Rose Hawthorne Lathrop - Humble Servant of the Lord

   Last week, in my Flocknote reflection, I wrote about St Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary from Spain who founded many of the early California missions in the 18th century.  Today, I am writing about a woman from the United States who may one day be a saint herself, as she is in the process of canonization, as proposed by the Archdiocese of New York.  

     Like me, probably most of you when you were in high school read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter that was set in the American colonies of New England.  I remember us discussing the themes of sin, guilt, and repentance in connection with the novel with my high school American literature class, as well as learning about the Puritan view of life that was such a big influence on the formation of our country. A year after that novel was published, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s daughter Rose was born, in the year 1851. She grew up both in Massachusetts and in England, where her father served as US counsel.  She married when she was a young woman, but her marriage was not a happy one, as her husband struggled with alcoholism and with holding down a job.  Another heartbreaking moment happened in her life when she lost her only child when he was 5 years old.  Yet, she and her husband converted to Catholicism when they were traveling in Italy.  It was her Catholic faith that brought her courage and strength.  She separated from her husband and devoted her life to caring for those with incurable cancer, patients who were treated as if they were lepers in America in the late 19^th century. After her husband’s death in 1898, Rose Hawthorne became a Dominican sister.  She established the Dominican Congregation of St Rose of Lima, known as the Servants from Relief for Incurable Cancer.  They established a center for cancer patients in New York.  Rose Hawthorne become Mother Mary Alphonsa in her religious congregation of sisters.  She served as a Dominican sister until her death in 1926. The Dominican priest who is defending Rose Hawthorne’s case for beatification stated that even though she was a lady of culture, education, and social status, she lived amongst the poor and established a home for them where they could live in dignity, cleanliness, and comfort.  She and her religious sisters were the servants to their cancer patients, humbly showing them care, love, and concern.  I remember learning about the life of this remarkable woman of faith through I biography I stumbled across when I was preparing to become a lay missionary entitled Sorrow Built a Bridge.  Out of our pain and sorrows, we can find our calling.  I very much admire Rose Hawthorne Lathrop and her example of faith. 

       Have a blessed week everyone - Father Lincoln.