They haven't had any chance to get any instructions. I think I'll start a class." So I started a class on Sunday. I would gather about eight children from the neighborhood. I had enough sense to ask Father if I could do it, and he said, "Yes, bring them in once a month and I'll check them out, test them." (That was Fr Sylvestiani. a native of Trinidad.) So I was thinking more and more of becoming a Sister, but my brother had died, and I didn't feel like I could leave right then. Being the time of the Depression. It was hard to get what you needed. Getting back to the conversation with Sister Cornelius, when my sister told about my teaching catechism out there at the ranch, she said, "Oh, there should be a Sister," and I said, "I'm going to be one." She said, "Are you going to be a Sister of Mercy?" I said, "No, I'm going to be a Sister of Charity." When she said, "What makes you say that?" "Well, I always wanted to be a Sister of Charity." She said, "Would you like to meet our Mother General? She's downstairs in the dining room." I couldn't believe it - that she would leave the dining room with the Mother General down there. So we went down to the dining room. Mother Mary Regina and Sister Mary Carlos came up the steps to the office and met with my sister and me. She said, "Would you like to go in February?" Well," I said, "I think that's too soon. "I think I'll wait till later." She said, "Well, you can come in September." She accepted me right away— no questions or any tests. She said, "Sister Maria George will send you an application. It will be very simple"— just fill in my name. It was at the very time that Sister Blandina's book came out. My dad had been taught by S. Justina and maybe by S. Blandina - I'm not sure about that, but S. Justina was very good to him. He was very much a part of the Charities. Would you tell us something about your father and S. Blandina and Justina? The book came out in 1932, but this is before then. S. Justina was very good to him - gave him a primary book - for first grade -just starting out, and she turned to the back where it had the alphabet, and some of the bigger boys said, "Well you're so smart, you're already finished with the book." So he got up to get his cap and go home, so Sister just took him and was very kind to him, very gentle. �She said, "Don't pay any attention to them." So she took care of those boys, and they never bothered him again. He really made headways; he was a very brilliant man; he worked very hard. He was living with his aunt and step mother, but I think he spent most of his time with Cecilia Adamson. My aunt, Celia Adamson, was the one who took care of Sister Fidelis. And her daughter was the one who slept in the kitchen on a mattress, and Willie, that she spoke about, was my cousin; she spoke of William Adamson. [See Sister Fidelis Goes to Trinidad, privately published.] They took very good care of S. Fidelis when she arrived. They were there waiting for her. Willie would take her to church. The first time she went to Mass, she stayed to say some prayers after Mass. Willie told her, "The people won't leave until you do." Willie really was her right hand man, and then Willie was the right hand man for S. Blandina. They thought he was one of the vigilantes that followed Billy the Kid. Billy would have only been thirteen years old, hardly the leader of a gang. There was William Cornelius and there was another William, but they were all called "the Kid." I don't know too much about the time when S. Blandina was in Trinidad except for what is in the book. The time S. Fidelis was there, my cousins just kept her under their wings. Whatever they had, they shared with her, and I don't see how that poor Sister. . . She had just made her vows, just 20 years old. They were saints because the worst thing, I would think, was that the Indians could be coming, or they could be attacked by the outlaws. They had a lot of respect for the religious, but it was good to have someone in the house, particularly at night. It took months before Fidelis heard from the Sisters who had gone on to Santa Fe. The other Sister spoke Spanish. It really wasn't necessary because Willie and my aunt - I'm sure they spoke English. They were fur traders. I guess that's the end of that story, but when the Sisters came back, I guess S. Fidelis got relieved but I just want to feel sorry for her. One thing I'll ways wonder, how did Felipe Baca know the Sisters of Charity, and he said he would give this land to the Sisters of Charity who teach in the school, the Sisters of Charity from Cincinnati. How did he know that? That's very puzzling to me. [Oct. 30, 2007 - Sister said that she found out that Felipe Baca's daughter Mercedes had been a Sister of Charity but had died after a few years and was buried in Cincinnati. (Entered 1878-Died 1881). She and her niece had just visited her grave in old St. Joseph's Cemetery.] He did give the land for the school? Yes, Felipe Baca did give land. It just came up a year ago that there was a condition that every Baca would be tuition-free. Unfortunately, the last year the Jesuits were there, there was one Baca, and she was told she had to pay tuition just like everyone else, and that was a big hurt, for they had been there for many years, and the school was there, and it had grown. It was sad that that one girl applied at Holy Trinity; that was the last year it was open. [Closed May 2000]. So that was recently then? Yes, that was recently. What do you know abut the Jesuits coming to Trinidad? The Jesuits were not the first ones; there were Franciscans. Those early priests were criticized for what they did, and it was unfortunate because they were the only ones who understood the people and went -sometimes maybe in a bar - to talk to the people. They had to do things that the people didn't expect priests to be doing - like working and hammering and building and maybe socializing a little. I imagined they needed some socializing; so they went into a bar for a beer. But that was held against them, and I always felt bad about that. It was the same in New Mexico where the Jesuits were staying. They were criticized. So they left and the Jesuits came? I think there was one Franciscan left Fr. (Monaco?) He built the church and my father held the box that they put in the cornerstone. S. Mary Joseph told me it was made by two students (my nephew was one of them). It was made of solid wood; it was a very beautiful thin. The windows and everything are exactly the same as they used to be. The church is very beautiful. The question was asked, "Why don't you modernize it like we did to [Motherhouse] Chapel?" I love the Chapel because I can still see where I knelt when we made our vows and where I sat when we received the �habit right in the sanctuary. We received them there and then we went to our rooms to put them on. Getting back to the entrance story-After you talked to Mother and S. Mary Carlos and then you said you were going to enter in September - and so what happened? I think you finished telling us about Blandina and Justina and Fidelis right? They sent me a list of all that I would need. It was during the Depression and it was hard to get everything. My sister was a seamstress, so she made some things. There were two girls who were going to enter but changed their minds, so Sister Cornelius has some things. There was another girl who entered with me but she was not acquainted with the Sisters; she only stayed a month. S. Marietta Scanlon who had been in Trinidad for a long time, a good friend of S. Cornelius, had been missioned to Springfield, Ohio. She had to use a ticket on August 17, so S. Cornelius wrote to me and asked me if I could go early—it was quite a few days early. So I was all ready, had my trunk packed. You say she wrote to you. Wasn't she right there in Trinidad? Yes, she wrote to me; we were out on the ranch. We got to Trinidad on the 16th. Was your mother still living then? My mother was living, but she died that year after I left. My brother had died the year before, my grandfather the year before - three deaths in the family in a short time. But my family was very cooperative; never once did they say no. Where do you come among your sisters? Were you the youngest? I'm the youngest of the girls. There were two younger boys after me. I'm the only survivor of the family. The last four died when I was in Trinidad before I came here. One was a Franciscan Sister. A Franciscan? Yes, she was too old for the Charities, so she found a priest for spiritual assistance from Colorado Springs and she was a saint, they just loved her. She died at the same time that the other three died. How old was she that she was too old for the Charities? She was thirty or something. She just made the registration [of the Franciscans] by the skin of her teeth. They told her just come to Denver. She was there for a few months—I guess as a postulant; then they sent her to Lafayette, Indiana. They had a Motherhouse there. I don't think they're connected there any more because they went to Mt. St. Francis. In Colorado Springs? Yes. So then she went back there Yes, and that's where she died. She was there many years. They loved her. What was her name? Sister Mary Carlotta— after my Dad. And I made twenty-seven retreats at Mt. St. Francis. Together we made twenty-one. I still love that place. Can we go back to where you came on the train when you were entering? I was sick. You were sick? �They had a Pullman, and I had to stay in bed all day. You and Sister? Marietta and Sophia. We arrived, and the Sisters were walking up and down the Avenue waiting for us at three in the morning, and they took us first to the sewing room and ironed our capes. Then they took us to the bathhouse to get cleaned up. We had to open the windows on the train and all the Kansas dust came in. Where was the bathhouse? It was behind the Chapel, and you had to go through the sunporch, and we had to put our nightgown on under our habit. We got cleaned up and they put us to bed. We didn't sleep good at all. After a while they brought us down to where people were working at the mangle. You couldn't stop the mangle - they had to keep going, so those people were relieved, and then we ate with them. And I was surprised! Of all things there was a big bowl of ice cream - homemade ice cream. I didn't think I was ever going to see ice cream again, or candy or any of those things. I was surprised at all that we had - and I loved them all even when I was away out West. So you stayed here [at Mt. St. Joseph] while you were a postulant and a novice? Yes, a postulant and through my canonical [year]. They made me teach when I was a postulant. I went to St. Williams then I loved it. I taught third grade at St. Williams—I gained some prestige. You entered in what year? 1933 So you stayed at St. Williams and taught for a while? A whole year. I was there when my mother died. I couldn't go home because traveling was very difficult - it took three days, it was too long. I didn't see my family for five years. Then I finally went West to Pueblo. That's after you made vows? I had made my first vows before I went to Pueblo in 1936. All that time you were canonical - and all that? I made my perpetual vows in 1939. So you were traveling back and forth between the West and the East? Yes, for vows we did. St. Francis in Pueblo is where you were teaching? Yes, I was teaching. We are going to talk about the vows now. S. Gabrielle gave us our instructions the first summer, and we received the postulant habit the fifteenth of August and the novice habit on the second of July. That was the last time we had a Reception. Was that the brown habits? No, it was black—flannel two inches thick, and it was so hot—oh, so hot. We had a cape and an apron and a �white gimp. Is that when they gave it to you, and you went someplace else and put it on? That was the only time - I may be wrong - but I know they had it right in the sanctuary. And we received our names. And when we went to ask Mother and petitioned for our vows, she asked us what name we wanted. Very few got what they wanted. Anyway, when she said what name did I want, I said Sister DePaul and that's because she herself, when she [Mother Regina] was in China, Sister DePaul Walsh died [in Cincinnati], and when she came home, she said, (Mother Regina was very close to me), "I think that Sister DePaul died to accommodate you." And I thought about that, and I always wanted DePaul in some way. But she thought, "Well, that's the only thing" - so I took the best I could get, and I didn't change it. My friend [St. Vincent DePaul] - sitting there on the windowsill—I used to get roses and fix 'em up and put them there. It's a beautiful statue with the children. Yes, the children, that's what appealed to me. That's why I liked being at St. Patrick's Academy where there were orphans and different ones that came in. I got so attached to them. And I loved children. I loved teaching little children, and I did get up to junior high, and then after I taught for several years I said I wanted to go back to first grade. I wanted to do some things that I hadn't done in a while. Someone said "I thought she would have lost her mind." But I would have stayed in first grade all my life if they would have let me do it. So they came there to learn—I don't know how they do it now, but they would sit there with their hands folded, looking at you, especially at St. Francis. There was one little boy who wouldn't leave the class after registration, and he just sat there. So his brother asked if this was going to be his room, and after the third time, I said, "Yes. Doesn't he want it to be?" He couldn't believe it was true. Rita Mary helped me with all the altar decorations, so I fixed it up and 1 always tried to make it as pretty as I could. This was in Pueblo? No, St. Francis [Xavier} in Albuquerque. I taught there for eleven and a half years. You lived at the [St. Vincent ] Academy? Yes, but then St. Francis got a convent. What years were you there? Do you remember? I don't remember that. That's all right. I was just wondering if I was in high school while you were there. Yes you were there and your two sisters. Did you open any missions? Did you go to any missions when they were just starting? Yes, St. Francis. The school was already there. We started the community You remember any Community Customs - before Vatican II? I had gone to boarding school, and we washed our dishes at the table. The only difference was washed our own in the pantry. I had a lot of practice at St. Patrick's because they were very poor, and we did the torial work with the dishes and with the little ones and so many things. I was so happy. I would tell Sophia, "It's so ;ty her," and she'd say, "I hate to tell you what I think of it." I have the second letter that I sent home. have it? Yes, it's very faded. I have it some place; I was showing it to someone. If I come across it, I will show you. I .just raving about the place. I was so happy, and I spoke about Sister Blandina, and I said she's a very sweet Sister. �is when you met Sister Blandina in the infirmary? Tell us about that. When I told the Sisters that my dad had been taught by S. Justina and S. Blandina, they said, "Well, S. Blandina in the infirmary." [Unclear] Then I got the job of bringing trays to the Sisters in this area - the infirmary. They about eleven Sisters who were bedridden. (The others had to stay in the mission until they got worse.) And one of them was Sister Blandina, and I was assigned to Sister Blandina. I had brought her tray to her, and she was talking in Spannish to me. She remembered Spanish people. And I took her tray one time and put it on what I thought was a nice beautiful table with beautiful flowers, and a chair around it, and she said, "I want to tell you something. It isn't …ty to put the tray on the commode." I didn't know what a commode was. I didn't put them on the commode again, get some good laughs. And we talked about some people in Trinidad. And before I left, I got her interested in the Adamsons. ---------------- tape 1 ends here. Continued on tape 2----------------------Continuation of Sister De Paul - Tape 2 Today is Nov. 13, 2007, and I, Sister Victoria Marie Forde, am in Sister De Paul Sandoval's room [in St. Mary's, Mt. St. Joseph]. She is kind enough to retape part of her oral history interview because the tape, we did it on [a minicassette] wasn't of good sound quality. Sister De Paul, you told us that you were one of the first ones who started the community at St. Francis in Albuquerque. Do you want to tell us some details about that? Father was building a church, a new church, and so the old church was left for classrooms, so we could use it for a convent. So we turned, converted some of the rooms upstairs into the convent. The eighth grade classroom was the community room, and they left the blackboards because they probably had needed them to study at night. And it was not a very nice looking place because the windows were big. We didn't have drapes or curtains that would fit them, and we had blackboards to get rid of because we didn't want them there. S, Catherine Roberta [McCullough] and myself took them down when S. Elizabeth Regina went for a meeting. We asked her if we could do it, and she said, "Do anything you want; I'll be out of town." So we pulled the. . . We got some tools and S. Catherine Roberta wanted to start it, and I said, "No, you don't know how to use tools. You're from Cincinnati." So the doorbell rang, and I went to answer it, and when I came back, she had already taken down some of the blackboards. We spent a very cold winter there. The wind would blow and the sand came in and the windows, the wood was so thin. And we didn't have enough, we didn't have blankets. Then a few ladies found out we didn't have blankets, so they bought us one blanket each. And we didn't have, we couldn't heat upstairs. So most of the time we'd go to bed early so we wouldn't catch colds, and the wind would blow into, through the drafty windows. So we managed very well for a while. We didn't have much money to start to get much furniture, so we found old chairs and removed, I knew how to remove the varnish from the chairs with varnish remover and how to paint them and we managed to furnish the rooms, and some desks, they were not varnished, so we varnished them too. And Sister Adele Baca lived with us, she was one of our Sisters, and her family had a store, a family store, so she ordered the groceries from there, and I'm sure they doubled the order whatever she ordered plus a bag of black jelly beans for Sister Adele. So we managed. We got apples from. . . . Sister Isabella gave us some of the commodities and school supplies that they used to get, and she gave us some apples and some cheese. They used to get a lot of apples and cheese so we had cheese sandwiches and apples cut up with grapefruit juice and nutmeg for dessert. And the place was very cold and drafty, but the people were very wonderful. They came forth with whatever they could do o help us. There was a very wonderful carpenter who made a beautiful china chest to put our dishes and they tried to plaster the parts of the paper that were falling down, so I used the paint right out from the bucket. And then the next morning I came in and it was cracked, worse than it was before, so we removed them and started again. All this time S. Catherine Roberta and S. Raymond [Glutz] would help along, and we cleaned up the place as much as we could. And we managed to live there very well for a couple of years. Little by little we started getting things. And then we got furniture for the chapel. S. Rita Patrick had a friend in Detroit who donated a hundred dollars and we had some money to build the prie-dieus and we used the chairs that we had the chairs that we had varnished, not very well. And the altar was we took the paint off of it, and that beautiful wood, that beautiful wood, Father Mazza, [S. J.], was at St. Mary's, and he came and he wanted to fix the chapel. He removed the paint [on the altar] and put horsehide with tacks, beautiful tacks, and we had money to buy new curtains for behind the altar, and it was beautiful because it had windows above. It was the operating room from the Santa Fe Hospital, and now St. Francis convent. First it was a school, but it was sold to the parish of St. Francis. First it was a hospital? Yes, it was a hospital. First it was a hospital, the Santa Fe Railroad people, the Santa Fe Hospital. So first it was the Santa Fe Railroad Hospital in Albuquerque, and then they sold it to the parish. Yes, to the parish, and the parish converted it into a school, and we had a school, and for a long time we went there. We went back and forth �from St. Vincent Academy, and then Father decided to build a new church, they'd have room, and we would have a convent [top floor of the school]. Sister De Paul, you told us that you had a long teaching career that you loved, but when you were in Trinidad, something happened, that the Sisters didn't go back to teaching one year? Sisters were not given. . . . In the spring Sister used to give us a paper with intent if we wanted to come back or not. So the Sisters, three of us did not get this paper of intent, and the lay teachers had theirs, and we wondered why. So when I asked Sister, Sister James Ellen, she wouldn't answer. She just walked away. So I never knew why we were terminated. Who were the three? Sister Joseph Elizabeth Pino, Roberta Marie, and myself. Sister Roberta had been terminated the year before. Well then, what did you do, once you were terminated? Once I was terminated, I didn't know what to do. I just prayed. And within a couple of days, the lady who ran the adult learning center for the junior college called me and asked if I would help them with the storefront which was just across the street. And with the school for the people who were poor, the mentally handicapped, for some of them, and then for those who were of different nationalities. We got some students from the college who during that time were Iranians and people from Iraq and from around Trinidad. So we had some students from the college, and I taught there for eight years, junior college. I was paid and I was glad to have that money to help the homeless. They came at night and rang the doorbell, and it was a very severe winter, and they looked like snowmen when they came to the door, and it didn't take long before the Northern Railroad knew about it, so they referred some of the people, the transients. So they asked if we could put them in the hotel, the old hotels that were not being used much anymore. And the Colombian Hotel had an elevator so anyone who was crippled, was handicapped, we put them there. They charged only about. . . . The Colombian charged seven dollars; the others charged only six or five dollars a night. You were using the money that you got from teaching? Yes, I was using the money that I got. What were you teaching? I was teaching the adults from Iraq and Libya English with their dictionary and our dictionary to converse. I was also teaching the children from the rehab center, the mentally handicapped and also the Spanish adults how to read in English. And so I had that job for eight years and I was very glad to have that job to help the transients mostly; it was a very severe winter. They would come to the door and they would look like snowmen. So what did you do after the eight years? After [a few] years they moved the storefront to the junior college for about three years. It was the same school, but a different location, and they provided transportation. One of the teachers gave me a ride early and coming back, we had rotation, the rehab bus would give me a ride home. In addition to that I found time to, in two afternoons, to visit the jail. I asked the sheriff if he would allow me to go in because I was going to take books from the college. Many of the students . . . were in jail. And I took them their homework, so I asked him if it would be all right if I'd go there at least once a week regularly. So he said he was very happy because they hadn't had anyone from the Catholic church since Father Weber and Father Vifquain [SJ.]. How come the students were in jail? They broke in or something. What did you do after that? In between I did things. I also took Holy Communion to the homebound. I found out, I asked Father if I could take Communion to this couple, and he said he had a list for me. Since I couldn't drive; I walked all the time. In all kinds of weather. I didn't mind; I was glad to do it. I was well and healthy and happy. Just what I always wanted to do but never was able to do because I loved teaching. I never thought of getting out of teaching. So I walked up and down the hills, taking Holy Communion to the homebound. What about visiting other people of other faiths? You had told me before that you used to visit. I went around, Father gave me a shoebox full of a list of the parishioners, and Father said, "Do you want to go around and see people if they are still going to church?" So I went up and down the streets in the afternoon, and I found the first street, I thought I'd never get out of Portland because there were so many children who had never made their First �Holy Communion, so many children who weren't baptized, and adults who wished to get their marriage straightened out, so it took a long time get out of Portland. I don't know why but that was the street that took the most time, but I enjoyed it. It was a very wonderful winter, and I love to walk and I walked almost to the foot of Fisher's Peak sometime, and I found some people who hadn't been receiving Holy Communion or were not able to go to church, so I was able to go to them to take them Holy Communion there in their home. And later on, little by little Father had more peopleand I had four volunteers [for driving]. That made it wonderful. Father said, "Don't take Communion every week, every other week," so I was glad to have those volunteers for the places that were far away or if the weather was bad, and those people were very wonderful. Time went very fast because I was so busy that before I knew it, I was told to come to the Mount when Sister Isabella broke her hip. And there was no one else to be there in the convent except Sisters of other communities, and they would stay.. . . And S. Isabella won the Mother Seton Award [Sister De Paul added later that S. Isabella invited many Sisters for an afternoon reception, and some from Albuquerque and S. Zita Burke stayed overnight. S. Barbara Counts arrived in the morning and pitched in and bought balloons and scrubbed placemats and helped tremendously to get the place ready.] And we had always. . . . From the time the Sisters had arrived in Trinidad, I'm sure whatever they had in the line of food, we shared the food with anyone who knocked at the door. So after that we used to have what you call lunch packs, brown bags, and we'd give them a sandwich or two and fruit and a can of pop and some cookies. We always had cookies. Our cook was always making cookies. In a little brown bag, to the transients who knocked, to whoever knocked at our side door always got a bag, no matter how busy we were or how little we had, but whatever we had, all those years that was the tradition of the Charities. S. Isabella asked the Franciscans to keep the tradition of the Sisters of Charity and continue giving brown bags to the transients. This is after you leave, Sister Isabella asked them to please keep up the tradition. --if they were going to keep the tradition, and they changed all the locks, and they didn't. And they changed the name of the convent. They changed the name of the convent to Our Lady of the Angels. This happened in one year, and the people were so confused. They had no idea when they called, and they answered, "Our Lady of the Angels." Sister, how did you experience the Vatican Council? What did you think about the Community's response or your response? I think we adjusted to it beautifully. I don't think there was any question about anything that you couldn't do and there was a freedom that those who wanted to change the habit or keep the habit, and they never questioned anything. There was a freedom in the Community where everyone accepted it when they understood it, and everyone continued in our own way, maybe in a different style in different ways, but it was the same thing, evangelizing and we're still visiting the jails, I imagine, and I know the lay people in Trinidad are taking care of the jail, they're taking care of the soup kitchen, and the jail, and they're taking care of all those things that we were doing. Things done by very good people. And my nephew John, very active in the parish, and he tells me what they're doing, and it makes me feel good that this is still being continued. What about the important meetings of the Community? How did you experience them? the special Chapters, . . . or the Gathering, the Congress? You know, we had the Gathering last summer? Well, I remember there were some Gatherings I didn't come. I realized the expense, and my Sisters were not well enough, and I never knew what would happen, so I stayed home, my two sisters and my brother, so I stayed home to take care of them. So I didn't get too much; I got papers to read, and I found it difficult to understand some of the terms, and after, I looked them up in the dictionary. But when we had that Gathering, not last summer, I don't remember what summer it was, we had the people out on the lawn, that really impressed me, when they blew those [ram's] horns, and we went down to "Gather Your People." It made me feel that whether you want to or not, it gathered you together like a magnet, and I think that there was more unity after that than we ever had before. The first Gathering in the Community we had questions, but in that [one] was not questions about what we were going to change, what we were going to do, but we were all one. It was just like a magnet, and we want to continue serving God in our own way; of course if extraordinary, we had to get permission. But like going to the jail, I didn't feel like I had to get permission. The jailer said when I asked, "Oh, please," he said. "We haven't had a Catholic priest, person come into the jail since Father Vifquain and Father Weber died. We get all these ministers who confuse things and who cause trouble." What sustained you in Community over the years? What sustains you now? Well, the grace of God. I know that I've always felt I was where I should be. I got rattled sometimes if I was on a mission where the poor weren't there, like when I went to the Shrine [of the Little Flower, Detroit], but I always had a taste for the poor, and I found out it was the same and given the fact that I could give them firsthand information about �what it was like to have been out West, the sacrifices people made in order to get their religion. It was a blessing in disguise. Right now what sustains you? Well, the fact that we are united and so, working with each other and the charitableness of everyone. There are different ways. We aren't all of the same; thank God for that. We aren't made of the same mold; we're all different. That makes for variety. And our prayer lives. We have our own little. .. . We don't pray together as much; some are not well enough to be with us in prayer, but when we want a Mass that is lively, we can go to the Motherhouse. But the Mass here in the [Mother Margaret] chapel is just right. Father has it at the same time every day, so we won't get confused. He is just ideal for us. His homily is little bit maybe, but sometimes just a sentence, but never more than three minutes long. He's considering those people who have to run out [She laughs], or who are already asleep, because they do sleep sometimes, He is so gentle, he is ideal for people like us, he is an answer by God, because when they're sleeping, he taps gently them to wake them up [for Communion], . . . Not in church, I'm not asleep, but I am sleeping more than I used to. It's the medication that you take. You're talking about Father Joe Bruening. Yes, he's the perfect one for us. And then you have Father Lou Lipps [S.J.] too. Yes, he's very good too. We are very fortunate. . . . We don't have to worry about losing anything that we've acquired in the past. We have it here. It's a different shape and form maybe, like the bell ringing and have to respond to it. It's you at your own pace, but it's just ideal. It's hard to describe the pattern that they have here that everyone fits into, and that's a real gift, to be able to do that, to be able to keep the community going at their own pace, No one's going to say walk faster or. . . . You go at your own pace. If you want to die without anyone watching you--like S. Isabella, I don't know what happened to her--you can; but if you want them to help--and it's wonderful to have them, I want them, you can have them. But if you want them more or whatever you want, no one is going to question that. Another thing that people remark, that I hear so often from others, is how friendly the Sisters are. And they go in the dining room, and they hear them laughing and talking at the table, laughing. You can tell they're not. . . . It's just the reward, I guess, for what we've done or haven't done. God in His goodness has given us this place. That's a beautiful answer. Now the last question: how do you think God is calling you to be with God today? Like is it with suffering? What is God asking of you today? He's asking me to pray hard, as hard as I can, for all those who are out of the Church, that I know who are out of the Church, and not responding to God's grace. Later Sister De Paul asked that this next section about a relative be omitted.] And you, your suffering? God is asking? I suffer because I don't know everything [about relatives]. They don't tell me everything. But I mean even physically. Oh, no. You don't have much? No, I don't have pain, I can say that. I'm forgetful, I'm aware of that, I'm very forgetful, and my vision is not as good as it used to be. I still say my Office because I have a large print book, and I still say my rosary. So God isn't asking a lot of suffering from you? Mostly prayer. Right now I am suffering because I have so much junk. [She laughs.] I know what I have; I know I should move, I know it, but. . . . You don't look like you have much. It doesn't look like much to me. But look at those drawers. Just one little dresser. Well, if I can get that done, and get moved. They have told me, a person in charge of everything, not Pat Saul, a layperson. Whoever. Well, anyway, they told me they have a room for me upstairs. Anyway, there's a nice parlor outside of it for my family. You can enjoy that. While my family are here in the car, we go here and they go there. When they come here [to my room], they feel at home. So I went up there , and I looked in the room, and I opened the door and I didn't see a toilet anywhere, so I pulled a door open, and I saw the attic. Oooo. They were going to put walls �around the toilet and the sink, but it was too close to the attic. Then I looked at the width of it, and it reminded me of a coffin, and it was on the way away from everybody. I'd be miserable. I do want to be around people. I may not be able to come to the table, but I like to be around people. . . . So, Sister, what is God asking of you today? Let's go to that question. He's asking me to pray, and to pray as much as I'm able to pray, in my own words, from a book, whatever, and also to offer suffering-and I don't have much physical suffering, so I haven't suffered much, but anxiety and worrying about my family sometimes and worrying about people who are going to be suffering from the lack of heat in their homes or money that their gas is going up to four dollars a gallon. Then they won't be able to get to places that they want to get to, especially when they're sick and have to get to the doctor or something. So that's part of your suffering. I'm praying that things get better, and I do watch the news and read the papers, just enough to know what's going on. I see, but not what it should be. Do you want to wrap it up? [Sister is getting tired.] Yes. Thank you very much. � 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 Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Forde, Sister Victoria Marie, SC Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Sandoval, Sister De Paul, SC Location The location of the interview Cincinnati (Ohio); Trinidad (Colo.); Albuquerque (N.M.) Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Audio/mp3 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 35 Minutes 24 Seconds 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 Sister De Paul Sandoval, SC Interviewed by Sister Victoria Marie Forde, SC July 26, 2007 Subject The topic of the resource Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati; Monasticism and religious orders for women -- Catholic Church -- History; Catholic Church --- Education -- United States -- History Description An account of the resource An interview with Sister De Paul Sandoval by Sister Victoria Marie Forde. This recording is a part of the oral history series housed at the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Archives. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sandoval, Sister De Paul, SC; Forde, Sister Victoria Marie, SC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 07/26/2007 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights, reproduction, and use requests or more information, please contact the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Archivist 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 Sister De Paul Sandoval, SC Interviewed by Sister Victoria Marie Forde, SC July 26, 2007 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1913-2007 Education Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/fc1d6851bbb4acd5755f489def241bf8.jpg d711de357aa34cd2e52f8280659317b4 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/075698177be15bd1b60fb27dfa92ac2a.mp3 1f78816089e45053af2c2de103578b36 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/2763a244558e212ca0fcffe794eb113d.pdf 99e663593ccc53e010fa447be5d2213f 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 � 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 Schmalzried, Sister Maureen, D.C. Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Scharper, Sister Annina, D.C. Location The location of the interview Emmitsburg, MD Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 0:17:26 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 Scharper, Sr. Annina, D.C. Oral History Subject The topic of the resource Scharper, Sr. Annina, D.C.; Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul Description An account of the resource Sister Annina Scharper discusses her life as a teacher, nurse and admnistrator as a sister of the Daughters of Charity. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Scharper, Sr. Annina, D.C.; Schmalzried, Sr. Maureen, 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 4/21/2017 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 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 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 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/9ca353720ebeb78068a834f7104ca1a0.jpg 34d1253e5dc88b3bdb5d188a1a13cccc https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/a876822c2c63d8007b23a6dd08903225.pdf b9202377ff53898f62a158ea7e14a0e3 PDF Text Text Sister Ann George, SCN: A Profile …He (God) Comes, Comes, Ever Comes Have you not heard His (God’s) silent steps? He (God) comes, comes, ever comes. Every moment and every age, every day and every night he comes, comes, ever comes. Many a song have I sung in many a mood of mind, but all their notes have always proclaimed, “He comes, comes, ever comes.” … and it is the golden touch of God’s feet that makes my joy to shine. (​Ravindranath Tagore, Poem 45​) As I was getting ready to jot down the story of my life, the above poem flashed through my mind. This poem means much to me. As my story unfolds, you (the readers of my story), will recognize the “songs” I have sung, “in many a mood of mind” and how they have been the instruments of my enlightened human experiences; hence, truly my God-experiences. Now I would like to invite you to accompany me into my early childhood. Coconut and areca nut palms, banana plants and coffee bushes, mango, cashew and jackfruit trees, pineapple and tapioca plants, wild bushes and vines with red, yellow, purple and white blossoms in season, adorn a plot of land by the side of a running brook at Mallikassery in Kottayam district, Kerala, India. In the middle of this land stands a medium sized house with wide verandas on three sides of it. This is my home from the time I, Annamma Mukalel, was a year old. Earlier my family lived at another location in the same village on a small hillock overlooking the same brook and a vast expanse of paddy field with a narrow canal flowing through the middle of it. This canal known as ponnozhukan ​thodu (​ponnu = gold, ​ozhakan = flowing, ​thodu = canal) meets the brook at the northern tip of our land and eventually merges with the Meenachil River. Legend has it that this canal got its name ‘​ponnozhukan thodu’ because a large brass vessel full of gold flowed through it many, many years ago! A section of the bank of this canal close to our land has been the meeting place of several of our neighbours, especially children. They frequented the canal for bathing, swimming, washing clothes, catching fish, etc. During the summer months, the best friend of most of the children of our village also bathed in this canal every Sunday. Guess who? A huge tame elephant! There was always a good crowd to see him. The finale of his bath was worth watching. After getting his large body scrubbed by the mahout and his assistants, the elephant would stand up and breathe in a lot of water into his trunk and sprinkle it all over his body. Then, he would walk out of the canal majestically with shining skin, sparkling eyes, and partially open mouth as if to smile at all his admirers! 1 �Having situated myself at home and described my surroundings, let me introduce my family. I, Annamma, am the youngest of the seven children of Mr. Varkey and Mrs. Aleykutty Varkey Mukalel. According to seniority, we are Devasia (deceased), Mathew (deceased), Aleykutty, Sebastian (Pappachan), Mariakutty, Kunjannamma (deceased). I am fondly called Koche (baby) by my elders and siblings. My parents were grief-stricken at the loss of their three children at the tender ages of two months, seven years, and two years respectively. I did not have the privilege of being with any of them as all of them had gone to heaven before my birth. Born on January 16, 1940, I was baptised at St. Xavier’s Church, Vilakkumadom in the diocese of Chenganassery on January 20, 1940. In 1949, the Chenganassery diocese was divided, and we came under the Palai diocese. Our parish was divided in 1953, and St. Thomas Church Mallikassery became our new parish. The political situation in the world was very tense during my early childhood. Because I was born during World War II, I was given the name ‘war baby’. Since I was the youngest in the family and my older siblings were at school, I was often with my parents as they worked on our family farm for several hours every day. While they were at work, I played with the calves and kids in the field; also, went on nature rambles. During some of these nature walks, I enjoyed breaking off pineapples from our pineapple plants and eating them with my parents. Playing teacher to the coconut trees and coffee bushes around my home was a past-time for me. Wearing a lungi (a long piece of cloth) as sari, I wrote some numbers on the wooden wall of our house with charcoal and with a stick in hand, I taught the trees arithmetic. Of course, writing on the wall with charcoal didn’t go very well with my parents. Eventually, I had to scrub it off the wall and resort to teaching the trees only mental arithmetic. My parents were devout Catholics. They woke up early in the morning and prayed for a long time every day. We, children, had a shorter morning prayer. All of us prayed the evening prayer together. By the time I started school, my sister, Aleykutty, and brother, Sebastian, whom I called Appachan affectionately, had already completed their middle school education. In June 1946, I was enrolled as Annamma M.V. (Mukalel Varkey) at St. Teresa’s Middle School, Vilakkumadom, run by the Third Order of Carmelites (Discalced). My sister, Mariakutty, was already in the same school in Class II. I caught up with her in Class III because she was a slow learner. I received First Holy Communion at the age of seven. It was a memorable day. After Mass, the forty communicants had breakfast together, another joy for us. My brother, Pappachan, and my elder sister, Aleykutty, were settled in life by December 1948. My paternal grandfather was part of our family. In 1950, my youngest uncle took him to his home for a 2 �few months. While there, our grandfather fell ill suddenly and expired in a few days. My parents had a Gregorian Mass (Mass offered for a deceased person for thirty consecutive days) offered for him. I was privileged to participate in it daily. We missed our grandfather so much. Things went on smoothly for us until late 1951. During the Onam (harvest festival of Kerala) holidays, my sister, Mariakutty suffered from a fever. She was treated in the best hospital close to our home. Though the medical team did all they could to revive her, she could not be saved. We were told that she died of a brain tumour. Within a few hours her body was brought home. The school community, Sisters, teachers and students streamed to our house from early morning until late afternoon to bid goodbye to my beloved sister. It was a grand tribute to her. The funeral took place only at 5.00 pm. It took us a very long time to get over the loss of my sister. The next three years of school at St. Teresa’s were very memorable and pleasant. We were active in the Sodality and the Mission League. Helping the poor and raising funds for the missions were some of our favourite activities. We shared our lunch with children who did not bring anything to eat at tiffin time. On our way to school, I would give alms to a leprosy patient who lived in a very small hut. The Carmelite Sisters were real role models for us. Participating in the thirteen-hour adoration in the Carmelite chapel was a heavenly experience. Every year, I made the retreat for the students. We kept total silence during the retreat and prayed many rosaries and ejaculations during our free time. There was a spiritual atmosphere at home, too. During my time in the middle school, especially in Class VIII, I felt the promptings of the Spirit to become a religious. Love for the holy was nurtured in me by my family, especially by my mother, the Sisters in my school, the parish priest, friends, etc. From Class I onwards, we had catechism classes in the school on week days and on Sundays after the second Mass. One of the prizes I received in the diocesan level catechism exam was a biography of St. Teresa of Avila. This book had a great influence on me. My mother was very much devoted to St. Theresa of Lisieux (The Little Flower). The school Sisters also perpetuated the devotion to both Teresa of Avila and the Little Flower. In June 1954, I began my high school studies at St. Joseph High School, Vilakkumadom, a co-ed school with only male teachers at that time. By now, life was more interesting at home with the addition of three lively nephews. My high school headmaster was a priest. The students were well behaved and good at studies. Though there were no religious on the staff, we had catechism classes after school hours. The teachers were exemplary and helped us to imbibe sound values. We enjoyed annual cultural competitions and the Labour Week. During the Labour Week, all had to do some kind of manual work. The teachers worked along with the students. In the afternoons we had cultural programs. On one of those days, we held a “Parliament session” with the students and teachers. All enjoyed and learnt much from this activity. The three years of high school flew by, and it was time for the matriculation examination in March 1957. All students of our school passed this examination with good marks. I was privileged to be among the three students of our school who passed in First Division. Securing a First Division was a rare honour in those days. Among the 3 �twenty-one girls in our class, fourteen were Catholics and all except two joined various religious Congregations. After the publication of the matric results, one day when I went for my regular confession, the priest asked me what I was going to do next. I told him of my desire to become a religious and of my family’s financial difficulties to send me to a convent during that year, but that they would let me join any convent in the following year. The priest sent for my brother that very day. When they met, the priest told my brother that it would be better for me to join a convent that year and that he would find a way to help him out. When my brother relayed this to my parents, they also agreed to let me go to a mission the same year. Looking back, I believe that it was a direct intervention of God in my life. God called me to religious life in “God’s own time” and saw that it was done! It was June 1957. My decision to go to the missions was inspired by Sister Mary Joseph Pamplaniel, SCN who had joined the SCNs in the previous year. She was my parishioner and a member of my school. Trusting in God, I wrote a letter to Sister Lawrencetta Veeneman, requesting her to let me join the SCNs in June 1957. She responded to my request positively. I left for Mokama on July 3, 1957, the feast of St. Thomas, along with a group of nursing students of Nazareth Hospital who were on their home visit. The final goodbye to my people at the railway station was very painful but the determination to follow Jesus was stronger! The journey to Mokama was comfortable. On my arrival at Nazareth Hospital, Mokama on July 7, 1957, Sister Florence Joseph (Mary Frances Sauer) and Sister Lawrencetta extended me a warm welcome. I was accommodated with the staff nurses from Kerala for a few days. Sister Crescentia Wise took me to Nazareth Academy, Gaya, on July 12, 1957, to join the senior candidates, Annamma Joseph and Lilly Rita Thundiyil. There were six American Sisters, among them, two of the SCN pioneers – Sister Charles Miriam Holt and Sister Ann Roberta Powers. A full time teacher at Nazareth Academy, Gaya, Sister Patricia Mary Kelley was our director. She kept us well occupied in the school. Annamma Joseph (from now on Anne Marie Thayilchirayil) and Lilly Rita Thundiyil (from now on Teresa Martin) were my companions. They were in Gaya six months ahead of me. Since two of us had the name Annamma, to avoid confusion, I was called Anna Mary until I got my religious name Sister Ann George Mukalel on the day of our vestition. We, candidates, attended the science classes, taught by Sister James Leo Goldsborough along with the students of Class X. After school hours, Sister Patricia taught us classes in English, community history, and general instruction. We read several supplementary English books to improve our comprehension and vocabulary. We had piano lessons once a week, and practiced cycling, too. On January 6, 1958, we, Anne Marie, Lilly Thundiyil, Aleykutty Kuriakose, Rose Augustine and I entered postulancy at Mokama. Sister Lawrencetta was the director of postulants and novices. Our days were well-balanced with prayer, classes, manual work, recreation and games. On weekdays, we ate lunch after the reading from the Martyrology for the day, then had recreation. This reading quite often ended up in “peels of laughter”. The routine in the novitiate was almost 4 �the same as that of the postulancy except for the study of SCN Constitutions and the Book of Customs. On Sundays we also taught catechism to the women parishioners of Mokama. Once a month, we visited Catholic families in the villages. This was a small way of connecting with the parishioners. On some moon-lit nights, after supper, Sister Lawrencetta took us for a walk to the shrine to watch the different constellations of stars, and, a few times, to fish in the shrine pond with fishing rods and hooks. They were real treats for us! Sister Lawrencetta was loving, understanding and genuinely interested in those under her care. We loved her. After making an eight-day retreat, we made our first vows on the feast of St. Thomas on December 21, 1960. My first mission was to Nazareth Academy, Gaya, and my companion was Sister Ignatius Marie (Annemarie) Thayilchirayil. After a year of teaching at the Academy, we were sent to Patna Women’s College, Patna for the one-year pre-university studies. In August 1962, I, along with Ignatius Marie, was sent to the Motherhouse, Nazareth, to continue our college studies at Nazareth College, KY. Along with our college studies, we also followed the juniorate program for the temporary professed Sisters at Nazareth under the guidance of Sister Mary Rosine Callahan. She was a saintly person who went out of her way to provide us every opportunity to grow in holiness. There were eighty of us in the juniorate as we first started the program. On every first Sunday we were taken to Bellarmine College, Louisville, to attend the Biblical Institutes conducted by Father Carrol Steumuller and team. Our pre-university marks were recognized by Nazareth College. So, we completed the four-year college studies in three years. In preparation for final vows we had to make an eight-day retreat. On the feast of St. Thomas, December 21, 1965, we made our final vows in the presence of over 200 SCNs. We also had the rare privilege of eating breakfast with Mother Ann Sebastian, Mother Bertrand, Mother Lucille and the General Councillors at a specially decorated table in the middle of the Motherhouse refectory. During the first year of my graduate studies, I stayed with the college community of Sisters while attending classes at Catherine Spalding College in Louisville. I had the privilege to be with the Presentation Community during the second year. I received the Master’s Degree in Education from Catherine Spalding College in May 1967. On our way back to India, we had the privilege of visiting Rome. After a short visit home, I was assigned to Mokama to take care of the candidates. There were ten candidates in the group and I enjoyed being with them. I was appointed teacher at Nazareth Academy, Gaya in June 1968. During this assignment I taught from Classes IV to VIII in the English medium section. I began teaching as a class teacher of Class IV. The class four had such a disparity in learning ability. I asked Sister James Leo Goldsborough, the principal, to divide the class into two groups according to their scholastic ability. I took the weaker section of the students. Except for Hindi and Sanskrit, I taught them all subjects giving them various types of learning experiences. They were taught creatively, and by the end of the year, both classes performed well. This is one of my success stories as a teacher. ​In June 1970, I was happy to have Sister 5 �Anne Marie Thayilchirayil, my candidate companion, as my principal (the first Indian principal of Nazareth Academy, Gaya.) One time, I gave a project to the students of Class VI to recognize the non-teaching staff of the school. The students decided to honour them with a program and lunch. It was a great success; all appreciated it, and, for years, it continued as Worker’s Day. I also encouraged my students to help the children of the fourth class employees. We started with a boy with dwarfism and slowly had close to ten children. Later, they were incorporated into the non-formal classes conducted by Sister Sunita Vayalipara, SCN. The non-formal school has been well set up since then. I also initiated a project with the students to articulate who God was to them and the attributes they gave to God. After consulting their parents, the elders at home, and, their spiritual gurus, they enumerated the values which they hold. After a group discussion, they made the decision to hold those values which the whole class held in common. We made a creed expressing what we believe as a whole – Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs. We framed it, hung it in our class, then carried it forward to the next class as I was also promoted to the next class with the same group of children. It took us almost six months to complete the project. For social and cultural awareness, they also studied the important local places such as the post office, railway station, important temples, etc. Students wrote something on each place of importance they found and made a file with the information. They also gathered autographed photographs of important national leaders. For group work, students were encouraged to write scripts for plays which they acted out. For stories, I used to give students two or three characters and they were encouraged to write a story on those characters. I was privileged to accompany this same group of students up to Class IX, and, that year, I got another ministry assignment. On one occasion, an Anglo Indian boy named Peter brought two pupae of butterflies, each of which he placed in a glass jar with tops with tiny holes and kept them on the open book shelf. After a few days, while the class was in session, Peter’s attention was on one of the pupae which was coming out of the jar. Suddenly, a beautiful butterfly came out. Peter opened the lid of the bottle and the butterfly flew around in the classroom. We closed the doors and windows and watched the newly born butterfly; within seconds we noticed a butterfly emerge in the second jar! It was still in the bottle. The children’s joy knew no bounds. All were clapping hands, talking, laughing and shouting. After ten to fifteen minutes we freed those beautiful butterflies into the open space. I put the students into groups of five where they could choose some way of expressing what they saw in poems, stories, paragraphs, little skits, etc. They showed their creations to the neighbouring class! From June 1975 to June 1978, I served as the Education Director of the India province. I visited ​all the SCN-owned and administered schools to give in-service training for the teachers who needed it. During this time there was an undertaking from the Congregation to evaluate the SCN-owned schools and to spell out our philosophy of education. It took a long time. Sister Dorothy MacDougall, SCN, was part of this process. With her help, we were able to draw up our philosophy of education. In 1978, I had a one-month renewal in Topchanji near Gomoh with a group of SCNs. 6 �I was appointed principal of Nazareth Academy, Gaya, in June 1978. Getting Nazareth Academy recognized by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) was our priority at that time. The first requirement for this recognition was to obtain the “No Objection Certificate” (OBC) from the State Education Board. We had to cross many hurdles to get this done. Once the OBC was obtained, the rest of the recognition procedures were speeded up. And finally, thank goodness, the school got the recognition from CBSE, Delhi in May 1981. I tried to keep up the excellence of the school by having various activities for both the students and teachers. One year for parent’s day, students wrote original poems and recited them in front of their parents. Since it was parents’ day, the presentation was well-received. A team of our high school students won the science trophy in the inter-state science competitions held in Calcutta. Both the staff and students exhibited a high degree of cooperation, family spirit and patriotism. In January 1985, I was appointed to Nazareth Convent, Ranchi. Keeping Nazareth Convent as my base, I helped out in the ministry places where there was a need for my presence. I taught in St. Xavier’s School, Mokama, for a few months. Then, I taught at St. Michael’s School, Sale, Mahuadanr as substitute for Sister Suma Muthukattuparampil. Though many of the students were poor, they were good at studies. I enjoyed teaching them. The teachers were very cooperative. We lived in Kutuderi in a mud house. We had lots of fun in the community. Once a week, the Sisters cycled nine kilometres to Mahuadanr to purchase vegetables. We lived happily with the very minimum. In fact, if we had a ​kadhu ​(a kind of gourd) for a meal, it had the status of a feast day! I was very happy to live in the village among the local people. There was a lot of “give and take” among them. They did not hesitate to ask the neighbour to get something they actually needed. We participated whole-heartedly in the parish activities. I was very inspired by the sharing of the village catechists during their biweekly get together. Towards the end of 1985, I stayed in Mandair for a month and took part in the activities of the Sisters. Sister Philomena Kottoor used to go to very distant villages on bicycle to take care of the sick people; she also taught good health habits. Sisters Pauline Paraplackal and Hilda Lobo taught the children at the parish school. One day Sister Philomena fell from the bicycle and got a deep cut in her chin. She stitched that wound courageously by looking in a mirror. What will-power! What sacrifices the Sisters make to live in such remote areas for the sake of the poor. I used to visit the nearby villages with the Sisters. I still remember the picnic we had for the farewell that the Sisters gave their parish priest. The venue was the banks of a nearby stream close to the forest. Some young boys of our neighbourhood carried our supplies and a home-grown cock for lunch. On our way to the stream, the priest bought four birds from a group of boys who had gone hunting. Though the legs of the cock were tied with a string, the cock untied it by pecking on it while we were eating our breakfast. When we looked at the cock, we saw him walking freely and finally flying over to the other side of the stream. The priest and the boys crossed the slippery rocky stream to search for the him. After an hour they returned empty handed. The cock had gone into the thick jungle. We prepared the four birds for lunch. The funny thing was that some people close to the jungle told the boys that they could hear the crowing of the cock from a distance. For a 7 �week, the village boys looked for that cock. After a week nobody heard his crowing. It was probably eaten by a wild animal. A week later when the Sisters from Gaya entered the village for a picnic, they sang very loudly a Hindi song, ‘​Gaonwallo, apne murgi samplao’ (villagers, protect your chickens) which was very appropriate at the time. In the village, people enjoyed things in common. For example, as they walked by the peanut or corn field they would pick a head of corn or pull out a peanut plant to eat; no one minded that. Early in the morning, before the boys took the cattle for grazing they made fire in a small pot for light and warmth during winter. They carried it around and we could see these small lights coming from different directions and hear the sound of the bells tied around the neck of the cattle. From January 1986, I taught the college-going candidates in Ranchi for three years. In the same year, I spent two weeks at home with my father who was seriously ill. Since I was missing the classes for the candidates, I felt obliged to go back to Ranchi as soon as possible. So I told my father that I was thinking of going back to Ranchi soon. Then he told me, “Don’t go.” He was bed-ridden for four years. I was in a dilemma as to what to do. I left my father saying that I would return soon. I really thought in case he gets worse; surely there would be time for me to see him once more. Within two weeks, on September 1, 1986, I got word that he was no more. There was no way that I could reach home before the funeral. I, “my father’s sweet baby”, could not be with him in his last moments. Still, I have the satisfaction of having been with him for two weeks, attending to him and being with my mother, in those days of suffering. In 1988, I attended a three-month renewal program at Sadhana Institute in Lonavala, Pune. With thoughts of changing from teaching to social service, I discerned and volunteered to be in Ararghat in January 1989. Sisters Bridget Vadakeattam and Sunita Vayalipara were engaged in health, non-formal education and other social services. Before I reached there, a cow shed belonging to Mohan Murmu had been made into a liveable room. In one corner of the room, a little space was partitioned with a bamboo and straw screen for one person to stand and cook. At the other end of the room, we made a bamboo shelf to keep our rolled bedding. During the day, a chowki, the wooden bed was used by us and the people to sit. We had a wooden stool for three of us to sit on. There was a small medicine cabinet near the door to keep the emergency medicines. To fully open our tiny door we had to move the things around. Though we had very limited material things to live in, we were happy that we were one with the people in the locality. In fact, some of the people in the village had better houses than we had. There, I joined with Sister Sunita in the non-formal education of children. The villagers built a very small shed for the children to gather for classes. Some of the children were enrolled in the local school, but most were not. They all came in the morning for an hour of class. In the afternoon, the boys grazed their animals in the nearby fields sitting on their buffalos. The girls cut grass to feed the animals. We could hear them singing the nursery rhymes we had taught them. Sister Sunita conducted the government sponsored cutting and tailoring training for women and young girls in another house close by. While the mothers attended the class, I took their small 8 �children for literacy classes. We spent a lot of time in government offices for this kind of projects. We travelled by all modes of transportation such as trucks, tractors, ​tum-tum (horse cart) and, sometimes, by the very crowded buses. Our most often-travelled bus was ​Hawa-​ ​hawai​, (fast running) bus with the speed of 30 kilometres per hour. It had a few seats in the front and one long seat at the back with nothing to hold on to. By the time we could board, the bus would be almost full, and we sat on the back seat. With every brake, our head hit the ceiling. I remember falling into a mud-pot of curd. People took their animals also in the same bus. Once I saw a goat eat up a small mango plant from a man who was taking it to plant in his field. The nearest Mass station was seventy kilometres away in Saharsa at The Indian Missionary Society (IMS). Only once a month did we go for Mass since travel every week was tedious and expensive. The IMS priests were so extremely hospitable to us in that they gave us one of the two rooms they had. Their house was a second home to us during our travels. They helped us in every way possible. A year later, Sister Bridget moved out of Ararghat. The IMS priests introduced us to the district development officer of Saharsa. Though we worked in another district, we volunteered to take up the government poultry project for twenty-eight families in Saharsa district in March 1990. We organized the women to undertake the project since most of the men were alcoholics. I was the contact person between the government and the women, and Sunita continued with the programs in Ararghat. Twice a week she visited me and stayed with me for a day or two. We hired a supervisor to help the women get all the materials for making the poultry house as per the government requirement. Before dispatching the first batch of fifty chicks and feed, the women were given training to take care of the chicks. On the very first day itself, one or two families lost more than half of their chicks. Though the women had the training, they were not used to taking care of the white leghorns. A veterinary doctor ​administered some antibiotics, and the situation was under control. I moved from house to house to supervise that the right amount of feed, water and warmth was available to the chicks. The women kept questioning, “What kind of chicks are these?” They also could not understand why the chicken house had to be kept clean. The women had to clean their hands and feet before they entered the chicken house; all the feeding containers also had to be clean. Within one and a half-months, the chicks were ready for sale. There wasn’t much demand for this kind of meat. There was a middle man who really cheated them. Though I confronted him twice, he got wind of my coming and escaped. If the chickens were not sold at the right time, nobody would buy an overgrown chicken. Each family made a profit above Indian rupees 2000/- which was deposited in the women’s bank accounts. When we went there for the first time, most of the people had only one meal a day. By the time we left the place, the women could afford two decent meals a day. After the project work, we returned to Ararghat. During our free time, we visited families in our village and in nearby villages. In December 1992, I went to Nazareth, KY as a delegate for the General Assembly. There, I developed severe spondylitis and was asked to have a surgery just before I was to leave for India in January 1993. I returned to India and was under the treatment of Doctor Mukhopadhyay in Patna. 9 �Meanwhile, I got word that my only brother was seriously ill and in the intensive care unit (ICU). Hope for his recovery was minimal, and he was shifted from the ICU to the ward. Four of his charismatic friends, along with others, prayed over him. He showed signs of recovery and was shifted to the ICU where he recovered fast. When my family thanked the people who prayed for my brother, they said that one of your other family members with spondylitis is also healed. And I am that person who felt the healing touch of God through prayer. Thanks be to God! For a few days, I went back to Ararghat in February 1993, to get my things. I went to Narayan Chowk, Dharan in Nepal, to teach in the school for a year. The school was up to class three. Having a few students in a class, the atmosphere was homey and I could experiment many things with them. On parents’ day, the students received their parents, served them refreshments, and made them feel comfortable. The program was like a television broadcast. A big television was made out of a cardboard box, and all items were related to the subjects they had in the classroom. One of the drills was in geometrical shapes, right angles, squares, etc. The students dressed up as two or three famous mathematicians and interviewed them. They had the song on the solar system in the tune, “Here we go round the mulberry bush” and sang “Here we go round the glowing sun”. Parents enjoyed the program so much that it was a special parents’ day. Most of the fathers of the children worked in Hong Kong, and mothers took care of the children. I learned some Nepali to communicate with the people. In December 1993, I was elected assistant provincial of the India Province. I came to Patna in May from Dharan. June 1, 1994 was the day of installation for the new leadership team of the province. The newly elected province leadership members had a few days of team-building sessions in September. In the midst of this session, I got word that my mother expired on September 2, 1994. I did not go home for the funeral. I assisted Sister Bridget Kappalumakal as her assistant to the best of my ability. During this time, the province closed down two missions, Hilsa and Biharsharif in Bihar, and bought land in Almora. We also opened a new house in Kakkavayal in Kerala. After being in Provincial leadership, I had a six-week scripture course along with SCNs Bridget Kappalumakal and Sister Mary Joseph at the Charismatic Retreat Centre in Potta, Kerala. After a home visit, I went to Ranchi to teach in the formation program and to be in-charge of the student candidates in June 1999 for two years. In June 2001, I volunteered to go to Surkhet to be with Rosita Kavilpurayidathil, SCN. I joined her in social service programs such as self-help groups for women, cutting and tailoring for a year. In 2002, I was advised to have an angiogram done in Delhi by our doctors in Mokama. Before I left Mokama, Sister Xavier Valiakunnackal (now deceased) prayed over me. When the consultant doctor at Stephens’ Hospital, Delhi examined me, he said that I did not need an angiogram. He put me on medication and wanted to observe me for the following two months. During this waiting period, I visited Almora mission. I was fortunate to visit some of the villages in Almora and enjoyed the cool weather of the hills. 10 �I left Delhi in August 2002, and went back to Surkhet for a month. In April 2003, I was appointed teacher at Gyan Deep Vidyalaya in Birsanagar, Jamshedpur. I taught various subjects such as English and Moral Science from Classes IV to IX. It was a challenge and joy for me to be with the children of the low income group and to give them my best. Our desire was that the students work up to their abilities to become somebody in life. The teachers were excellent and had a goal to empower the children. The students, teachers and the principal worked together as one group. We developed the school philosophy, vision and mission. We got ample financial and educational support from the Tata Companies especially Telecon, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, etc. Telecon initiated a ‘​Jagriti’ (​ awakening) ​program under the leadership of Mr. Peter Banerjee for the Hindi Medium schools of Jamshedpur city. A week-long program of competitions in speech, drama, art, singing, dancing, debate, and quizzes in general knowledge and other subjects were held for those schools every year. Selected children were brought to Gyan Deep Vidyalaya for the finals. These activities made the children self-confident and developed a healthy competitive spirit. By the time the students left our school, every child was on the stage to perform confidently one time or the other. As we had a well-planned school program for the development of the students, all teachers worked hard to help them reach their goals and improve a little more than they had earlier performed. Some of the teachers sponsored the educational expenses of children from poor families. The school had built up a family spirit. I stayed in Birsanagar till 2010, and it was one of my golden years of teaching experience, and my golden jubilee year, too. In 2007, I was elected a board member. In June 2010, as part of the experimentation for the bifurcation of India Province, I stayed in Snehalayam, Trichy, for two years. Josita Eniakattu, SCN, stayed with the Chandapura community. When I had nothing special to do for the province, I helped out in St. Vincent Matriculation School till 2012. In June 2012, I joined Nazareth Academy, the new English medium school inaugurated in April during our bicentennial year as a gift for the people of Mokama. The school began with twenty-six pre-school children, senior and junior kindergarten. New students kept coming, and, by year end, we had close to forty children. Though Sister Rena Simon Fernandes, SCN, the principal, stayed in Gaya and supervised the school, very often I was the acting principal till December 2012. Classes were held in St. Xavier’s School from April to December 2012 while the old Nazareth Hospital building was being remodelled for a primary and kindergarten school. In November, when I showed the remodelled classrooms to one student’s parents, their eyes shined and faces glowed. “Can there be any school building like this in Mokama!”, they exclaimed. This was the first time that anyone had seen the inside of the building. In January 2013, students were brought to the new site and they were delighted. Children touched the fruits on the tiles of the walls and some of them kissed various interesting pictures. Sister Rena joined the school in January 2013, and the school started to function as a regular school. Every year, a class was added, and, now, the school has reached up to Class VII with over six hundred students. 11 �Every year teachers were given in-service training. We have taken it as our own responsibility to make the school the best in the locality. We wish for our students to imbibe sound values and love God and their neighbour. It was the desire of the people in Mokama to have an English School run by the Sisters. Most of the parents are non-English speaking people. From the beginning of the school until now, no leaf was left unturned to make the students academically excellent. I have been at Nazareth Academy, Mokama, from June 2012 up to the present, teaching students, mentoring teachers, organizing extra-curricular activities for students, and helping them to exhibit their talents through dramas, speeches, exhibitions, quizzes, etc. I also helped to select and purchase books for the school library and helped the librarian to organize the books. I am still attached to the school. So many golden opportunities enabled me to interact lovingly with our Sisters in the Western Province. As a junior Sister, I had the privilege of living with eighty Juniors in the Juniorate in the 1960s at Nazareth for three years. Some of them were older than I, a few others younger, and the majority were of my age! We prayed together, ate together, had recreation together; some of us attended college classes together. We had opportunities to share with one another our inner joys and struggles; also, we had opportunities to mingle with other SCNs when they came to Nazareth for summer school. We got acquainted with many of them; we also got to know some of them more closely. I got to know some of our SCN professors during informal gatherings. Experience of SCNs during our temporary missions was another way of getting strongly bonded in the SCN Family. In later years, after the college studies, there were many opportunities to meet with the SCNs from the Western Province, and the bonds became stronger. I am proud to say that I know many SCNs of the Western Province personally; it has made a great difference in my life! Thinking congregationally has become second nature to me. I thank God for the SCN Congregation! Love you all, my dear Sisters! Strong bonds exist between the SCNs of Patna and Bangalore Province, too. I don’t experience that we are in two provinces in India. Let us continue to thank God for calling us to the SCN Congregation! Books and Persons who influenced me: ​Mahatma Gandhi; Saint Alphonsa; Saint Vincent de Paul and Mother Catherine Spalding; Martin Luther King Jr.; Saint Mother Teresa of Kolkata Books:​ The Bible Books on Mother Mary Lives of Saints Seven Storey Mountains​ by Thomas Merton Man’s Search for Meaning​ by ​Viktor E. Frankl Abraham Lincoln: A Spiritual Biography​ by Elton Trueblood Inspirational Books by modern authors like Sudha Murty, Paulo Coelho, etc. Religious Life: A call to Holiness; Articles, homilies and Collection of poems/stories God Experiences: ​a) After one month retreat; b) After Confession every time; c) During Meditation; d) Sharing with friends​ ​and during hard times I resort to prayer, spiritual direction and letting go. 12 �Faith experiences: I know a woman who for over twenty years suffered from menstrual cramps. She was treated for it by various doctors, but got only temporary relief. One of the gynaecologists whom she consulted had told her that she would need a surgery by the time she would reach her mid-thirties. When she was about thirty-three years old she had an opportunity to be prayed over by a charismatic preacher, Reverend Father Jim Borst. As soon as the woman described her problem to this priest he told her, “Jesus wants you to be cured of this pain.” The woman believed that Jesus would cure her. Father Borst prayed over her for complete relief from the cramps. The woman waited in faith to experience the healing in the following month and, sure enough, the miracle took place. She was healed! Praise God! She lives with deep gratitude to God for this healing and glorifies God by telling others about the marvel Jesus wrought in her life. And who is this woman? It is none other than the narrator of this story, Sister Ann George Mukalel. One day in 1990, while I was monitoring a poultry farming project for the poor villagers of Naya Nagar in Saharsa district of Bihar, I was returning from the market in a cycle rickshaw with some chicken feed, a few vegetables and a large sum of money from the bank which belonged to the beneficiaries of the project. Before entering the village of the target group, I had to cross a short bridge on the main road. This bridge is in a lonely area. When my rickshaw crossed that bridge a short, fat young man who was hiding under the bridge walked over to my rickshaw briskly and stopped the rickshaw. There was no other soul around. I was petrified. He asked the rickshaw puller what was in the big bundle on the rickshaw. I told him that there was some chicken feed for the poultry farm and some vegetables. He stared at me for a while and then told the rickshaw that he could proceed to the village. It was a real miracle that he did not search the bags carefully. God didn’t let him see the poor people’s precious savings. God protects us when we are in vulnerable situations. Such moments of grace are in store for all of us when we place ourselves in God’s hands. An amusing, yet frightening, incident happened when I was going to the Block Development officer’s residence to get a necessary permission regarding the aforementioned poultry farming project. I had to cross a large, paddy field where cows, oxen, buffalos, goats, etc. were grazing freely. There was nobody with those animals. It was a hot day, and so, I opened my red umbrella. A buffalo began to chase me. Little did I realize that my red umbrella had stirred up fear in the buffalo causing it to chase me. Immediately, I closed the umbrella and used it as a weapon to fend myself. Suddenly, the buffalo turned the other way and ran for its life. God gave me the awareness that the red colour of the umbrella irritated that creature and once the umbrella was closed, it was at ease. My life, also, like those of most people, has had its sunny, cloudy and rainy days, especially in mid-life. Personality clashes, misunderstandings, etc. marred the tranquillity of life. Retreats, renewals, meditations, reflections and readings helped me to look at myself more realistically without condemning myself or others. Life has taught me that all have rights and duties and I need to respect them. Also, I must let others grow as they are directed by their inner voice. Living this thought pattern has helped me to love and reverence my sisters and brothers. After having had 13 �healthy dialogues with other people, I now better realize that they have the right to hold their opinions or belief systems. I try not to force my view of anything of importance on others. I keep in touch with the former students of Nazareth Academy, Gaya, and Gyan Deep Vidyalaya, Birsanagar through alumnae associations. I have gathered treasures by having relationships with strangers especially the poor en route to the village of our beneficiaries in Naya Nagar. Our mere presence made an impact in their lives. People would stop to talk to us, smile at us and even in the overcrowded bus the conductor would make place for us to sit. My two siblings Sebastian (brother) and Aleykutty (sister), went to their heavenly abode on December 4, 2013 and February 19, 2018 respectively. With this all my immediate family members are in heaven now except my sister-in-law. I look forward to sustaining the inner peace and peace in the world, and real loving relationship with one another wherever I am. And I wish the same for others, whoever they are. I have come to believe unless we are one with God, peace cannot be realized. To anyone who asks me what religious life has meant to me, I would say, “Come and stay with me.” “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind The answer is blowin’ in the wind.” ​(Bob Dylan, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) Sister Ann George Mukalel, SCN Completed on February 21, 2020 Consent given to publish the story at SCN website 14 � 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 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Unknown Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Ann George Mukalel, SCN Location The location of the interview India 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 Ann George Mukalel, SCN Oral History Subject The topic of the resource Mukalel, Ann George, SCN; Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource SCN Archival Center Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived SCN Archival Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2/21/2020 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 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Archival Center before publication. Contact archives staff for appropriate forms and contact information. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MMC-AnnGeorgeMukalel Sisters of Charity of Nazareth https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/293e273519b1543bd4d545901050a4be.jpg 71de0b4d8487afd78c770750158ee8a7 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/797a734f1ea4ba18558c84436f98fda6.pdf 9f5063828bbc036c5444e3bb108cb255 PDF Text Text Fear not I am with you; Isaiah 5:3 My life in this Congregation has been a long and rewarding experience and I thank God for the Spiritual Journey with my Sisters and all the people of God in my life. As I recall my thirty-eight years as a professed Sister of Charity of Nazareth I can only thank God for the wonders God has done for me and through me. God was the centre of my life. I have touched a good number of people’s lives in my career as a teacher and principal in various schools. Living in multicultural communities has been a blessing as well as a challenge to know various cultures and appreciate them. The formation directors, junior directors and the provincials have helped me to grow to become the person I am today. I, Sister Blanche Correia, come from a very devout family. My father’s name was Mr. Francis Manuel Correia and my mother’s name was Luzan Francis Correia. We were nine children: three brothers and six sisters. My father worked for Air India and my mother was a house wife. My parents had only primary level education. My mother was a very religious woman. On certain days, Sunday and Wednesday, Mass was compulsory. We were expected to say the rosary daily. If we failed to do so, we did not get our supper. My father died when I was eight years old and my mother died when I was sixteen years old. Both of our parents worked hard till their death to take care of all of us. They made sure that we were �all given a proper education by which we would be able to stand on our own feet. I completed my Matriculation and Diploma in Education (D. Ed.) and taught two years in Mumbai Church School before entering the Sister of Charity of Nazareth. My call to religious life came from my mother, priests in the parish, attending vocation camps, convent education, assisting nuns in the church on Saturdays and Sundays, etc. Going to North India to join the Nazareth Sisters was a big risk as I was the first one from Vasai to join them. I did not receive any cooperation from my family except my brother-in-law, Mr. Raphael Lopes. Most of my education was in Church-run schools and college except Class I to IV which was in government school. When it came time to choose a Congregation, I attended vocation camp and met two SCNs Teresita Theruvankunnel and Mary Scaria Menonparampil at Gorai, Mumbai. They both came wearing sari, not habits. The fact that the Sisters wore the sari attracted me to join this order. I had no idea where Bihar was and my family objected to my going. They were happy with my decision to join the convent but wished I would choose one that was not so far away as Bihar. Initially I struggled a lot with homesickness but the presence of my candidate director Sister Olive Pinto, along with Sisters Shalini D’Souza and Margaret Rodericks I was able to handle �my homesickness. My eldest sister and her husband’s visit to Mokama changed the attitude of my family. They were very happy with the Sisters’ hospitality and the friendly atmosphere in the convent. Yes, I kept on missing my own culture, language, food habits -especially fish, which we used to have daily at home - family get-togethers every Sunday and many other family functions. Novitiate life was not much fun with so many rules and regulations. However, the disciplined and enthusiastic Novice Mistress, Sister Shalini, made the novitiate life joyful. I was happy with my group. We were four in our group and one left as a postulant so we were only three to make first vows. For the first vows, several of my family members visited Mokama and joined the celebration. My first mission was in Golmuri, Jamshedpurat. Sisters Teresa Madassery, Mary Julianna Tuti (deceased) and Sarala Anithottathil were my companions in the community. Sister Sarala and I were assigned to Rahargoda School and Sisters Teresa and Juliana worked for Catholic Relief Services (CRS). I was committed and enthusiastic about my mission. After the first mission in Rahargora, SCNs were asked to take up Gyan Deep Vidylaya, Birsanagar. I was appointed as the first SCN headmistress there. The then provincial, Sister Margaret Rodericks, asked me to learn cycling. I did struggle and learn. I used to go to Birsanagar daily on a cycle along with the other SCN Premila Parackattu. Staying with Sisters �Teresa and Juliana Tuti was a joyful experience. I learnt a lot from them. Here I also completed my IA, (Intermediate studies) from Ranchi University as a private student. I was appointed to Vasai, my own hometown, to work with the youth there. I was very energetic and enthusiastic about working with the youth and I gained a lot of confidence in this ministry. At that time, I was invited to go for final vow preparation. After six months of spiritual preparation, I said, ‘YES’ to God on May 4, 1985, and committed myself into the service of God’s people. It was a very joyful and memorable day for me and for my family. Graduating from Mumbai’s prestigious St. Xavier’s College in sociology was a proud moment for me. I was then sent to Bihar, to a small village called Hilsa, Nalanda District for another mission. As the Principal of Christ Jyoti School Hilsa, I totally dedicated myself to this mission. Nazareth Pre-School Gaya, gave me a lot of joy and satisfaction. Visiting and counselling the women who were in a jail was another painful experience. It was a God-given privilege for me to have that sacred experience in Gaya Central Jail. Going back to Birsanagar where I was a pioneer to take the responsibility of Gyan Deep High School was a moment of pride. Here I learnt to drive the scooter. God gave me an opportunity to reach out to the rich and invite them to serve the poor as St. Vincent did. The school flourished and many �students were admitted in the school. These students were mainly the domestic workers’ children. I have many sweet memories of this mission. Recognizing my talents, the Provincial Leadership Team (PLT) and Central Leadership Team (CLT) of that time invited me to go for further studies at Spalding University in Kentucky in the United States. I accepted the invitation and completed my Master of Education in School Administration. I considered myself fortunate as I walked on the holy ground where our co-founder, Mother Catherine Spalding, and many other great holy women walked. With gratitude and joy, I cherish those years of mine spent in Nazareth, Kentucky. I am grateful to the PLT and CLT who gave me this opportunity to educate myself in School Administration. My special thanks and gratitude goes to Sisters Mary Serra Goethals and Rose Howard who assisted and accommodated me in their home and community. As they were both educationists and principals in the schools, I profited a lot intellectually. They were my walking encyclopaedias. I was happy to be back in India in December 2007. I was assigned as the Principal of Nazareth Convent High School, Vasai beginning June 1​st​ 2008. The responsibility was great, especially working with my own people. I took up the challenge and continued my service in the field of education to the people of Vasai. As per the rule in the Maharasthra education department, I officially retired on the 1​st​ of June �2014 and my service was extended up to September 30, 2014. I am grateful to God for accompanying me all those years. This was a significant assignment and I struggled to swim through. I knew there were some personalities who did not like my way of functioning. So they instigated people against me. Yes, the management wholeheartedly supported me to clear the mess in the administration. This mission has groomed and grilled me to take up any challenges in life and fight for the truth. I was appointed as the Principal of Nazareth School from the 1​st​ of January 2015, in Banakal, affiliated with CISCE New Delhi (Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations). I accepted it joyfully as CISCE accepted my appointment. To date I am giving my service to the people of this Malnad area. I am happy here except for my health. Due to allergy in the air, heavy rain almost four to five months and uneven land and staircases has disturbed my health. I am confident God will continue to guide me in my journey. Almost twenty-eight years in school administration has kept my mind alert. I need to update myself constantly and educate myself with what is happening in the world, India etc. Being with the students has kept me very young and energetic. I lost my parents before I joined the SCNs and I lost two brothers and a sister after I joined. I consider it a huge loss in �my life. I have not yet recovered from the death of my eldest sister, who was like a mother to me. Over the years, there have been many ups and downs, misunderstandings, accusations, condemnations, and criticisms but I took it as a part of my mission. In success and failures I have experienced God at my side. God has protected me, defended me, kept me safe under His wings. Once I was caught up in a big flood and God saved me. I was returning from my college and got down at Mumbai Central station to go to the hostel. I just could not proceed due to heavy rain. The water was above my waist, I could not go further. Just then a gentleman appeared and held my hand and took me to a safe place. Surgeries of hysterectomy and spine brought me closer to God. I look forward to the future that God may continue to use me for the service of God’s people. I draw strength and nourishment through devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and daily Eucharist. My answer to any young women would be: it is worth dedicating our life for the Kingdom of God, to spread the Good News. I Can Sing Mercies of the Lord Forever I will Sing ... � 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 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Unknown Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Blanche Correia, SCN Location The location of the interview United States 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 Blanche Correia, SCN Oral History Subject The topic of the resource Correia, Blanche, SCN; Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource SCN Archival Center Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived SCN Archival Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 7/9/1905 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 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Archival Center before publication. Contact archives staff for appropriate forms and contact information. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MMC-BlancheCorreia Sisters of Charity of Nazareth https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/fe6c884c9d2a8c4f495be024491aa008.jpg 77437214b1d7af7571b42475eb497a74 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/5447b48e7a3b48bce3d6ab0463c404df.pdf 5488a1323ac9ed918c979cc6bfd6438b PDF Text Text Sister Charlotte Gambol June, 2016 (Sister is referred to by both her baptismal name ‘Leona’ and her religious name ‘Charlotte’ in this story.) Sister Charlotte Gambol feels close to Mother Catherine Spalding because they share a very similar childhood. Like Mother Catherine, Charlotte lost her mother at a young age and her father was not able to care for her. Charlotte was only five years old. Shortly before her mother’s passing, the restaurant Charlotte's father owned was robbed and he suffered a blow to the head which triggered early Parkinson's disease. He was in his early thirties. Baptized Leona Gambol, Sister was an only child. She was born in January, 1930 in Cleveland, Ohio to Andrew Gambol and Mary Vavrek. Due to her mother’s death and her father’s poor health, Leona was raised by her extended family and lived with her grandparents, aunts and uncles at different times. Leona had many cousins on her father's side of the family with whom to grow up. On her mother's side, she had only one cousin, Charlotte, and the two were close friends. Even today they remain close and Cousin Charlotte is occasionally able to come from Cleveland, Ohio to visit Sister. In 1945, Leona first came into contact with the Vincentian Sisters of Charity when she enrolled in their boarding school, Vincentian Sisters High School, as a sophomore. Not particularly fond of school, Leona focused on completing her education and moving on to new things. Early in her senior year of high school, in 1946, Leona's father passed away at the age of forty-two. She remembers that he was a very good man. At this time, her Uncle Frank became her legal guardian. Having no family obligations, she made the decision to enter the Vincentian community soon after graduating. She joined the community September 14, 1947 and entered the novitiate on August fifteenth of the following year. She took the name Charlotte in honor of her cousin. While in the novitiate, Charlotte's guardian, Uncle Frank, kept in touch and was good to her, sending her packages with candy and other treats. As a novice, Charlotte attended classes at Duquesne University on Saturdays where she took courses in Ethics, Philosophy, and Theology. She was also enrolled for summer art classes at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. At the time, Duquesne didn't have a fine arts program and Sisters were discouraged from attending secular colleges. She went on to earn both undergraduate credits and a Master of Fine Arts degree at Catholic University. Sister Jerome Nosal, novice mistress, assigned a lot of hard work scrubbing floors, doing laundry, painting, and other useful tasks. Charlotte recalls that her artistic ability occasionally got her out 1 �of some of the work because she was asked to do some other task requiring at least a little artistic ability. After spending two years in the novitiate, Charlotte made her first vows on August 13, 1950 and spent the first year of her vowed life as a nurse's aide at Villa de Marillac Nursing Home. Nursing wasn't her forte so her teaching career was initiated the following year. Over the next five years, Sister taught grades second through sixth in three different schools in Pennsylvania. Her first teaching mission was a combined fifth and sixth grade class at St. Mary School in Brownsville, PA. Later, while teaching at St. Ursula School in Allison Park, PA, Sister had a unique challenge. At that time, the playground hadn't been built at the school so the children could not go outside to play. Despite the children not being able to go outside after lunch, Sister didn't have any real problems with the class but recalled that there were three lively boys, all named Billy, who she called her “billy goats”. After lunch, before Sister Charlotte returned to her classroom, the three would run about the classroom and jump over desks. One day, Sister wasn't feeling well and decided to skip lunch. When her billy goats returned to the classroom after their lunch to find Sister resting her head on her desk, the ringleader of the three took it upon himself to take control of the classroom. He greeted every one of his classmates at the door with the instructions, "Shh! Sister's sleeping." Charlotte, of course, was not sleeping but Billy couldn't tell because her veil hid her face. Amused and touched by his caring, she let him continue to manage the classroom for a few more minutes. When she lifted her head, he had every student working quietly at their desk. She saw a different side of him that day; he was her troublemaker with heart. From elementary grades she went on to teach high school English, Art, and Religion. She did this before receiving her Bachelors in Education from Duquesne University and her MFA from C.U. Her time as a high school teacher spanned forty-three years and three different high schools. Charlotte enjoyed the whole ministry of teaching, both the ups and downs, and having good school principals with which to work made the missions go smoothly. At age seventy, she retired from teaching but didn't abandon the classroom. She went back to school; this time she was the student. Entering a field that she knew nothing about but that she wisely perceived would be beneficial to the community, Charlotte studied cosmetology. After eight months she graduated and became a licensed cosmetologist. She remembers that it was quite an experience, mingling with young adults whose ideas were so different from her own. They were chiefly concerned with their social life and who was dating whom. Sister Charlotte listened to all their talk on these matters and when a feast day came along, she got her turn to share topics which interested her. Every feast day she 2 �would give the young people in her class a lecture on the occasion and why the feast day was celebrated. Working through such a foreign field of study with individuals whose interests were so different was worth it. Charlotte opened a small beauty parlor on the basement floor of Marian Hall. The Sisters were very grateful for what she did for them, especially the older Sisters who had difficulty getting around. She was always sure to remind them that she just knew the basics of hair styling and they should not expect miracles. In addition to hair styling, Charlotte spent time shopping at the area thrift stores. It was like a treasure hunt and sometimes like a mission, especially when Sisters requested she look for a particular object or piece of clothing. She was often able to find exactly what someone was looking for. After thirteen years, Charlotte retired from cosmetology. Today she continues to make Christmas carolers that she first crafted while teaching an art class in 1975 at Quigley High School. Some students wanted to make a gift to take home for Christmas so Charlotte designed the carolers out of bottles and foam balls which are then painted and decorated to look like Christmas carolers. She also decorates some as Pittsburgh Steelers fans cheering on their team. She gets many orders for her carolers every year and stays busy working on them. Charlotte enjoys working with many different mediums ranging from paint to silver to crocheting. Sister also crochets mats for the homeless out of recycled plastic grocery bags and cares for a beautiful young maple tree that she has raised from a sapling. While Sister Charlotte enjoyed the habit while the Sisters had it, she wasn't opposed to the gradual change from habit to a shorter, modified habit; to black suits; and finally to secular clothes. In the end she believes, "it's not what you look like, it's what you are". Charlotte feels blessed in many ways and owes Almighty God a heart-felt thank you for having chosen her out of so many others who she believes are holier and more qualified. Despite the changes in the lives of women religious over the years and the decrease in vocations, Sister has hope for the future. She feels that the work done by women religious in the past is gradually being done on a broader basis by lay people. No matter what, "God does not abandon us". Interviewed by Kelly McDaniels, Archivist 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 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Kelly McDaniels, SCNA Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Charlotte Gambol, SCN Location The location of the interview Pittsburgh, PA, USA 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 Charlotte Gambol, SCN Oral History Subject The topic of the resource Gambol, Charlotte, SCN; Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource SCN Archival Center Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived SCN Archival Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 6/1/2016 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 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Archival Center before publication. Contact archives staff for appropriate forms and contact information. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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 MMC-CarlotteGambol Sisters of Charity of Nazareth https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/e515871b930ac059113a292876ffb868.jpg 33055efb910310c95dcfa1ba110198cc https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/f3cc7516c484063fb5b39f53cc107da8.pdf dce7ca48d900d5b275c3bfd9a5edf663 PDF Text Text Sister Eileen Marcinko March 30, 2017 Florence Marcinko was born on a cold wintry day, the second of February, 1928—the feast of the Purification-Candlemas Day—the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. Sister Eileen writes, “I was an answer to my mother’s prayers.” Florence, (Sister Eileen) was born on her mother’s thirty-fourth birthday. Florence was told that when her mother first held her, in her joy she offered her to God. God took her mother at her word and eighteen years later--- to her parent’s dismay, on the very same day, February second, 1946, she entered the novitiate of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity. Florence’s mother was Elizabeth Racho, born in1894, and her father was Paul Marcinko was born in 1893. Her mother’s birthplace was Hazleton, PA. Her father was born in Wilkes Barre, PA, was raised in Europe, and returned to this country in 1910. Her mother was Greek Catholic. Elizabeth had a first marriage at age sixteen and was a World War I widow at age eighteen. She had one son, Joe Dropcik. Elizabeth, herself, had family in the United States and came to this country in 1920. She was indentured to a priest. She was a professional housekeeper and worked for a Jewish family for two years. Florence’s father, likewise, had a first marriage, but his wife died after six years. Paul was left to care for his three children. A marriage was arranged between Elizabeth and Paul. (Today this is called a “blended” family with four children from two different sets of parents.) This beginning family was composed of Paul’s children, age four, six, eight and Elizabeth’s one, Joe, age eight. Paul and Elizabeth had three more children. The names of all are: Big Joe Dropchik, Helen, John, Joseph (Joey), Paul, Jr., Florence and Tim (Thomas) Marcinko. Sister Eileen grew up in a Catholic and Greek Catholic neighborhood in Munhall, Pennsylvania. She remembers her mother and the women of that neighborhood gathering to quilt and to share friendship and conversation 1 �among themselves. Her mother knew all the Jewish Holidays and what the traditions were. Elizabeth‘s life had certainly been enriched by exposure to different cultures. Her father was a rigger at US steel and cleaned the big chimneys. Sister Eileen said that they knew when the unions had represented the steel workers because her father came home cleaner. The union had negotiated the installation of showers for the workers. She and her mother still had to wash the dirty clothes her father wore, but her father did not have coal dust on his person. The laundry process started with soaking the clothes on Sunday night, Monday washing, Tuesday ironing. Wednesday patching and sewing, Thursday baking, Friday, clean the top of the house, and Saturday, the lower part of the house. Sister Eileen was introduced to the Vincentian Sisters in 1935. Her grade school, with eighth graders divided into boy and girl classes, was a very strict Catholic school. Sister Columba Mihalek, who later became Frances Louise, (Frannie Lou), was her wonderful eighth grade teacher. Sister Columba was not as strict as others and allowed the girls to wear knee socks and gave them more freedom in their dress. The eighth graders went to the Motherhouse for retreat and Florence was very impressed with the Academy girls. She decided that she wanted to go to the Academy. Her parents were opposed, but her big brother said,” Let her go.” He believed that she would not last very long and would come back home. Sister Eileen now remembers that being at the Academy was a hard adjustment. She was so homesick, but it did get easier. She began to enjoy the all girls’ school. In fact, it got so easy and attractive that she joined the VSC Community. She entered on her eighteenth birthday. The hardest thing she had to give up was her pretty clothes. She says, “wearing all that black” was so depressing. In her years as a Sister, she has gone through five changes of habit. She was grateful for the years of learning to sew, since Sisters made their habits and other clothing. After making vows in 1948, she taught elementary school for six years. During these years, she took classes from Duquesne University. She 2 �received her BA in Education in 1958; by 1967 she had her Masters in American History, also from Duquesne. During these years, she taught all elementary school grades and by 1968 she would begin teaching all high school grades. From 1963 to 1965, her ministry was in Montgomery, AL where she taught history, English, religion, social studies and was the liaison for the student council at St Jude’s High School (Catholic). St. Jude Educational Institute was a ​private​, R ​ oman Catholic​ high school in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. It was located in the ​Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile​, and was built as part of the ​City of St. Jude​ by Father Harold Purcell for the advancement of the Negro people. St. Jude was opened in 1946 and offered a full college preparatory program as well as basic skills and trade programs at night for adults. She was there during the famous Selma to Montgomery march to register voters in Alabama in 1965. The marchers stayed on the campus of the City of St Jude. The Vincentian Sisters allowed them to use the facilities and some of the marchers were treated at the their Hospital emergency room for injuries sustained during the 54 mile walk….walking for 12 hours a day and sleeping in fields along the way. The "Stars for Freedom" rally was held, featuring singers ​Harry Belafonte​, ​Peter, Paul and Mary​, and ​Tony Bennett​, and comedian ​Sammy Davis Jr.​ The campus was listed on the ​National Register of Historic Places​ in 1990, and is part of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, created in 1996. Sister Eileen wondered, “What did I know about segregation?” While attending a meeting of local student councils from St Jude’s, George Washington Carver, and Booker T Washington High Schools, she learned what is was to be a minority. Those in attendance, teachers, high school students, and high school staff were all African American, she was the only white attendee. All participants were very polite and she felt no discrimination from them. 3 �There was a one year stint as a Novice Director and then nine years as secondary school teacher. In 1969, she served as a Coordinator for the House in Johnstown, PA, and taught US history at Bishop McCort High School. She returned to teach at Vincentian Academy for six years. In 1984, she became Junior Directress and Vocation Director at the VSC Motherhouse for four years. Her first year as Coordinator in Johnstown was the first year that the Vincentian Sisters would have to take turns doing their own cooking. Before there were older sisters who would do the cooking for a house. Some Sisters knew how to cook, but Sister Eileen was not one of those. Learning to manage the cooking was a new experience and Sister Agatha Ferenchak helped with her new found chore. This new chore helped to turn Sister Eileen into a “gourmet cook.” Cooking for 10 Sisters was quite a challenge and making sure you did not waste any food or make meals unappetizing for the house was an even larger challenge. Each summer when returning to the Motherhouse campus, Sister Eileen would cook for the priests on campus for three weeks. She delighted in making meals for them and testing new recipes. Her motto has been, “cook simply and serve elegantly.” She still has a Redemptorist priest friend who remembers her good cooking and keeps in touch on holidays. Sister Eileen made the decision that it was time for no more secondary teaching for her. She served in St Lawrence Grade School in Monett, Missouri from 1988-1993. Altogether Sister Eileen served God’s people for forty years, twenty years in elementary school and twenty in high school. She had taught in all grades, one through twelve. Her next mission was to be a part of the formation team for five years. After that ministry she served for eighteen years as parish secretary and charity coordinator in Wauchula, Florida. Sister Eileen worked with the Redemptorist priests at St Michael’s, which was the only Catholic parish in the county. There were, however, two Spanish mission churches within the parish boundaries. At St. Michael’s she served with Sister Barbara Makar, pastoral minister, Sister Bernice Rechtorek, catechetical minister, and, and Sister Mildred Minosky. St Michael’s has a large congregation in the winter 4 �where there are twelve RV parks with the “snowbirds”, (persons coming just for the winter) swelling the resident parish attendance. . Sister Eileen reflects on her life missions, “As a child I went to St Michael’s School in Munhall, Pennsylvania, my first assignment was St Michael’s School in Braddock, PA and I feel I have come full circle: ending at St Michael Church in Wauchula, FL. It is with confidence and trust in the Lord that I rise to meet the challenges of each day.” Sister Eileen is also proud of her niece Eileen Marcinko, who as a Vincentian Academy freshman in 1966 and entered the Voice for America contest. She placed second in the State competition and won a full scholarship to University of Pittsburgh. Sister Eileen has retired to St Louise Convent….but still is active and interested in everything…… Sister Eileen will have been here at Lourdes Hall on May 12 for six years--she has read 115 books and pieced innumerable puzzles. She is currently reading a book on Woodrow Wilson--- 750 pages and loving it! ​(What else would a retired history teacher love to do?) Interviewed by Mary Gene Frank, SCNA Comments by the interviewer are in ​italics March 30, 2017 5 � 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 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Mary Gene Frank, SCNA Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Eileen Marcinko, SCN Location The location of the interview Pittsburgh, PA, USA 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 Eileen Marcinko, SCN Oral History Subject The topic of the resource Marcinko, Eileen, SCN; Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource SCN Archival Center Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived SCN Archival Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 3/30/2017 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 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Archival Center before publication. Contact archives staff for appropriate forms and contact information. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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 MMC-EileenMarcinko Sisters of Charity of Nazareth https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/e440cbea2ed322aceaec3944ba827260.jpg 22d705eec3c1a25aeb67609ae4dc1806 https://www.scfederationarchives.org/files/original/dfe894636ca7d20c030e19ceafe95ed6.pdf fd3f54bae62bf41d4fda0b485f3e093d PDF Text Text Sister Elaine McCarron, SCN September, 2015 (​This interviewer’s remarks/observations are in italics. Let me share with you the story of Sister Elaine McCarron. As I sat with this quiet , unassuming woman and learned her story I could only marvel at” What God has wrought “ in her life and her generous ministry for the Church.) Elaine was baptized Helen Elaine and had the SCN name Sister Michael Maria until January, 1968. Elaine ‘s father, James Joseph(Joe) came to Washington, D.C. from Farmersville, Illinois with his parents at age two. He was the oldest of eight children born to Elizabeth Jordan McCarron and John Francis McCarron. John came to D.C. in order to take a job in the U.S. Congress as a congressman’s secretary while also attending law school. Elaine’s father Joe followed the career path of his father and graduated from Georgetown University and Columbus Law School in Washington, D.C. Elaine’s maternal family (McNally) had migrated from Ireland to Canada, then to Chicago and finally to Washington, D.C. Jobs in the U.S. Government lured the McNally family and many others to Washington, D.C. Elaine’s mother, Mary McNally, was one of six children. The oldest, Viola, died at age six before the family moved to Washington. Next came three boys, George, Roland , and William , a soldier who served in combat in the Pacific during World War II. Elaine’s mother was next and the youngest was Vincent. All worked for the U.S. Government Elaine grew up in Washington with four siblings – Mary Dolores, Jimmy, Joan and Maureen. Even the briefest of conversations with Elaine lets you know the joy and closeness of her extended family. She remembers many happy family celebrations with grandparents, aunts, uncles, numerous cousins and neighbors. These are some of Elaine’s memories: 1 �” In those days my father would take us every Sunday to Maryland University. The ride was a treat and we had ice cream, too. Every Thursday during the summer my father would take us to a beach on the Chesapeake Bay to swim and picnic. My father was always able to wave in for free because he had won a court case for the grateful beach owner. We lived very close to Catholic University. Every year my parents would take us to services at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (now a Basilica) during the January week of Church Unity. We went to plays and to ball games, as well, at Catholic University.. My grandmother McNally took us on summer boat rides to Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s home and Marshall Hall, site of the home of Thomas Marshall, Revolutionary patriot. Every Sunday the McCarron children visited the catacombs, the gardens with beautiful flowers , Lourdes Shrine, the statues of the Franciscan monastery which was close by. After our visit there we would stop by some friends of my mother and grandmother for a visit. I am sure they had plenty to do but we were always graciously received. Some Sundays we would take the bus and visit historical sites in downtown Washington. Sometimes adults went with us but often we children went alone. Our sister, Mary Dolores, was designated the one in charge. We had to give an account of our visit when we returned home.” When Elaine was eight years old her father was killed in a tragic car/train collision.. Later a safety crossing was installed at the site but this was a terrible loss for a young mother with five children. Mary McCarron was fortunate to move in with her parents and to get a position with the General Accounting Office (GAO) through the kindness of a friend of Joe McCarron. In 1921 the GAO had been established to investigate and oversee the activities of the Government. One of its tasks was to take care of the President’s checks. Mary McCarron would tell her children sometimes “The President’s check came through today.” Mary always kept alive the memory of their father for her children. His law degree and other plaques hung on the wall in the dining room. She would say to them when something good happened in their lives, especially some personal achievement,” Your father would be so proud of you.” 2 �Elaine went to St. Anthony Elementary School for grades one through eight. She was taught by the Benedictine Sisters and holds them in high esteem. The school was just two blocks from her home and the McCarron children went home each day for lunch. For high school Elaine attended Notre Dame Academy in downtown Washington where eight McCarron girls – herself, her sisters, and four aunts –had been students. Looking back Elaine realizes the faculty, lay and religious, were excellent instructors .The curriculum included four years of Latin, three years of French, theater and music. Science and mathematics, although not Elaine’s favorite subjects, were also on the curriculum. The Notre Dame Sisters and the Jesuits staffed the entire complex which encompassed St. Aloysius Church and Grade School, Gonzaga High School, and Notre Dame Academy. After high school Elaine attended for one year Dumbarton College staffed by the Sisters of the Holy Cross . Then, in September of 1950, Elaine entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. (This thought came to me ,”How did this young woman come to know of the SCNs ?” ) Elaine explains,” I learned of the SCN Community from a priest when I told him I was thinking of entering the convent. He told me to visit the SCNs who staffed Georgetown Hospital and Nursing School , saying ‘They have a simplicity about them’.I did know that some of my classmates from Notre Dame Academy attended the Georgetown School of Nursing. This was helpful . I decided to enter the SCN Community after much discerning – go, do not go, back and forth, over and over. I told my mother, ” Just tell me to stay home and help you and I will.’ Her wise mother replied,’ You do what God wants you to do.’ Sister Moira Rose Marks, so kind and good, was my postulant director. There was a challenge for her and us in that she was sent to Bardstown to teach at St. Joseph’s plus her responsibility to guide us. She seemed to love her ministry with postulants and was probably a great teacher, as well.” For two years Sister Helen Frances Sheeran was the novice director for Elaine’s class. Basically very kind, Sister could come across as rather strict and severe. Above all, she wanted the novices to understand the rules and regulations of 3 �religious life. After she left her ministry in the Novitiate she kept up a very admirable work of continual correspondence with many in prison. After making first vows in March, 1953 , most of Elaine’s Novitiate class stayed at Nazareth for three months’ study, having such fine teachers as Sister Margaret Gertrude Murphy in SCN history and Marietta Grimes in Philosophy. Her first mission was a three year assignment to teach one of the first grades at St. Cecilia School in Louisville. The next mission was at Cathedral Grade School in Richmond, Virginia where she taught either first or second grade or a combination. This mission lasted eleven years and would be a highlight in Elaine’s remembrance of ministries. When asked “ Why so?” her answer was this.” Cathedral School was very interesting because of its diversity. There were poor children who had migrated from Appalachia, there were African American children, there were upper middle class children who had been bussed in from the suburbs” (What a challenge and a joy to show children of diverse backgrounds how to live and learn together!) She remembers ,”During this time, when Sister Mary Naomi Elder was principal and both of us taught at Cathedral, we were located near Monsignor Richard Burke, Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Richmond. He came to ask certain educational questions of us and to listen to our advice on various school matters. Both of us had the advantage of having been in the Louisville Archdiocese and profiting by having a school supervisor and knowing many excellent teachers .” In 1966 Elaine was assigned as principal and teacher at St. Mary’s School also in Richmond. Elaine was grateful that this mission was hers for at least a year. At the close of this year she received a call from Sister Helen Frances, now the SCN Regional Superior in the East, saying that Elaine was to go to the Richmond Diocesan Office of Education the following year. This mission of supervisor would be hers for the next eleven years. She had the responsibility of visiting classrooms, giving workshops for teachers, speaking at PTA meetings, etc. At the same time Elaine began study for a Masters of Science degree in Education at Fordham University in New York City. She achieved this in four summers. 4 �Elaine would go on to St. Michael’s College in Toronto, Canada,under the Toronto School of Theology, for a Master in Divinity which included three years of fulltime study. Elaine’s direction in ministry would change significantly. She became a Director of Religious Education in Virginia Beach, Virginia. After that, she made the first of several trips she would make to Belize; she was the Minister of Religious Education at St. Brigid’s in Richmond, Virginia for one year. In 1990 she was invited to be the Representative for Catechesis and Multicultural Concerns for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Washington, D.C. . The invitation came from Sister Lourdes Sheehan, RSM, who was the Secretary of Education for the USCCB. She and Lourdes had been in ministry together in the Diocese of Richmond. Elaine served in this position for eight years (​I wish there were some way to include all the positions, the publications, the travel that Elaine had in her various Church/ parish ministries from 1990 onward. It would take many more pages. I shall content myself with naming just a few. The complete and impressive listing is available in the Archives,) ● At the request of the USCCB Office to Aid the Church in Eastern Europe Elaine taught catechesis to seminarians, school teachers , catechists in Riga, Latvia with Fordham University Professor Gloria Durka (1996)’ ● Elaine was Adjunct Professor in Catechesis , Toronto School of Theology for Summers - 1984,1986,1990,1994,1998. ● She attended a conference at the Vatican with 200 international attendees for the inaugural presentation of the ​General Directory for Catechesis,​ 1997. ● She was a speaker at National Catholic Education Association (NCEA), Convention, at National Conference of Catechetical Leadership (NCCL) Conference, at the Los Angeles Congress for Religious Education, at the Diocesan Religious Education Conference in Jackson, Mississippi, at the Diocesan Meeting of DREs in Charlotte, North Carolina as well as a number of other meetings and conferences. 5 �● She has written and published articles / chapters for books such as Gathering God’s​ P ​ eople: Signs of a Successful Parish, Beginning the Journey :From Infant​ ​Baptism to First Eucharist​, Winner of the Catholic Press Association Award in Book Category 1994, ​Evangelization​ ​and numerous others. She was the writer for ​Becoming Disciples, a​ K-8 curriculum for the Office of Religious Education for the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware. In 1998 Elaine became a member of a parish ministry team of three religious Sisters for the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware (inclusive of the Eastern Shore of Maryland). The mission of the team was religious education and training for six parishes. Elaine chose ministry at two parishes -Sacred Heart Parish in Chestertown, Maryland founded in 1705 and Mother of Sorrows Parish, a farming community, in Centreville, Maryland. In these two parishes she continued to share her experience and expertise while working on the Religious Education Curriculum (K-8), ​Becoming Disciples,​ for the Wilmington Diocese. (As I finish Elaine’s short bio I am thinking of how proud and grateful her family, her SCN Community and the broader Church can be of this talented, generous woman.) Maria V. Brocato, SCN September, 2015 6 �7 � 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 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Maria Vincent Brocato, SCN Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Elaine McCarron, SCN Location The location of the interview Nazareth, KY, USA 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 Elaine McCarron, SCN Oral History Subject The topic of the resource McCarron, Elaine, SCN; Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource SCN Archival Center Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived SCN Archival Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 9/1/2015 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 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Archival Center before publication. Contact archives staff for appropriate forms and contact information. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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 MMC-ElaineMcCarron Sisters of Charity of Nazareth