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
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with
a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats,
which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which
believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and
nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is
sanctified by the word of God and prayer." 1st Timothy 4:1, 5.
All my life I had lied in hypocrisy, not that I wanted to, but just what
the Roman Catholic system had made of me by their hypocritical
teachings, such as the "Johnny Morgan" story; and my conscience had been
seared many, many times with a hot iron. Who forbids to marry but the
Roman Catholic system? Who commands to abstain from eating meat but the
Roman Catholic system on Fridays, ember days and during Lent?
The Protestant people that I came in contact with from time to time was
not the class of people that the Roman Catholic system had pictured to
me--they were refined, educated and, above all, charitable. I attended
Protestant churches, and heard sermons preached from the Word of God
according to Christ's teaching--with the man-made Latin mass missing.
At last, I learned that I was to be saved by faith and not by penance.
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1. I also learned that there was no
mediator between God and man, except Jesus Christ as I have explained
under the heading "Confession," and that if I would confess my sins to
Him, He would forgive me and help me. So I gave myself to His keeping,
and on Sunday, April 20, 1913, I was baptized into the Protestant
faith--which was the happiest day of all my life.
The following Sunday I became a member of that church and have been a
Protestant, not in name only, but in reality, ever since. God keep me
strong in the faith.
I continued doing nursing for a livelihood. Some of my doctor friends
gave me a few private cases, and I also was called on by some of the
Protestant people I had become acquainted with to wait on them in
sickness.
Several times I was asked to take obstetric (maternity) cases, but had
to refuse them on account of the lack of training in this particular
line. I have stated before that we were kept in ignorance in regard to
this line of nursing at St. Vincent's Hospital. Finally, I decided that
I would take a special course in obstetrics, and I spent about six
months studying very hard. Now, remember, that I had spent eighteen
years at St. Vincent's besides two more years in hospital work and yet I
was not allowed to learn this very important branch of nursing,
regardless of the fact that I had the maternity ward on my floor all the
time I was superintendent, and was held responsible for any errors in
the nursing of these cases.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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