March 26, 2013 · 4:32 pm

DCs and March to Montgomery, March 25, 1965

March 25 is the traditional day for Daughters of Charity around the world to renew their vows. March 25, 1965, was not an ordinary vow day for Daughter of Charity Sr. Beatrice Brown, who participated in Martin Luther King’s march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, as part of a delegation sent by the Archbishop of St. Louis. Below are passages from two news stories written at the time.

(St. Louis Review, March 26, 1965)
Among the thousands of white and Negro marchers who rallied at the Alabama State Capitol at Montgomery yesterday were more than 400 weary St. Louisans who were there because they “wanted to be counted.”

They included Presbyterians and Jews, students and housewives, Catholic priests, nuns, seminarians, and lay people. They included people who paid $45 to $65 each for seats on six chartered airplanes and some who scraped together $17 for the round trip charter bus fare from St. Louis to Montgomery.

They arrived in Montgomery Thursday in time enough to make the last five miles along Highway 80 with Dr. Martin Luther King and the hardy band who had walked five days from Selma.

The huge delegation was organized by the St. Louis Conference on Religion and Race with the blessings of Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish leadership and with a lot of help from church and student groups and many individuals.

Catholic participation alone numbered at least 100 persons, including more than 40 priests, 13 sisters, and several seminarians … At least eight communities were represented in the St. Louis group … [There] were two Religious of the Sacred Heart from Maryville College, a Helper of the Holy Souls, a sister of the Society of St. Joseph of Watertown, NY, a Sister of St. Francis, two Mercy sisters, a School Sister of Notre Dame, and two Precious Blood sisters. There was even a Daughter of Charity who was spending her renewal of vows day marching in Alabama.

Sister Mary Beatrice Brown, of Marillac College, was to have participated in her community’s renewal of vows at a ceremony at Marillac yesterday. To allow her to renew vows and still catch the early plane to Montgomery, the Archdiocesan Human Rights Commission office arranged for Father Norman H. Christian of St. Peter Parish to celebrate a special pre-dawn Mass at the college, where Sister Beatrice renewed her vows. Then the nun and the priest hurried to the plane for Alabama …

(Daughter of Charity Magazine, 1965)
Twenty-five thousand pairs of feet marched the streets of Montgomery, Ala., March 25 in support of the Negro cause for civil rights. Invited as a member of the St. Louis Commission on Human Rights under the direction of Joseph Cardinal Ritter, Sister Beatrice Brown, D.C. participated in this march to the Alabama state capital.

A native southerner herself, Sister Beatrice possesses a personal understanding of both sides of this question. “I went to Montgomery because I am an American … and for all the things I believe in as an American, but still more as a Christian.” …

The primary aim of the demonstration was to show the Negroes in Alabama that they have the support of other Americans, other Christians, other believers in God. Sister believes this is especially important “since these people have Christ as their idea, as their example of non-violence …”

Recounting the day’s events, Sister told of splashing through muddy fields, sometimes at a run, the next minute crawling; sometimes singing, sometimes praying. The crowd was diverse: men and women, young and old, religious and lay. “They were serious minded” was her impression, “and wanted to help the Negroes in their struggle for human rights.” …

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Filed under Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Ministries

March 24, 2013 · 3:34 pm

Feast of Annunciation; Vow Day for Daughters of Charity

On March 25, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation. For Daughters of Charity, March 25 is the traditional day that Sisters around the world renew their vows (the actual vow date can vary slightly depending on the timing of Easter; this year the renewal of vows will take place in early April). Daughters of Charity are unique in that they make annual vows, not perpetual vows. In addition to making the traditional vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience, Daughters of Charity make a fourth vow of service to persons who are poor.

Here is a YouTube video from the Daughters of Charity in Ireland about the history of vows in the Daughters of Charity.

Below are passages from the writings of Vincent and Louise. In the first, Louise asks Vincent for the privilege of making vows, for herself and for the early Sisters. In the second, Vincent de Paul addresses the early Sisters about the vocation of a Daughter of Charity.

Louise de Marillac.
L.615 – TO MONSIEUR VINCENT
March 25 [1659]
(From: Spiritual Writings of Louise de Marillac: Correspondence and
Thoughts. Edited and translated by Sister Louise Sullivan, D.C.
New York, New City Press, 1991)
I had promised myself the honor and the blessing of receiving Holy Communion at your Mass, my Most Honored Father, but I do not deserve this. It is already a great deal that Divine Providence reminded your Charity to be so kind as to grant me about a quarter hour of your time afterwards, otherwise I would have been severely hindered. All our sisters, from far and near, who have had the happiness of pronouncing their vows, and I, unworthy though I be, beg you, my Most Honored Father, to offer us to God in this sovereign mystery so that we may properly renew our vows, particularly the 12 sisters who will have the privilege of assisting at your Mass. We hope to share in it because of the need which your Charity knows we have of this. In all humi1ity, we ask for your paternal blessing. Allow me also to recommend my children to you and to call myself, my Most Honored Father, your very humble servant.

Vincent de Paul, Conference of July 19, 1640
THE VOCATION OF A DAUGHTER OF CHARITY
(From: Vincent de Paul. Correspondence, Conferences, Documents. Vol. 9. Brooklyn, NY: New City, 2004. Translated by Sister Marie Poole, D.C.)

“… Providence has permitted that the very first words of your Rule read as follows: ‘The Company of the Daughters of Charity is established to love and serve God, and to honor Our Lord their Patron and the Blessed Virgin.’ And how will you honor Him? Your Rule tells you, for it goes on to make known to you God’s plan in establishing your Company: ‘To serve the sick poor corporally by supplying them with all they need; and spiritually by seeing that they live and die in a good state.’ So you see, Sisters, you may do all the good you like, but if you don’t do it well, it will profit you nothing. Saint Paul taught us this: give all your goods to the poor, but if you don’t have charity, you’re doing nothing; no, not even should you give your lives. We must imitate the Son of God, dear Sisters, who did nothing except from the motive of the love He had for God His Father. So, your intention in coming to the Charity should be to come here purely for the love and pleasure of God; and, as long as you remain in it, all your actions should tend to that same love … Don’t be content with doing good, but do it in the way God wants, that is, as perfectly as you can, thereby becoming worthy servants of the poor … ”

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Filed under Feast Days, Louise de Marillac, Vincent de Paul, Vows

March 24, 2013 · 3:19 pm

In memoriam: Sister Mary Eugenia Hultman

In memory of Sister Mary Eugenia Hultman, who died March 20, 2013 at Seton Residence, Evansville, Indiana; 94 years of age and 72 years of vocation. May she rest in peace!

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