Why is it that we think and/or dream of people who played a relatively small role in our lives? Surely something sparked the memory, but I can rarely tell you what it was. I only know that my mind is a mess of memories now. And when I say "mess" I mean it like my Grandma did, i.e., a mess is a whole lot. Occasionally one of those memories asserts itself above the others, demanding to be remembered.
Today, for absolutely no good reason, I'm thinking about my second grade teacher, Sister Anne de Lourdes. I really liked her, in spite of her occasional temper tantrums in front of the class. Of course when she was good, she was very, very good as they say. Adults are fickle and unpredictable.
I assume nuns get to pick their nun-names? If so, she chose Anne, the mother of Mary. Apparently there is a church dedicated to Anne within the Marian pilgrimage site of Lourdes. There are other churches and sites dedicated to Saint Anne elsewhere. Why would she choose the one at Lourdes? I've been doing a little research and I think I have the answer, which would be obvious if my mind wasn't so messy. She was a Sister of the Holy Cross, which was based in Notre Dame, Indiana (a suburb of South Bend). The priest who founded Notre Dame was Father Sorin. “Fr. Sorin also wanted to make Notre Dame a pilgrimage place … honoring our Lady of Lourdes,” So there you go. A mystery probably solved.
Eventually she left the convent and married a priest.
 |
| Very cool habit, don't you think? Sisters of the Holy Cross. The headpiece was a pleated wonder. |
Informative. I like to know why people act or react. That is usually more important to when.
ReplyDeleteI love that she left the convent and married a priest. Happy for both of them!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of happy, I felt happy watching the original Kung Fu Panda on DVD on loan from the public library this past week. Thank you for pointing me in that fun direction.
Most of my career as a medical transcriptionist took place in a Catholic hospital that was run by nuns for almost 100 years, until the early 1990s. One of my co-workers was a delightful Dominican nun named Sister Mary Lucy. She lived with and took care of her elderly mother after having spent her earlier years as a nun teaching in a Catholic high school. She had a wonderful sense of humor and playfulness, unlike some of the bitter-looking nuns who worked in various departments of the hospital. She was probably in her fifties or early sixties when I worked with her. Prior to that I had no contact with nuns and was, at first, apprehensive about working with her. It was a wonderful surprise to find that she was so personable. She was one of the few nuns who continued to wear a habit, although it was shortened and modified from the traditional strict habits.
Some of the nuns lived together in a residence next to the hospital but I can think of one other nun, a peace activist, who lived independently in an apartment and worked in the hospital as a chaplain. She had a Masters in Social Work.
I recall that use of the word "mess" as in "I cooked up a mess of beans."
1960 is about the time my aunt's order was simplifying their habits to resemble street clothes. Skirts, blouses, jacket. No wimple. My aunt's wimple was much more simple, a small white frame about the face, under the blue head piece.
ReplyDeleteIt is funny how old memories pop into our heads or dreams sometimes. My second grade teacher was Sister Gabriel and we just loved her as she was so sweet.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you liked her despite her temper tantrums! But then people with glaring faults can be more lovable than the smooth-talking charmers.
ReplyDeleteThere must be something catholic in the air. My partner, out of the blue, has revived a relationship with her 2nd grade catholic school teacher, now in a home for nuns. Can The Rapture be far behind?
ReplyDeleteHa, Catholics don't believe in The Rapture.
DeleteWow, that IS a very impressive habit! It's funny how many people live on in all of us, even if we're not always aware of it. I had no idea that Anne was the mother of Mary -- I never stopped to think about where the name Anne came from. (Apparently Anne wasn't mentioned in the Bible, but in the apocrypha, as I have learned since reading your post! So that's probably why I never heard of her as a kid attending Presbyterian Sunday school. :) )
ReplyDeleteMakes you wonder what they talk about when they can't get to sleep at night. The elephant in the room, obviously. But perhaps not obviously. Yet every evasion, every conversational silence would be as loud as if they'd shouted it up the chimney. If I wasn't at page nine of A Cure For Cringing (3700 words done and least 2000 words to go) I might be tempted.
ReplyDelete