The Demands of Rome: Her Own Story of Thirty-One Years as a Sister of Charity in the Order of the Sisters of Charity of Providence of the Roman Catholic Church — John Shaqi
The Demands of Rome: Her Own Story of Thirty-One Years as a Sister of Charity in the Order of the Sisters of Charity of Providence of the Roman Catholic ChurchSchoffen, Elizabeth
Religion
The Demands of Rome: Her Own Story of Thirty-One Years as a Sister of Charity in the Order of the Sisters of Charity of Providence of the Roman Catholic Church
Schoffen, Elizabeth
Ex-nuns -- United States -- Biography; Monastic and religious life of women
Next we looked in the basement of the church, which was fitted up very
much like the basements of our large department stores, where all kinds
of "holy" articles were for sale, everything from expensive statues and
priest's vestments to hundreds of devotional and superstitious trinkets
of the Romish belief.
There were thousands of people from the surrounding country at this
village that day, as it was one of the periodical pilgrimages to the St.
Anne Basilica.
Returning to Montreal we witnessed the grand processional parade of the
French Canadian people celebrating their National holiday, the Feast of
St. John the Baptist. This celebration, instead of being a civil affair,
seemed to be more of an ecclesiastical show, with all the various
societies and clubs of the church parading in all the pomp and
glittering raiment characteristic of the Church of Rome. It seemed to me
that it was more for the aggrandizement of the church than for the
kindling of patriotism in the hearts of the citizens.
In Quebec, Joliette, and other cities and towns, we could neither see
nor hear anything of interest except the greatness of the rich churches,
the halls and pavilions for the celebration of festival and saint's days
and nunneries, and to admire the self-sacrificing spirit of the French
Canadian people for the Romish superstition. Of course, the beauties of
nature were very grand at that time of the year, and we enjoyed it to a
certain extent, as much probably, as a sister could.
Thus seven weeks were spent in Canada and we both rejoiced in shaking
off the feeling of morbid depression of Romish domination even though
the trip was supposed to be one of pleasure.
In returning to the States, at St. Albans, on the state line, the
trainman announced "twenty minutes for lunch." Sister Rita and myself
hurriedly ordered some clam-chowder. In a few minutes it was served, and
we had just begun to eat it, when we heard "all aboard." We had a
forty-cent laugh, minus the stew, and a run for the train.
We stopped at Burlington, Vermont, at Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Albany,
New York City, Philadelphia, and Atlantic City. At Atlantic City,
Sister Rita took sick, so we went to Washington, D. C., to the
Providence Hospital which was conducted by the Sisters of Charity
whose Mother House was still in France.
In two weeks Sister Rita had sufficiently recovered to continue our
trip. We were determined to see what was dearest to our hearts in all
this trip--Washington's Tomb. We went as close as we could to the tomb,
knelt down and touched the cement floor inside the vault with our hands,
in feeling of gratitude for liberty to our country, even though we were
bound to the government of the Pope of Rome. For just after our visit to
priest-ridden Montreal, we were surely thankful for the liberty enjoyed
in this country, and we could see that it was this liberty that saved us
from a greater hell on earth than we were living.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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