CHAPTER XIX.
BALTIMORE.
On September 13th, 1831, the Carmelite nuns bade a last farewell to their dear Mount Carmel in Charles County, where they had spent so many happy days, and where several of them had consummated their course. When they were about to leave one of the old nuns was missing. Search being made, it was found that she had gone to pray for a last time, in the little cell, where she had passed so many hours alone with God. Father O'Brien and the brother-in-law of Sister Stanislas, Mr. Washington Young, conducted the Sisters to the house of the latter, where they arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon. They were cordially received and entertained by Mrs. H. E. Young and family, and there they passed the night. On the following day, September 14th, they started for Baltimore, and reached the city at three o'clock in the afternoon.
The Visitation nuns of Georgetown had most warmly invited the Carmelites to visit their community on their way to Baltimore. Several of the nuns had near relatives in that monastery, but as it was out of the direct route, it was thought better to decline the kind invitation.
Upon reaching the city the Sisters proceeded at once to the residence of the Most Rev. Archbishop, where they were most kindly received.
An amusing anecdote is related connected with their arrival. The Archbishop had an old colored servant, who, it seems, had not yet recovered from the panic caused by the last
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invasion of the British, and when she saw a number of curious figures, wrapped in large white mantles, and covered with black veils, marching up the steps of the archiepiscopal residence, she ran away screaming, "Oh! the British hab come to take away ole massa."1
After a visit to the Cathedral, the nuns returned to their carriages, for a crowd had already gathered, attracted by the novelty of the sight. The Archbishop accompanied them to their new home, where they were met by several Sisters of Charity and some kind ladies, who had provided food and bedding for them, as their effects, which had been sent by the boat, had not yet arrived.
The next day, September 15th, the Archbishop said Mass in their chapel, after which they chanted the Te Deum. The Archbishop was so affected that he could scarcely sing the prayers.
The Sisters of Charity, who were then the only religious in the city, warmly welcomed the Carmelites, and showed them the most tender charity. They aided them in making the necessary arrangements for opening their school, imparting to them much useful information, and giving them the benefit of their own experience.
Before leaving Charles County, a great source of anxiety to the nuns was the disposal of their slaves. They could not grant them their freedom, being too poor to provide means of subsistence for them; but desirous of giving them every possible satisfaction and of ensuring their comfort and happiness, they allowed them to choose their own masters, and contented themselves with receiving whatever price those persons were willing to give. Several of the servants who were superannuated were left to the care of competent persons. Their board was paid and all their necessities provided for, until the death of the last one in 1838.
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1The attack of the British on Baltimore took place on September 15th, 1814.
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After their departure, the nuns rented the farm to Mr. John Howard, and it was afterwards leased to Mr. Long. The water-mill and tobacco warehouse on the farm were rented separately. In 1836, the property was sold to Mr. Sanders, with the exception of one acre of land, which had formerly been used as the graveyard of the nuns. This the community reserved to itself. The warehouse was sold in 1839. The old farm in Charles County is now in possession of Mr. Edward Sanders.
The people of Charles County greatly regretted the departure of the nuns, upon whose prayers they had always depended. They especially missed the chapel, for after the Carmelites had left, Mass was said there only twice a month.
In November, 1831, Rev. Father Coombs, writing to Sister Stanislaus, said: "You ask how old Mount Carmel looks. O! it would grieve your heart to see its deserted walls. Poor dear Mount Carmel! It is dead; but not buried. I sighed heavily when I entered its once forbidden precincts, and passed through its vacant chambers, and listened to its silent echoes. I hope God will preserve from profanation those holy places in which His hallowed Name has been so often and so fervently invoked. When I entered the room in which I last visited our dear, beloved and saintly mother, I felt, O could I tell what I felt! I never weep, but often sigh:—
"Art thou then gone, O holy mother, say!
Or are thy bones still mouldering in this clay?
O yes, thou'rt gone to bless another lot,
Thou'rt forced away from this thy choicest spot.
I have not as yet said Mass at the Monastery, but propose to do so very soon. . . . The congregations are beginning to feel their loss. Sundays are now quite vacant days with them, having no church to visit. They would be very glad to see you return, but that will never be."
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Toward the end of the month of September, the Archbishop, assisted by Father Deluol and Rev. Mr. Smith, blessed the convent and instituted the cloister. There were present on the occasion Rev. Messrs. Tessier, Jubert, O'Brien, L'Homme and others. His Grace appointed Sisters Delphina, Teresa, Stanislas, Isabella and Gertrude to teach in the school. The Rev. Mother having called a chapter gave the above-mentioned Sisters charge of the school, which was opened on the 3rd of October. Sisters Delphina, Teresa and Gertrude commenced that arduous duty, and in September of the following year were joined by Sister Stanislas. Some of the Jesuit Fathers, particularly Father Coombs, had helped the Sisters to review their studies in order to prepare for teaching.
Ere the year 1831 had closed, death had again, and for the first time in Baltimore, visited the Carmelite community. Its victim this time was Sister Mary of the Incarnation, Mary Frasier. She was the first lay-sister that had entered the community, and an exemplary religious, distinguished for her exactness in observing the rule and for her devotion towards the Blessed Sacrament, the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph. She was 60 years of age, and had been 38 years in religion. She died on the 14th of December, 1831, after receiving the last Sacraments. Her death was caused by small-pox. She caught the disease from a poor person who came to the turn for alms. When she discovered that she was infected with it, she greatly feared that the contagion would spread through the community, and she begged God to spare her Sisters from it. Her prayers were heard, for no one else was attacked by the disease. She was buried in the little graveyard of the convent on Aisquith street.
In the year 1832, at a session of the General Assembly of Maryland, an Act was passed to incorporate the community under the title of “The Carmelite Sisters of Baltimore.”
We here insert a letter from Father O'Brien, who was then absent from Baltimore. It is addressed to the Archbishop and speaks for itself :
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PLEASANT HILL, July 31st, 1832.
Most Rev. Sir,
I am, as far as I can judge, becoming more sick, and weak and declining every day, so that on my return I shall scarcely, if at all, be able to render much service to the Monastery. I have sometimes apprehended I should never reach Baltimore alive. It would, perhaps, be better if you and the Rev. Mother could find some other priest to serve the Monastery, and let me retire somewhere to prepare myself for death, or if it should be the will of God that I may by any means recover, to render service somewhere else. The Monastery does not suit me at all & has not for some time, in my weak state. It is a place that requires a healthy priest, on account of the variety of duties to perform and the punctuality with which they ought to be performed. In consequence of my low state, I have declined riding back to Baltimore and I intend to take passage on the steamboat tomorrow morning.
I am Most Rev. Sir, with respect,
Your obedient humble Servant,
WM. F. X. O'BRIEN.
Most Rev. Dr. Whitfield,
Archbishop of Baltimore,
Baltimore, Md.
A few months later Mr. O'Brien was taken with his death sickness, dropsy, and confined to his small room, in the out quarters of the convent, where the servants attended him. It was, however, not in the power of the nuns to prevent him from suffering in many ways. Seeing his situation, Rev. L. Duluol had him removed to St. Mary's Seminary, where they gave him the best room, nursed him and showed him every attention. He expired there on November 1st, 1832, about half-past nine o'clock, p. m. Rev. Hugh F. Griffin was at his bedside when he breathed his last. The next day, All Souls, his body was placed in the Church during High Mass, and buried on the same day. “Father O'Brien,” says Rev. Hugh Griffin, "appeared to be about fifty when he died. He had relatives in Charles County, Maryland. He had been a great friend of the Carmelites, and had done all in his power to promote the interest of the institution. He served them
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gratis as their confessor and chaplain, and it was mainly through his exertions that the community was safely and happily removed from Charles County to Baltimore. He went through all the fatigue and solicitude of a true father of the family in effecting this transfer."
From the following letter of Father Dzierozinsky, who was no longer superior, it appears that the Sisters petitioned to have a Jesuit Father attend to their spiritual wants; but how they succeeded we know not.
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE, Nov. 3rd, 1832.
Revd Dear Mother in Xt,
I received, this morning, your kind letter & sorrowful news of so many deaths at once, and particularly of your good, & Dear Confessor Revd Mr. O'Brien. But let the will of God be done—The Almighty, in His kind Providence, will take care of Mt. Carmel, & supply all your wants—For my part I do not refuse the commission which you give me, when our Father Superior will return from Bohemia—& will do my best, that you may have at least old Father Francis—But I expect that you will see Fr. Kenny before me, because I requested him earnestly to pay you a visit, when in Baltimore, at least on his return, & apologize there for my forgetfulness of you, as you mentioned lately to Mr. Boarman. But it was not so in reality—Daily I visit in my mind my ever dear Mt. Carmel, & worthy Daughters of St. Teresa. Please to remember me to all & each one of your dearest Sisters particularly to the youngest of them Sr. Aloysia—who minds undoubtedly nothing—not even the Cholera-morbus. Thank God, the Cholera has left Georgetown without touching either the college or Monastery—Revd Mr O'Brien, & Mary will be recommended in all the Churches tomorrow both here & in the City—My Nuns!!! already know, & will certainly pray earnestly for the former Dear Mother,
Respectfully yours,
FRANCIS DZIEROZYNSKI, S. J.
Upon the death of Rev. Father O'Brien, Rev. Father Xaupi assumed the spiritual charge of the community until 1834.
Meanwhile, the Academy of the Carmelite Sisters, opened on October 1st, became gradually known, and began to attract
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pupils. The school year afterwards commenced on the first Monday in September, and lasted until the last day of July. The course of instruction comprised: orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, composition, geography, arithmetic, history, book-keeping, the elements of natural philosophy and the use of the globes. Moreover, the Sisters taught plain and ornamental needle-work, bead-work, embroidery, tapestry and shell-work. The terms per quarter, to be paid in advance, were for the higher classes, $8, for the second, $6, for the third, $5, and for the fourth, $4. For the use of the globes, reading-books, pens and ink, they charged 371/2 cents per quarter. An extra charge of $5 was made for painting on velvet in oil colors. Pupils of all denominations were admitted, without any interference with their religious principles.1
Our Lord seemed to bless the spirit of self-sacrifice which animated the Sisters. It was a great trial to them, after having lived so long within the solitude of their cloister, to have to mingle again with the world, and to engage in a work so foreign to the spirit of their vocation. But as it was the will of their superior, they knew it to be the will of God, and cheerfully undertook the task before them. The children became devotedly attached to their teachers.
The school-rooms were outside of the enclosure, and only those Sisters appointed to be teachers were allowed to enter them. Within the convent all went on as usual; the rule was observed with the same exactitude, and even at recreation the school and everything connected with it was a forbidden topic, every precaution being thus taken to prevent it from becoming a source of distraction to the community. The Archbishop took a lively interest in the school, and frequently visited and encouraged the Sisters in their labors.
Monsignor McColgan, the present venerable Vicar-General of the diocese, was also one of the friends of the Carmelites,
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1Catholic Almanac, 1833-34.
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and gave them much encouragement. As a seminarian he used to visit the community, and esteemed it a great privilege to say his first Mass in the little chapel of Carmel. Many years have passed since then, but his friendship toward the Carmelites has undergone no change, and none were more rejoiced than they to see the purple bestowed on one who had so well deserved it.
On April 14th, 1833, the elections took place, at which Archbishop Whitfield presided. Sister Delphina of the Annunciation, Elizabeth Smith, became Prioress.
On the 22d of the same month, the Archbishop made his first episcopal visit in the convent. After a short exhortation at the grate, he entered the enclosure and examined the house, as is prescribed.
The year 1833 was an important one in the history of the diocese of Baltimore. The second Provincial Council was convoked by Archbishop Whitfield on the 20th of October, and it closed on the 27th.
Less than a month later the only surviving Foundress of the American Carmel, Sister Mary Aloysia of the Blessed Trinity, Matthews, was called to rest from her labors. More than forty-three years had elapsed since, with her aunt, Mother Bernardina, her sister, Mary Eleonora of St. Francis Xavier, and Mother Clare Joseph, she had left Belgium to come to the United States. One by one, her companions of that memorable trip across the Atlantic had fallen beneath the hand of death: Mother Bernardina as early as 1800, Sister Eleonora in 1807, Rev. Mr. Plunkett in 1815, Father Neale in 1823 and finally Mother Clare Joseph Dickenson in 1830. Sister Mary Aloysia alone survived. She was now eighty-one years old, and had been 46 years in religion. During her life she had been an example of virtue, especially of holy poverty, charity and obedience. In her old age when she could no longer fulfil any regular employment she was wont to repair daily to the infirmary to perform some little service for the sick and infirm. Her hour had now arrived
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and she might lay down her weary head in peace. She was summoned by her celestial Spouse on November 12th, 1833, after a short illness of eight days. She was followed to the grave, a short time later, by Sister Juliana of the Blessed Sacrament, Eleonora Hammersley, who died February 1st, 1834, of consumption, aged 52 years, having been 36 years in religion. She was distinguished for her charity towards the sick and her patience in suffering. Finding herself in her agony she begged to receive Holy Communion; this favor was granted shortly before she expired.
Father Dzierozinsky, having heard of the death of Sister Juliana, wrote as follows to the Mother Prioress:
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE , Feb. 17th, 1834.
Revd & Dear Mother in Xt,
Your letter, by the vigilance of the Post-Master, travelled to Georgetown, Eastern Shore, & after eight days journey, reached its destination—I recommended your Beloved Sr. Juliana to the Fathers & said Mass for her myself—& complied with your request at the Monastery—So then, my dear Sisters, you are compelled again to deplore a new loss of so valuable a member! But the most holy will of God be done! She is happy—because she served her Lord well—& went to see Him face to face. I shall never forget her formerly usual, & devout attention in the Sacristy of your good old Mt. Carmel ... whose desolate situation calls, whenever I pass it, a sigh from my breast, that its former virtuous Inmates are no longer there—Please, Revd—Mother, to remember me to all, & each of your Holy Community.— I hope that they will not forget to pray for me, your devout servant—
Revd Dear Mother,
Respectfully yours,
FRANCES DZIEROZYNSKI, S. J.
Archbishop Whitfield, having requested the Holy See to appoint a coadjutor to the See of Baltimore, his petition was granted, and, in the summer of 1834, Rev. Samuel Eccleston, President of St. Mary's College, was nominated Bishop of Thermia in partibus, and coadjutor of the Archbishop of
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Baltimore. The prelate-elect was consecrated in the Cathedral of Baltimore on the 14th of September, 1834, by Archbishop Whitfield. On October 15th the newly consecrated Bishop said Mass in the Carmelite chapel.
On September 22nd, 1834, Sister Ignatia of the Immaculate Conception, Matilda Boarman, departed this life, aged 54 years. She had been 36 years in religion. She was a religious of great charity and obedience, and remarkable for her devotion to St. Aloysius. About a year before her death she was afflicted with an internal disease that she bore with great patience.
In this same year, Rev. Mr. Xaupi retired to Mount St. Mary's College and was succeeded in the direction of the Carmelites by Rev. John B. Gildea, who began his charge on September 27th.
Meanwhile Archbishop Whitfield was fast failing in health; all the efforts of science to arrest the progress of his disease were in vain, and he died on the 19th of October, 1834, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. Prudence and energy were remarkable traits of his character. His memory is held in benediction.