(From “Chronicle of the American Sisters of the Eastern Province of the Canonization of St. Louise” [1934], used with permission of the Daughters of Charity Provincial Archives)
March 8, [1934]: Our first visit of the day was to the ancient church of Sts Cosmas and Damien … After Mass we made a tour through the Church. It is very small, comparatively speaking but contains an untold number of relics of the martyrs and saints. The main altar resembles our large reliquary for almost everywhere the eye rests, it beholds a relic. The mosaic in the dome, drawn much closer to the sight [sic] because of the several reconstructions of Rome, is in a splendid state of preservation. As a border underneath the mosaic there are circular portraits of saints very unfamiliar to modern generations.

The Church of St. Praxedes was next on our list. It was an exceedingly interesting, devotional, and historical spot. After examining the various chapels, mosaic, paintings, etc., we followed our guide, a young monk, into the crypt, where we saw the sarcophagi containing the relics of St. Praxedes and her cousin, St. Prudentiana … [In] the far end of the church is a niche nearing a long slab of grey and white marble, once used as a bed by St. Praxedes. Above the slab is a beautiful painting showing her asleep on this penitential couch. In the relic room we venerated many relics, and in particular two spines from the Holy Crown of Thorns …

Our third stop of the morning was at the Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem. This is another of Rome’s earliest Churches, having been built by St. Helena, and its ancient walls enshrine relics of the highest type … Completing the Stations one comes to the sanctuary containing the relics. A young, white-robed monk exposed the relics for our veneration. An aspiration or two in Latin and by the electric lamp held by the monk we saw a large cross in the center of the alter. It contained four large sections of the true cross … [This] church is so rich in relics it would be useless to try to name them all …

This afternoon we went to the Church of St. Susanna … The patroness of the church is not the Susanna of the Old Testament, but Saint Susanna, a Roman maiden who was martyred in 290 A.D. on the site of the present church. Recent excavations have brought to light many evidences of the house of St. Susanna. In one of the side chapels there is an appealing picture of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence.

The visiting Sisters are arriving in large numbers, mainly from various parts of Italy … Our Western Sisters will arrive tomorrow night with our Most Honored Mother.

On March 15, we celebrate the feast of Louise de Marillac. Louise’s canonization took place on March 11, 1934. We are fortunate to have in our collection detailed first-hand accounts from Sisters who traveled to Rome for St. Louise’s canonization. Over the coming days, we will feature passages from these accounts. Each day, from March 8 through March 15, we will highlight the account from the corresponding day in 1934.

In 1934 there were two American provinces of the Daughters of Charity: the Eastern, or Emmitsburg, Province, and the Western, or St. Louis Province. Both Provinces sent delegations to the canonization, but nearly all of the accounts in our collection come from the Emmitsburg Province. Sisters attending the canonization from the Emmitsburg Province were: Sister Paula Dunn, Sister Gertrude Eiseli, Sister Winifred Kerwin, and Sister Delphine Steele. Sisters attending from the St. Louis Province were Sister Mary Barbara Regan, Sister Gertrude Foley, and Sister Alphonsine Casey.

The Sisters from Emmitsburg sailed from the US on February 15, arriving in Naples on the 22nd. The following days were spent visiting churches and historic sites throughout Italy; they arrived in Rome on the 28th. We don’t know the precise itinerary for the St. Louis Sisters, though they were in Italy by the 9th of March.

The account will begin in the following post with March 8, 1934