Having learned from her mother to sew quite beautifully, Barbara was soon helping re-fashion the clothing that came in as donations from the Saint Francis parishioners. Now she also learned penmanship, and developed a very fine copperplate handwriting. When Mother Agatha saw how beautifully she wrote, Barbara was invited to work part time in the office, assisting Mother with her correspondence.
Judith was also glad to have Barbara’s assistance with the children, helping them learn their letters.
~~~
Following Judith’s example, it became Barbara's role to nurture the new youngsters as well and help them settle in and feel secure, the way Judith had helped her. With Barbara as a helpmeet, the two girls took a lot of the burden off Sister Evangeline, who was also responsible for the day-to-day welfare of the children, trying to meet their emotional needs besides filling their bellies and informing their minds.
Between the two of them, Sister Evangeline had joked with Sister Benedicta, she hardly needed to work anymore. Which was a good thing, as she had been elected Mother Superior when Mother Agatha decided to retire, passing the baton of administration on to her.
After years of wrangling with various Boards of Governors and maintaining control of the convent, with the able aid of Sister Evangeline, Mother Agatha now retired into a life of prayer and quiet contemplation and was enjoying the peace.
~~~
And then Judith turned sixteen.
CHAPTER 6 – Emilene
Despite her youth, Emily took to mothering naturally, cradling her daughter, feeding her, and learning to care for her. In this, Judith had proven to be a huge asset, with her prior knowledge of infant care learned from rearing her infant brother. She trained both Emily and Barbara in everything from nursing and diapering to bathing and dressing, and cautioned them to remember to carry a newborn so as to support its head and neck.
“And be sure to burp her frequently when feeding,” Judith cautioned.
For a while it looked as if Emily had rejoined life, as she focused on caring for her little daughter, but she still couldn’t focus in the classroom and her distraction proved contagious. Finally Emily was simply assigned to the Nursery where she helped care for the other infants entrusted to the orphanage. Emily remained relatively lucid when working there, although still saying very little. But she would sing and croon to whichever child she was caring for.
And she insisted upon having her daughter baptized as soon as possible, choosing the name “Emilene Amelia.”
“The ‘Emilene’ part is for me, her mother, so she always remembers me, but different because she is her own person. The ‘Amelia’ is for you, Sister Evangeline, since you have been like a fairy godmother to all of us.”
Sister Evangeline was startled—Amelia was her secular name, from before she took holy orders.
No one knows how children find these things out, but the girls in the house knew the secular names of most of the nuns despite the fact they were never used now, at least not publicly.
CHAPTER 7 – The Board of Directors
Since its inception, the orphanage had had a policy of retaining the girls until they attained at least eighteen years of age, unless specific arrangements had been made for them sooner. Many of the girls, for instance, went into service in the finer houses, where they generally lived in. In fact, Mercy-trained girls were highly sought after.
Other girls, who were apprenticed to shops, remained at the orphanage, working by day and returning each evening to rejoin what family they knew. As they became more independent, some married while others became highly regarded employees. All of this, including how long they stayed in residence, remained at the discretion of the Sisters.
But in 1866 a new Board of Governors was installed which made some draconian changes, including lowering the age of independence to sixteen from eighteen. This meant a number of the young ladies would no longer be eligible to remain within the confines and protection of the Sisters of Mercy.
By now Mother Agatha had retired and Sister Evangeline had been elected Mother Superior in her place. And Mother Evangeline was, frankly, disgusted with this turn of events.
The Order, the Franciscan Sisters of Mercy, had been operating independently for over a century with a Board only nominally responsible for building upkeep and essential supplies, as a charitable entity within the local archdiocese. Now, suddenly, the Board was presuming to take charge of affairs outside its purview.
She sent a letter to the head of their Order, in Rome, requesting clarification of the changes being demanded by the Board. Meanwhile, she began her preparations to protect the young women affected.
To this end she decided to contact her brother, Francis, who was always extolling the wide open spaces and opportunities to be found west of the Mississippi. He’d found great happiness in a small town called Green River, in Kansas, as the priest for the parish of St. Mary on the Hill. Rubbing her temples to ease the tension, she carefully penned a letter, requesting his advice.
CHAPTER 8 – Sharing Concerns
Father Francis Robert Flanagan and The Reverend Mr. Joseph Adam Richardson had become close friends in the years they’d tended their flocks. They shared many of the same issues of sinners, penitents, and faithful; but even more importantly, their congregations shared the same issues of weather and health, crop failures and animal welfare, and basic survival in their daily lives.
While they had been known to discuss, or even argue, theology, they agreed the details might be less meaningful than the overall message to Love Thy Neighbor. Knowing there is strength in numbers, two heads are better than one, and there
