Project Canterbury
From The Works of the Rt. Rev. Charles C. Grafton
(Volume 4),
edited by B. Talbot Rogers, New York: Longmans, Green, 1914, pp. 160-181
A Journey Godward
of a Servant of Jesus Christ
CHAPTER VIII
THE EPISCOPATE
"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world"
I HAD never thought of it as a possibility of coming to myself. It was like a thunderbolt out of the blue. I had visited a parish in Fond du Lac diocese one summer, taking supply work, and had stayed a few weeks at Nashotah. I had known Bishop J. H. Hobart Brown, my predecessor, and he had preached for me at the Advent, when attending the General Convention in Boston. He was younger than myself, and it was not likely I should survive him, nor was there the least likelihood of my being his successor. He broke down under the strain of worry and work, and fell like a soldier shot down at his post. A most excellent priest was chosen to succeed him, but he declined, and subsequently I was elected.
But it did not come without some blessed mortification. The Church at large did not desire me. I was a Catholic and a religious. Dr. deKoven had been rejected or forced to withdraw. Why should one who had the bad reputation of being an advanced man be confirmed by the Bishops? I was glad to know that my own Bishop, Dr. Paddock, voted for me. Perhaps the confirmation of my election was owing largely to the action of Dr. Potter, the Bishop of New York. He wrote a letter, which was largely made known, in my favor. He became ever to me a wise counsellor and helpful friend. He was truly a broad, liberal, ecclesiastical statesman. He wrote me once, when giving me permission to officiate in his diocese, that he, "did not care to say how much he agreed with me, lest people should think him a heretic!" He seemed best to understand my position of being an Evangelical at heart, while in belief a liberal Catholic. I believe also Phillips Brooks, as a member of the Standing Committee, in the greatness of his heart, voted affirmatively, and I was finally confirmed by the House of Bishops.
There was one other thing connected with the election that brought its own trial, and so purifying blessing. In my human eagerness for the spiritual life and union with God I had once, in my ignorance or pride, asked the dear Lord to give me a stigmata. A wiser and more humble spirituality would wait on what He gives, and not ask for one. Now a stigmata need not be given in the body, but in the soul, and so it came to pass. After giving my young life to the parish work in Baltimore, and having been promised the rectorship when it was vacant, I was rejected. I had a vision of the work that could be done there, and it was with some disappointment that I relinquished it.
Again, what could have been more dear to me than the Society of St. John? Yet there came a strain in our relation to it, and at what I believed a call of duty to the American Church, I was forced to leave it. The mental suffering at that time, with all the wrench involved, was so great that I felt I could scarcely live. Then I had founded St. Margaret's Sisterhood in America, and it again, with my warm, enthusiastic nature, had become something of a spiritual idol, from which my heart was to be weaned. Because I was leaving the Cowley Society the sisters had asked me to resign my chaplaincy, which I did. One day I waited from the early Mass to three o'clock in the afternoon at the altar, seeking light and strength from God to help me bear it, and direct me in my going.
With the Advent parish I had been connected from my early days. To secure a promised peace, and so help souls, I gave up to the English Fathers the old Church on Bowdoin Street, which I had preferred for my proposed religious order, and I took the new one. But though I had done so, there remained in the corporation of the parish a majority who were opposed to me. God did indeed so bless the work that all opposition failed. I now say, and for many years have said, "God bless them all." It was wonderful how love and grace triumphed over misunderstandings, and all the contending parties finally became reconciled. The bones that were reunited were stronger than before the fracture. With love seen in all, the reunion was a marvellous token of the power of Divine grace. What, among worldly men, would have led to endless strife was overruled by God to the sanctification of souls and the increase of His Kingdom.
I had one more thing to bear: that my election to the Episcopate was actually opposed within the diocese by a priest who had been a lifelong friend, and for whom I had made many sacrifices and suffered much. But my affectionate nature needed this further wounding in heart that I might become more detached in spirit, and the supreme love of God should become more victorious in me. I would not dare to say this, save with the hope that some poor brother, who feels himself heart-wounded, if not heart-broken, may find through the pain and suffering an ecstasy of joy, and pass onward and upward into a fuller union with the Lord.
On entering upon my Episcopate I was soon made aware of its condition. Quite a number of the clergy had left, so that there were only eighteen engaged in active work. There were some twenty parishes or missions vacant. Not only had the missions run down, but in some places, I was told, the people did not want the services resumed. Here, in the West, the men were absorbed in their business enterprises and the struggle for their family maintenance. The wave of materialism and its outcome, agnosticism, had made them indifferent to religion. They left it and its support, as they said, to the women, whose resources were confined to fairs, sales, sometimes dancing parties, and other entertainments. The duty and privilege of giving to God, in the way of supporting His Church, was little appreciated. The doctrine of the position of the Church was imperfectly understood. At the see city the cathedral had been built after a fire that had destroyed the former building. It was somewhat spacious in its proportions, but destitute of all Church furniture, having neither pulpit nor lectern, and it had a most forlorn and empty appearance. A churchwoman who came out from Boston to my consecration could not refrain from crying as she saw its destitute and undevotional appearance. It had to be cheaply built and poorly roofed on account of lack of means, so we had to suffer at times from the frequent downpours. The expense of heating it, which was not always successfully done, was a great burden. It had been running behind in its expenses, and a debt of some fifteen thousand dollars had accumulated. To see it now, one can scarcely recognize its former condition. My own resources were, at that time, limited to my salary of twenty-five hundred dollars and a few hundred given me by my old parish for missionary work. I made some appeals to the East and preached two or three sermons asking for aid. I had thought that, as I had gone out on the firing line and a great opportunity for the cause had been opened, there would have been an interest aroused in its report. But my sermons failed to bring in any substantial support. Perhaps it was my fault, not knowing how to present my case. I remember preaching in a large city church and receiving on that occasion the sum of nine dollars. At another an old friend came forward and gave me ten dollars. I spoke at a missionary meeting in a large city and heard the remark made: "What does he come here for? He is not a Missionary Bishop"; and I got nothing. Only on two occasions do I remember getting a few hundred dollars.
I am not blaming anyone unless it is myself. The Catholic party is not gifted with much wealth, and in the East it is absorbed in its own parish work. That I have been aided financially is true, but the aid has come from a very few individuals, who have known and trusted me and given to the cause which I represent. But it did not come in the beginning.
I was in no way disheartened. I had a very rich Father. He owned the whole universe. I was His child, and I knew He would give me all that was needed. To share, however, in Christ's riches, one must share in His poverty. So I began as best I could. My religious training had accustomed me to go without comfort, and instead of keeping house I took two rooms and boarded at ten dollars a week. This went on for some years. This left me something financially to work with. My own idea has been, all that I am and all that I have belongs to God. Like a faithful servant, I must only take out of His treasury sufficient to meet the proper expenses of food, raiment, travelling expenses, and shelter. The diocese was poor, but for that reason I had been sent to it.
What interested me from the beginning in my Episcopate was the work which opened to me among the Indians. Upon a government reservation of about twelve miles by nine there were settled a portion of the famous tribe of the Oneidas. Their previous home had been in central New York State, where they had originally formed part of the Confederation of the Six Nations. The influence of this great confederacy, which was called the Long House, extended from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf; and at its great Council the Oneidas were second in the order of precedence. The tribe was the oldest of our Church's Indian missions, starting under the direction of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. In 1709 four of the Iroquois Sachems crossed the ocean, and presenting to Queen Anne belts of wampum as a token of the loyalty of the Six Nations, begged her, since "we have had some knowledge of the Saviour of the world," to send them missionaries. The missions established had varying success, and were not without opposition. Lord Conbury, the royal Governor at New York, summoned Mr. Moore, one of the missionaries, before him. The Governor had him arrested and imprisoned in Fort Anne. The alleged irregularity was "the celebrating of the Blessed Sacrament as often as once a fortnight," which frequency he, the Governor, was pleased to forbid.
After the Revolution the Mohawks, having been loyal to the British Crown, retired to Canada; the Oneidas remained. Bishop Hobart, consecrated Bishop of New York in 1811, began at once a visitation to the Oneidas and confirmed at that time a class of eighty-nine. As showing their spirit, I quote from an address made to him by the chiefs.
"RT. REV. FATHER:
"We salute you in the name of the Ever adorable, Ever blessed, Ever living, Sovereign Lord of the Universe. We acknowledge this great and Almighty Being as our Creator, Preserver, and constant Benefactor. We rejoice to say, we see now that the Christian religion is intended for the good of the Indians as well as for the white people. We see and do feel that the religion of the Gospel will make us happy in this and the world to come.
"Rt. Rev. Father, as the head and Father of the Holy Apostolic Church in this State, we entreat you to take a special charge of us. We are ignorant, we are poor, and need your assistance. Come, Venerable Father, and visit your children, and warm their hearts by your presence, in the things which belong to their everlasting peace."The Oneidas had in 1823 and following years moved to Wisconsin, and had purchased from the Menominee Indians, with the approval of the United States Government, the reservation on which they now are. The white man's greed, however, sought to deprive them of it. The Government was influenced to make proposals to them for a removal to the much farther West. They had among them some notable chiefs. Skenandore was one; Daniel Bread, a famous orator, was another; and also Cornelius Hill, who eloquently, and with a patriotic spirit, rejected the proposals of the Government. "The whites," he said, "are not willing to give us time to become civilized, but we must move to some barbarous country as soon as civilization approaches us. The civilization at which I and the greater part of my people aim is one of truth and honor; one that will raise us to a higher state of existence here on earth and fit us for a blessed one in the next. For this civilization we intend to striveright here where we arebeing sure that we shall find it no sooner in the wilds beyond the Mississippi. Progress is our motto, and you who labor to deprive us of this small spot of God's footstool will labor in vain. We will not sign your treaty; no amount of money can tempt us to sell our people. You say our answer 'must be given to-day.' You 'can't be troubled any longer with these council meetings.' You shall have your wishand it is one you will hear every time you seek to drive us from our lands. NO!"
This chief, who for many years was the interpreter in the Church's services, was subsequently priested by me.
In seeking the spiritual development of the tribe I quite agreed with the policy of Bishop Hobart, who held that civilization and Christianity must go forth together. The Indian must be taught and helped both to pray and to work. The Indian's inherited instincts do not tend to make him easily an agriculturist. By origin and environment he was a born hunter. He was lord of a territory hundreds of miles in extent. The lakes and rivers were full of fish, the woods of deer. He moved his temporary residence as the season tempted him, with the freedom of a lord. How is he to be taught to settle down to farm work? He loved his horse, but had no affection for a cow. He was not lazy, but he did not like steady occupation.
If we look now at the tribe, we see them settled in comfortable homes. The old log hut, or the tepee, has passed away. The men and women are dressed in the same costume as the whites. A creamery has taught them the value and the profit of stock raising. They raise good crops. They have a fine parish house, built at the expense of some ten thousand dollars, which gives a meeting place for lectures and for recreation. They have also a fine band. A hospital is on the mission ground, and one of the Indians is a professionally trained physician.
The large church, with its chancel forty feet deep, capable of holding some eight hundred or one thousand persons, was erected largely at their own expense. A noble work has been done, especially among the women, by the Sisters of the Holy Nativity, which has established a branch house on the mission grounds. The sisters have introduced amongst the women the lace industry, which brings in no small profit. They have given instruction to the candidates for Confirmation, and, assisted by an interpreter, general instructions to the congregation before Evensong on Sunday. But above all, it is by their personal influence and sympathy and living amongst the people that they have done so much good. The Indians resort to them, knowing they will do anything for them that lies in their power, whether it be the reading or the writing of a letter, the solution of a problem in surveying, the giving of advice in trouble or perplexity, comfort in sorrow, small gifts in time of need, medicine or delicacies in sickness, spiritual help and teaching, resolution of questions in morals, a text of Scripture explained, a lesson given in some new lace stitch, some aid when an old Indian comes definitely "to get uncrossed," as he puts it. Their social interests naturally centre round their church. We find a number diligent in their attendance at the Holy Eucharist, which is offered every Sunday and several times in their chapel during the week.
Their deportment in church is most reverent. They have not the emotional characteristics of the black people. There is a reserve and dignity of bearing amongst the Indians. I have been impressed with the reality of their Christian life. Here, and perhaps nowhere else in our Church, is to be seen a service of public restoration to Communion. To hear them sing the Te Deum, which they only do on special occasionsto an old inherited chant with a "Hallelujah" at the end of each verseis most inspiring. With the aid of Cornelius Hill and others I translated an abbreviated form of our Holy Communion office into the Oneida language. The growth of the tribe in intelligent Churchmanship and spirituality has kept pace with its advancing civilization.
There was another feature of the diocese that interested me and presented its own problem. In Wisconsin a greater number of nations are represented than, I believe, in any other State. It has been said that nearly seventy per cent of the population were foreign or descendants of foreigners. Here we have Germans, French, Swedes, Belgians, Norwegians, Danes, Icelanders, Polanders, Bulgarians, Italians, Greeks and Armenians. I felt that I had foreign missions dumped down at my front door. The problem was how to reach these various nationalities. Was the Episcopal Church here to be merely the Church of emigrants from new York or New England? Had the Church a power to reach members of these several nationalities and supply their spiritual needs? If she was Catholic in her doctrine and worship she certainly would meet all nations. It is with intense satisfaction that I feel she has done so. The Church planted in localities where most of the people were Swedes or Bulgarians or Belgians has found a footing, and congregations have developed. Of course some adaptation or accommodations have been made. Thus, for instance, the Lutherans have to be carefully treated in respect to their confirmations. With the advice of some of my fellow-bishops I have ruled that I do not require the adult Lutherans to come publicly forward for Confirmation. They have already witnessed their belief in Christ before a Christian congregation. They have received, too, a pastoral blessing, which is good as far as it goes. On being admitted to our communion I have only asked them to come at a separate service and receive the laying on of hands of a Bishop, and so gain the grace of confirmation.
The Belgian Old Catholics, also, much interested me, as they had my predecessor.
A number of Roman Catholics situated in Door County, and who are mostly Belgian, had broken away from Rome and taken the position of Old Catholics.
Bishop Brown laid the situation before our Bishops in Council. They agreed to let Bishop Brown take charge of the work as Bishop, and permitted the use there of the Old Catholic Liturgy used in Switzerland. It was to form thus a sort of uniat Church. Bishop Brown informed me of these facts, and Bishop Williams, our Presiding Bishop, also, when I became Bishop, confirmed this statement.
A Frenchman of the name of Rene Vilatte, who had left the Roman Catholic Church and taken charge of a Presbyterian place of worship at Green Bay, applied to Bishop Brown. He became, according to the official record, a candidate for Holy Orders in our diocese. In order to shorten the time of his candidacy, and meet the requirements of the new work, Bishop Brown sent him to Switzerland. There Bishop Herzog, acting for Bishop Brown and at his request, ordained him, he, Vilatte, taking his canonical oath of obedience to the Bishop of Fond du Lac. He was given charge of this Old Catholic mission, the property of the church and buildings belonging to our diocese. He was partly supported out of the diocesan funds, sat in the Council along with the other priests belonging to the diocese, and was visited by the Bishop, who confirmed his candidates, and was, like any other clergyman, under the Bishop's jurisdiction. The work, however, was a very small one, though exaggerated reports were given out about it by Vilatte, who, being ambitious to become a Bishop, applied to the Old Catholics in Holland. He proposed to me to be consecrated as a "Bishop-Abbot" to the American Old Catholics and as a suffragan to myself; but the canons of our Church did not allow of this, and as I had no authority to do so, I refused his request. Neither did I think him either morally or intellectually fitted for the office.
I consulted with the Rt. Rev. Dr. Williams, our Presiding Bishop, as to what I should do. Acting under his advice, I wrote the Archbishop of Utrecht that I would transfer Vilatte from my jurisdiction to that of His Eminence if he so wished. In this way our Church would be relieved of Vilatte and not responsible for having any connection with him. I pointed out to the Archbishop that all the property of the mission belonged to our diocese and was legally held by it. In case of his accepting Vilatte, he, Vilatte, would be obliged to leave this work, and I would appoint some other in his place.
The Old Catholics of Holland declined. Subsequently Vilatte repudiated my jurisdiction and left our communion, whereupon, according to our canons, I was obliged to depose him. He had lost, when he left, the confidence of all our clergy and people. He subsequently obtained a consecration from some Bishop in India, who, I think, was deceived by his statements as to his relation to myself and the extent of his work. The American Bishops declared his episcopal orders to be void. Subsequently he submitted to and rejoined the Roman Communion. Again he left Rome and has become an ecclesiastical wanderer. But the work in my diocese has gone on, and I have now three parishes under three priests, where the Old Catholic services are continued. In all this difficult matter, difficult for a young Bishop, I consulted our Presiding Bishop and followed his counsel. We did not wish to further a scheme which would make Vilatte a Bishop, nor did we wish to offend the Old Catholics of Holland. Bishop Williams, in stating the matter, as he did subsequently, to the House of Bishops, warmly commended the course I had taken, as having saved the Church from what might have become a great scandal, like to that of the Mexican affair.
EDUCATIONAL WORK
It was a source of joy to me to find that my predecessor had in 1886 started a small home school for girls, which he had placed under the care of a sisterhood of widows called after St. Monica. It occupied two lots near the cathedral and had about a hundred and forty feet of frontage. The buildings were old, and at the time Bishop Brown passed away they were much in debt. It is a mercy that this good, faithful Bishop did not know or realize the amount. The debts of which I became aware did not seem to decrease, and after a time I had to employ an expert, and then found that the indebtedness was at least seven thousand dollars. I could have let the school go into bankruptcy, but it would scarcely have paid its creditors ten cents on a dollar. A failure of this kind would have brought scandal on the Church and greatly injured its standing amongst the people. I think I was made ill by this new strain, which I have only partially stated. But I was enabled by the good offices of friends to pay off the debt and to reorganize the school. At the request of the sisters, and on my nomination, the Rev. B. Talbot Rogers took charge of it in 1893. We began to sell the old buildings and to erect, gradually, a large stone one. But, as all my works have suffered from put-backs, or Satan's assaults, so I had another. A good churchwoman, a widow of my diocese, consulted me about the making of a will. I said first: "There are your two boys to be provided for." "They will have," she said "all that is good for them. My own means I wish to give to the Church in our diocese." On one occasion she said to me: "I have left you a large sum of money." I said: "Of course it is for the Church, and I will so dispose of it." She was taken ill and then told me: "My will is in the bank and my brother" (who was one of its chief officers) "is my man of business." On my inquiring of him, after her decease, about his sister's will, he said she never left any. I could do nothing, save pray that my good angels would come to my aid. They did. The will was never found, but the man was found out to be a great defaulter and was sent to the United States prison.
The school, taking the name of Grafton Hall, was finally completed. It is a grand stone building, with a slate roof, a frontage of a hundred and eighty feet, with a wing extending a hundred and fifty. It is admirably equipped and furnished. It has its own artesian water supply and electric lighting and heating plant. It now occupies five acres or more of land. It is practically fireproof. Every young lady student has her own room. There has been no serious illness during the whole fifteen years since its construction. There are about one hundred students in all departments.
The educational work is divided into three separate departments. There is a Preparatory or Grammar School, which has a building by itself and has mostly day scholars. Then there is the Academy or High School grade, and, lastly, the Seminary, or Junior College, which covers three years of college work. There are also the affiliated departments of music, domestic science, art, and physical training. The Academy is accredited by the State University. The graduates of the Seminary are admitted on our diplomas to the Universities for the Sophomore and Junior years. It is incorporated under the general statutes of the State, which require all its income to be used for school purposes. It can thus pay no dividends and it is free from taxation. It is without expense for rent and so its rates are low. It has a faculty of twenty teachers. Its school life is marked by brightness and happiness and fair diligence in study. Religion is not forced upon the students, but enters into their life in a voluntary and healthy way. Reaching the best of our Western society, the influence of the institution is growing every year. It needs, as all educational institutions do, an endowment. I cannot thank God enough as I have seen class after class go out, trained in good religious principles and well equipped for life's duties for the privilege given me in establishing this noble work.
THE CATHEDRAL
Bishop Brown had been, when a priest, greatly interested in the cathedral system. He had been largely consulted in drawing up the statutes of the cathedral at Albany. When he came out to the diocese he had the intention of establishing the system here. He got St. Paul's parish, Fond du Lac, to take steps to change its parish organization into that of a cathedral.
It was part of the scheme that the owners of the pews should relinquish their rights and establish the custom of free sittings. My own feeling has ever been in favor of a church thus open to rich and poor alike, but my experience has been that some endowment or pledge-envelope system is necessary for its support. It was especially necessary here, where the expense incident to a cathedral organization was large and the congregation not wealthy. Although it has a daily Celebration and the offices are daily said, its whole yearly expense for fuel, lights, sexton, organist, choir, and clergy is within four thousand dollars. This is not so much as a small city mission in the East requires for its maintenance. Yet this small amount is not met by the ordinary voluntary offerings of the people. Our cathedral, I may here say, needs a partial endowment. It was a great act of faith on the part of Bishop Brown to give up a settled income derived from pew rents, and it has been a struggle on the part of the people to keep out of debt.
The Council of the diocese accepted St. Paul's as its cathedral church and imposed upon Bishop Brown the duty of drawing up its statutes, but he died before he had accomplished this work. I took it up very slowly. There had been at this time in America two types of a cathedral. In one the Bishop was in the place of a rector, and the so-called Canons were practically his assistants. In the other case, and it was where a parish had been dignified with the title of a cathedral, the rector, to whom was given the title of Dean, continued to be rector. In the first instance the Bishop was everything, everybody being under him. In the second he was nothing, or his authority was largely controlled by the rector. In some dioceses, as in Albany, a complicated system of a larger and a smaller chapter was established. It seemed to me that the machinery was cumbersome and complicated.
In our cathedral system the Bishop is the Dean. The heads of our schools, which are thus connected with the cathedral, are ex-officio Canons. Another Canon, who is responsible under the Dean for the spiritual care of the people, is nominated by the Bishop and chosen by the chapter. He has charge of the Sunday school and of the parish visiting. The rights of the laity are secured by an election, at Easter, of five laymen. The diocese is represented by its Treasurer and the Archdeacons. It is to be noted that there is no one person who exercises the power that a rector does in an ordinary parish. Rectorial powers are distributed. All the Canons have equal rights in the cathedral and take part as directed by the Dean in the services. The laity can call on any one Canon for baptism or marriage or funeral, and can resort to any they please for confession. The Dean publishes and posts in the sacristy a monthly list of the daily celebrants and monthly preachers.
The question of ritual is a somewhat difficult one. It is important that a certain uniformity should be observed and that changes should not, even by the Bishop, be arbitrarily made. It is therefore expedient that there should be a book of customs regulating the chief points of ceremonial and ritual. This is drawn up by all the clerical members of the chapter, and cannot be altered by the Bishop, save after deliberation and vote of the chapter. This protects all parties.
The harmonious working of this system has been a proof of its efficacy. It has been, with modifications, adopted elsewhere. It differs so from the English method that it may be called the American Cathedral System.
THE CONVENT
The Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity is especially devoted to the devotional life, the help of souls, and the aid of the clergy. The life is based on the three counsels of perfection: Poverty, chastity, and obedience. But as every community has its own expression of the life and should be adapted to its own kind and Church environment, so it is with ours. The religious life has passed through many phases, has been severely attacked by the world, and has not been without its own faults. To love a simple life, and so to practise poverty, is to imitate the Master. It is both a healthy life and a witness against the luxury of the world. But as is well known, religious, professing individual poverty, have sought wealth for their orders. In Scotland, for instance, a large portion of the landed estates was in the hands of the monks. The history of religious communities shows how drastic reforms were needed to remove this and other evils.
In the Nativity Sisterhood a novice is at liberty to dispose of her income at her own discretion, and when inheriting property, at the time of her profession, makes a will, disposing of her property with due regard to any claims of her relations.
The extremes of asceticism are avoided. In respect of food the order is bidden to take into consideration "the laws of health, that are better understood now than formerly, and to avoid making a rule of diet so strict as to require dispensation, for its is far better to have a moderate rule observed than the appearance of keeping a severe one which must be broken."
In respect of chastity, her rule declares, hers is not an enclosed life. In union with the missionary spirit of Jesus, the sister mingles with the world that she may win souls to Him. It is not by killing her affections that she will do this. She will love her Superior, her sisters, her relatives, and those to whom she ministers. The heart is not to be dead, by living with the love of God. It is a saying of a saint that "we do not love God more by ceasing to love our fellow-men." The love of our fellow must not come in between us to separate us from the love of God, but should help us to rise into the fulness of His love. The exaggerated way in which obedience has been developed in some orders has made us find its limitations. It is limited in three ways: by the moral law, by the Church's authority, and by the object which the institute proposes to itself. Thus, no one can be commanded to violate a moral precept, or to disobey the purposes for which the sisterhood was formed. The basis of all profitable obedience must be love; the love of God and of all others in Him. Based on these broad principles, the sisterhood has proved a singularly happy and united one.
Transcribed by David Donnell, A.D. 2001
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