Today’s readings are quite insistent and very direct. We must give necessities like food, clothes, and shelter to those in need. In addition, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross; that is, we must lose our life if we want to be faithful disciples. Another way to say this is: Get behind our Leader Jesus, and follow Him.
Prayer: Guide all people to value the dignity of every human life and all aspects of creation.
Jesus had unusual healing methods; namely, fingers in ears and saliva on tongues. Such methods show how very involved Jesus gets with us in his and our humanity. We may not cure those who cannot hear or speak, but we have a responsibility to improve people’s lives. How? First, we must be open to the Spirit breaching the walls around our hearts and minds. Such openings will let God break in our hearts with the knowledge and hope to change what needs to be changed in our sphere of influence. How ready are we to care for the earth? (Based on GIA Quarterly, Vol. 35 No. 3, p. 38)
Prayer: Protect those whose lives or property are endangered by wildfire, storms, or environmental disasters; and increase our care for the earth to prevent these problems in the future.
Today’s gospel focuses on the Pharisees who kept every detail of their traditions, such as washing cups and jugs. Meanwhile, Jesus’ disciples aren’t even washing their hands before eating. What’s the point? While the first group does good things, they disregard God’s commandments in more important things. The Pharisees choose their own interpretation of the Law over God’s intent such as care for the poor.
On this day when we open the Season of Care for Creation, are we keeping God’s Law that requires us to care for the earth, which God made “very good”? Pope Francis initiated the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (September 1) in 2015. What can we do to care for creation? Let us pray to discern between what fulfills God’s desire for all humankind and what satisfies only our own personal convenience. This isn’t easy, but it is necessary.
Prayer: Open our eyes to the beauty of the natural world, and increase efforts to care for Planet Earth, even when it’s inconvenient to reuse or recycle.
The foundresses and their early companions had been trained in Munster by the immediate successors of Bernard Overberg, “master of the schoolmasters.” In contrast to public school teaching in America, the sisters’ teaching was oriented to the development of the human person founded in the Gospel. Children learned that God was a loving Father, and each child had great dignity. Pedagogical methods aimed to unfold all the capability of the young person. This type of teaching promoted the best possible advancement of the child, thus contributing to a society in which people are brothers and sisters with an eternal destiny. From earliest days until the present, character formation held pride of place in all educational programs of the congregation.
From 1877 until 1892, Sister Mary Bernarda Preger was the prefect for all the schools of the Sisters of Notre Dame in the United States. Young sister-teachers submitted their lesson plans for approval, and they had helping teachers, a method practiced into this millennium. The sisters continued their own education through many summers of further study. Every sister-teacher was imbued with the knowledge that their teaching ministry required a “sacrificial love and a deep knowledge of the human heart” allowing them to welcome every student and give “special attention to the weaker ones.”
A summary of the activities in the year 1888 shows a continuation of the apostolic ministry begun by the foundresses, Sister Maria Aloysia Wolbring and Sister Maria Ignatia Kühling. Of the 51 sisters 42 were teaching in elementary schools, along with two secondary schools, three orphanages, courses in music, one boarding school, and one home for the aged.
The blogs throughout this summer have focused on the Sisters of Notre Dame coming to America 175 years ago, along with their ministries during the first two decades in the United States. Before the various commemorative events close, there will still be a concluding celebration in November. You’ll read about it soon, but it’s time now for me to return to my blogs that perhaps will have more interest to our readers less familiar with the Sisters of Notre Dame.
When a man brought his two daughters to Mother Chrysostoma, it became clear that a house for neglected children was needed. This was the first move toward building Mount St. Mary’s. Although collections were taken to build the building, the efforts had little success. Consequently, Mother Chrysostoma began the construction, “trusting solely in the Providence of God.” The first Mass was celebrated in 1884 with Bishop Gilmour presiding. On January 27, 1843, the first child entered the house. By May there were 30 children living there.
With the opening of Mount St. Mary, every ministry that the first sisters in Coesfeld regarded as their special calling had taken root in the New World. It was here that the foundress Sister Mary Aloysia experienced the fulfillment of her secret desire—to care for poor children. Sister Mary Aloysia became the superior for this new institute. The foundress’ response: “O dear Reverend Mother, ever since the first days of my religious life, I have longed for just such work. But I never expressed my wish to the superiors… Yet now I rejoice and thank God, who is still fulfilling this innermost desire in the evening of my life.”
This blog continues the history of the Sisters of Notre Dame in the United States a few years after their arrival on July 4, 1874.
Sister Mary Modesta became the provincial superior in 1875. She was asked by Mother M. Chrysostoma to erect a larger house in Cleveland. She purchased property containing woods and stone quarry which came to be called Mount St. Mary’s. In the autumn of 1877 Mother Chrysostoma purchased two adjoining pieces of property in Cleveland, where construction of the new central house was completed before winter, and Sisters moved in April 1878. Notre Dame Academy, which had been started in a small building with 14 students, was totally transferred into the new building in May. By autumn there were already 70 students in three classes.
It was from Cleveland that Mother Chrysostoma “now guided the community in the Old and New Worlds.” Throughout these early years of rapid growth and several postulants being invested and several novices making vows, recorded history suggests “the motherhouse seemed more and more like St. Annathal in Coesfeld, which contributed much to everyone’s feeling at home in a foreign country.”
Back in Germany, young women were being prepared to come to the United States. Postulants received the habit on August 30, and the day after the clothing ceremony 19 novices and eight postulants began their trip to the United States, arriving on September 16. With the increase of young members, the area of ministry could be expanded. What would be the next ministry?
Some of the new foundations in Covington corresponded to the beginnings of the congregation in Coesfeld. Besides teaching, sisters took over orphanages in Cold Spring, Kentucky and in Bond Hill, Ohio. In 1877 the sisters were introduced to St. Aloysius Orphanage. The speaker on this occasion “thanked” his Excellency Count Bismarck whose expulsion of the Sisters of Notre Dame brought them to America.
It was at this time that the superior general, who had been forced to leave Prussia, arrived in Covington. Mother Mary Chrysostoma had come to America for good. She soon saw that the congregation was no longer a seedling but a tree with strong roots.
When the last sisters expelled from Germany arrived on August 26, 1877, it was obvious that a larger center had to be made, one that could handle all the sisters during vacation months and a place for infirm sisters. Since Cleveland had the more favorable location, that would be the center for the congregation in America. The solemn profession of four novices and the investment of three postulants by Bishop August Többe on March 20, 1878, marked the close of the three-year history of Covington as the temporary center of the congregation in the USA.
Just two years after the arrival of the first sisters from Germany, the first postulant from America, Katherine Franzioni, asked to enter the congregation and did so on November 15, 1876. In April, 1877, she and two other postulants received the religious habit from the hands of Bishop August Többe. As part of the investment ceremony, these postulants received religious names. The Superior General specifically asked that the first postulant be given the name of the first superior general, Sister M. Anna. Three other postulants received the religious habit on August 16 that same year. The third investment ceremony took place in the Covington Central house. Praise God! Eight novices! A sign of hope for the congregation in America
Without experience in architecture, Sister Modesta had to erect a building. The project began in the autumn of 1875, and in July 1876 the chapel of the four-story building was completed and dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. While the Sisters were happy to have a center, a heavy burden of debt lay on Sister Modesta’s shoulders. Even her bishop brother could not take that away, for parish communities were very poor. Poverty characterized the sisters’ daily living: dry bread, bad water, no meat or fresh vegetables, only sauerkraut.
Yet the brave sisters pushed forward in filling the requests for teachers. In the first two years fourteen foundations were made. As early as September 1875, an academy was set up in a small house in Covington for seven pupils.
One can only imagine how difficult it was for the sisters to accommodate themselves in conditions so very different from the beginnings in Germany. Sometimes lay teachers resented the sisters. Once a priest required something going against the Holy Rule. When they said they wouldn’t fill his request, he told them to get out; however, he eventually agreed, saying “Be faithful to your Holy Rule.” Through all the troubles and misunderstandings, Mother Modesta (admitting her many tears) was a spiritual mother to the sisters, preserving love among them.
Ministry in Covington began on August 15, 1874, by Sister Mary Odilia and Sr. M. Ignatia. At first, life was very difficult, and these two sisters had many sacrifices to make. First, there was no convent; consequently, they stayed at a Franciscan convent. In addition, the way from the school on Sixth Street to the convent on Eleventh Street was quite far in the terrible heat of Kentucky. Moreover, classrooms were crowded, three classes held in two rooms. After several weeks the pastor Father Teutenberg and his assistant Father Robbers worked on a house, allowing two more sisters to come by the end of September.
No matter the inconveniences, everywhere the sisters felt welcomed by the pastors, and their work was appreciated by the bishops who helped them feel at home in their new environment. Forced to give up their teaching in Prussia, the sisters were grateful for the offer of the American bishops: “It was truly a good fortune, that in America more and more sisters continued to be desired, because there their richly blessed work was allowed” (Jahrbuch 1875).
The rapid growth required the sisters in America to have their own leadership. Sister Mary Modesta became the provincial superior in Covington. Later in her autobiography she wrote that she feared her brother, Bishop August Többe, the bishop of Covington, whom she hadn’t seen in 23 years, could ask of her something in contradiction to her superiors in Germany. That didn’t happen.