The main body of the Sisters of Charity were not alone in their devotion to the sick and wounded soldiers. During the trying days between 1861 and 1865 no body of men or women did more for suffering humanity than the patient, zealous4 Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, then, as now, of Bardstown, Kentucky. A score of Sisters in that community offered themselves and their services without pay and without hope of earthly reward of any character. It was in the spring of 1861, the opening year of the civil war, that Bishop Martin John Spalding sent a formal communication to General Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumter fame, then in command of the Department of Kentucky, tendering the services of the Sisters of Charity 183 of Nazareth to nurse the sick and wounded soldiers. Their services were willingly accepted, and the understanding was that the Sisters were to work in the hospitals in and around Louisville.
Three large manufacturing establishments in the city of Louisville had been placed at the service of the Government and were being used as hospitals at that time. The rooms were long, and lines of cots extended along each side. The hospitals were divided into sections and each section was placed under the watchful5 charge of a Sister of Charity. The system that characterized the three establishments was such that no sufferer was neglected or without a nurse. This was in striking contrast with the disorder6 and lack of system that had prevailed prior to the advent7 of the Sisters. There were twenty-three Sisters in the three hospitals, in charge of an army surgeon, and they worked faithfully from their entrance into the hospitals until the close of the war, without a cent of compensation.
There had been one battle and several severe skirmishes in Kentucky about that time, and when the Sisters arrived at the hospitals the scene was enough to bring tears into the eyes of the most hardened. A great many Confederates had been captured and were being held as prisoners of war. Within the walls of the hospitals hundreds of union men and Confederates lay groaning8 in a common agony. Those that were not mortally wounded and that had not submitted to the amputation9 of a leg or an arm were raving10 in the worst forms of fever or had contracted erysipelas, pneumonia12 and kindred ailments13. About it all there was a heroism14 that was touching15, and as the Sisters passed from cot to cot many 184 a soldier suffering with a shattered limb or bullet-pierced body lifted his wan16 face and gave forth17 a smile of welcome and of recognition.
The Sisters soothed18 the restless patients, bathed the fevered brows and moistened the parched19 lips “with a touch impartially20 tender.” The attitude of the men themselves was not without interest. Many of them had never seen a Sister before; the majority of them looked upon the Sisters with distrust and suspicion. The change that came in a short while came as actual knowledge comes when it dissipates prejudice and misrepresentation. They could not help but be impressed with the quiet demeanor21 and the self-sacrifice of the Sisters, and unreasoning dislike and bigotry22 soon gave way to natural respect and esteem23.
But the beauty of the Sisters’ lives, their habit of thinking of all but themselves, had its effect upon many a hardened sinner. Five hundred men died in “hospital number one,” and of that number only one passed away seemingly indifferent to his future.
An incident told by one of the surviving Sisters carries a moral with it. One of the soldiers in the hospital, a Catholic, refused to do anything for the benefit of his soul. His end seemed to be approaching and he was transferred to some other place, where he could be reasoned into submission24 and repentance25. A man who occupied a cot near that of the unrepentant Catholic had heard the Sisters pleading with him. He listened with a thoughtful manner, and when the hard hearted man had been removed, called a Sister to his side. He begged to be further instructed in the Catholic faith. His request was complied with, he was baptized, confessed, received Holy 185 Communion and finally died a most holy and edifying26 death.
The parish priests of Louisville and several of the Jesuit Fathers paid regular visits to the hospitals. Each priest came on an average of three times a day, but there was not a moment during the day or night when a priest was not within easy call. The Sisters by their forethought and intelligence made the work of the clergy27 comparatively easy. A man who desired to be baptized was prepared by the Sisters and ready when the priest arrived. Those to whom it was necessary to administer the last rites28 of the Church were gradually brought to realize the importance of these rites by these same Sisters. So it was from day to day, from week to week, from month to month. The Sisters were unflagging in their devotion to the men in their charge. They nursed, they prayed, they consoled, in fact, as more than one grateful soldier exclaimed, proved themselves little short of earthly angels.
A pathetic scene took place one day in “hospital number two.” A young soldier, a Catholic and a Scotchman, lay on his death-bed, far from home and family and country, but surrounded by all the loving devotion of the Sisters. He knew that his end was at hand and had been prepared by all of the sacred rites of the Church for his journey into the great unknown. He was slowly expiring from a fatal wound and was unable to move.
In a feeble voice he asked the Sister to hand him a package of letters that he had read over and over again, and which he always kept in view. They were given him and he read them over once again and for the last time. After that he selected several from the package and placing them close to his heart said 186 slowly, but distinctly: “Sister, leave them here until I am dead. That will not be long. Then send them to my father and mother in Scotland. Tell them that I thought of them until the last. Get the money that is coming to me. Give some of it for Masses for an offering for my soul and forward the remainder to my parents. Now I am ready to die. Good-bye.” With a faint smile he closed his eyes and in a short time the spirit had fled from his youthful body. The instructions were carried out to the letter, as were the last wishes of all the dying soldiers whenever it was possible and practicable. One of the most important tasks of the Sisters was to write to the near relatives of the deceased, giving accounts of their last moments and delivering entrusted29 messages from the dying.
On more than one occasion the Sisters supplied the place of a mother to the wounded and the dying. Many a pathetic death-bed scene is still fresh in the memory of the now venerable Sisters who have survived those trying times. They were able to repress their emotions in most cases, but there were times when nature asserted itself, and the tears of compassion30 flowed freely. This was especially the case when drummer boys and buglers—mere children—were brought into the hospitals. In such cases all the tenderness of the Sisters’ gentle natures went out in abundance to the wounded “lambs,” as they delighted to call the young ones. One day three blue-eyed, fair-haired lads in soldier attire31 were brought into “hospital number one.” They were ill of typhoid pneumonia and they were in an advanced stage, too. They were placed on cots side by side and there they lay for days, uncomplaining and innocent, giving expression to the quaintest32 thoughts 187 in the most childish way. They were like brothers, although they were not, and all three were of about the same height and age. The gratitude33 they expressed to the Sisters was more by their manner than anything they said.
One afternoon one of the three looked up at the Sister who was nursing him, and with a wistful look in his blue eyes exclaimed: “Oh, you are such a good lady; just like my mother to me.” In spite of the care that was lavished34 on them the three little heroes died, as so many heroes have died—unknown, unhonored and unsung. In the same room another lad of twelve or thirteen, whose life was fast ebbing35 away, cried out: “Oh, Sister, put your head right down by me and don’t leave me.” The request was complied with, and the little fellow clasped the Sister about the neck and never let go his hold until grim death relaxed it soon afterward36. Who could look on such scenes unmoved! Many boys died thus. Death seemed to pluck the choicest and freshest of the earth to make its bouquets37 during those four fearful years. The Sisters’ care of their “lambs” after their death was as tender and reverential as it had been in life. Their eyes were closed with a prayer, their silken locks parted and their little hands folded as if in supplication38 to the Divine mercy. Who can doubt but what the blessings39 of heaven were showered upon these innocent, heroic souls?
The Sisters were “always on duty,” and sometimes the duty was more severe than at others. After great battles, such as Shiloh, the hospitals were hardly able to accommodate the hundreds that were brought there. When the orderlies had performed the first essential service for the newcomer he would be taken in charge by the Sisters. 188 Refreshing40 draughts41 and nourishing food were intermingled with the remedies that would be administered from time to time. The ladies of Louisville were frequent visitors at the hospitals, and they brought many delicacies42 for the sick and the wounded. At length near the close of the war the Sisters were recalled to their home from the Louisville hospitals. The recall came none too soon for the survivors43, as they stood much in need of rest and change of air. For nearly three years they had been confined in the close wards44 of the three hospitals, and this not unnaturally45 had its effect upon their health. Many of them overestimated46 their strength and their powers of endurance. Some died in the hospitals, others soon after, at a premature47 age.
The actual number of Catholic Sisters who laid down their lives during the civil war, that their fellow-creatures might live, will probably never be known, but there is no question that hundreds did so. Their names are not cut upon any earthly monuments, but they are surely emblazoned in letters of gold in the great book of the Recording48 Angel. The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, as Mother Carroll could have testified, furnished their full quota49 of fair martyrs50. Many instances have been lost in the long number of years that have elapsed since the closing of the war, but several well-authenticated cases still linger freshly in the minds of those that were witnesses of the great struggle. One of these is particularly pathetic. Sister Mary Lucy, one of the sweetest young members of the Order, richly endowed by nature, was one of the teachers in St. Mary’s Academy, at Paducah. When the exigencies51 of war compelled the temporary abandonment of this institution, Sister Mary Lucy volunteered as one 189 of the hospital nurses. She was assigned to some of the severest typhoid cases, and the manner in which she nursed these patients won for her the unqualified praise of the hospital doctors and attendants.
OBSEQUIES OF SISTER MARY LUCY.
The post of honor in this instance proved to be the post of danger. Sister Mary Lucy contracted the fever from one of her patients who was convalescent. This was in the latter part of December, during the first year of the war. Despite the best medical attention she rapidly grew worse, until December 29, when she expired as calmly and heroically as she had lived. Her death cast a gloom over the entire hospital, and the soldiers of both armies were filled with admiration52 and awe53 at the martyrdom of this gentle soul. They determined54 that she should be honored in death as she had been in life, and that her final obsequies should be of a character befitting her great merits.
Several files of soldiers marched with muffled55 drums and noiseless tread from the Central Hospital to the Ohio River, bearing in the midst of them the remains56. There the coffin was placed in a gunboat in waiting, which had been especially designated for this service. Then the boat slowly steamed away, bearing its honored burden under a flag of truce57 to uniontown, Ky. On landing, the remains were borne to St. Vincent’s Academy, some miles distant, where the Sisters own a considerable tract11 of land and where they have a last resting place for their dead. Father Powers, at that time pastor58 of the Catholic Church at Paducah, said the Solemn Mass of Requiem59 and accompanied the body to the grave and recited over it the last offices of the Church, of which the deceased had been such an exemplary member. A guard of devoted60 soldiers watched by the coffin day and night from the time it left 190 the Central Hospital until the earth covered it from mortal view. At night the tender-hearted warriors61 kept their vigil around the coffin with blazing torches made of pine knots. Sister Mary Lucy was born in the vicinity of the spot where she was buried. She received her education at St. Vincent’s Academy, became a Daughter of Charity and died in the performance of her duty. This is the short but brilliant life history of one heroic woman.
A letter dated Louisville, February 1, 1862, written by one of the army surgeons to Mother Francis Gardner, contained the following announcement: “I regret very much to have to inform you of the death of Sister Catherine at the General Hospital in this city. She, as well as the other Sisters at the hospital, has been untiring and most efficient in nursing the sick soldiers. The military authorities are under the greatest obligations to the Sisters of your Order.”
Still another conspicuous62 loss was soon to be felt in the death of Sister Appollonia, the directress of “No. 1 Hospital.” She served long and faithfully in this post and won warm commendation from stern soldiers, who, whatever else their faults, were never guilty of flattery. She was a woman of great executive ability, and was instrumental in causing order to come out of chaos63 in the hospital over which she presided. Her zeal3 was great. Not content to direct affairs, she also nursed individual cases. It was while engaged in this work that she contracted typhoid fever, from which she soon after died. She had endeared herself to the soldiers by her kind and motherly treatment of them, and her death caused universal regret.
The manner in which the Sisters were treated by the soldiers had in it a blending of the humorous and the sublime64. 191 Those of the Sisters that live to tell the tale say that nothing was wanting in the courtesy with which they were invariably considered by the men of both armies. On Sundays they were given especial consideration. They were escorted to Mass by a military guard of honor, and received the military salute65 in passing to and fro in the neighborhood of the hospital and the camps. Some of the invalid66 soldiers imagined that every Sister carried a charm about her, and was thus protected from the contagious67 diseases that caused such sad havoc68 among the men. But the supposed charms were not always successful in preventing the Sisters from wearing the martyr’s crown in death. The only charms they carried, as the soldiers soon discovered, were blameless lives, absolute devotion to duty and entire self-forgetfulness.
There was one modest institution near the three large hospitals in Louisville where a great amount of good was done in an unostentatious manner. This was St. Joseph’s Infirmary, conducted by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. This was generally filled in war times with wounded officers and other invalids69 connected with both armies. The good done there, though not quite as conspicuous as elsewhere, was lasting70, and bore fruit in after years.
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1
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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amputation
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| n.截肢 | |
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raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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pneumonia
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| n.肺炎 | |
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ailments
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| 疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 ) | |
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heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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impartially
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| adv.公平地，无私地 | |
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demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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bigotry
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| n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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edifying
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| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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quaintest
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| adj.古色古香的( quaint的最高级 )；少见的，古怪的 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ebbing
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| （指潮水）退( ebb的现在分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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bouquets
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| n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 )；（酒的）芳香 | |
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supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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draughts
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| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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wards
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| 区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态 | |
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unnaturally
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| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
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overestimated
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| 对（数量）估计过高，对…作过高的评价( overestimate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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quota
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| n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额 | |
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martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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exigencies
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| n.急切需要 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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requiem
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| n.安魂曲，安灵曲 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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invalids
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| 病人，残疾者( invalid的名词复数 ) | |
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lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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