Jewels from Jane - August 18
August 18, 1938
"It was a century later, years after the 1836 North American foundation at Carondelet, in April of 1938, that Reverend Mother Rose Columba McGinnis, Superior General of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, received an urgent plea from the Very Reverend Stephen Paul Alencastre, SS.CC., Vicar Apostolic of Hawaii. The letter expressed a desperate need for sister teachers to take over St. Theresa's School, one of the largest in the vicariate and located in Honolulu. Originally the school had been opened in 1931 under the direction of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. With the pressures of rapidly increasing enrollments in their other school, the Sacred Heart Sisters could no longer staff St. Theresa's.
"In his communication Bishop Alencastre had pleaded for twelve sisters for the parochial school, stating that the Sisters of St. Joseph had been highly recommended to him. He also enclosed Articles of Agreement which were practical, most satisfactory, and in agreement with the Holy Rule. On April 24, Reverend Mother Rose Columba cabled a regretful refusal stating her inability to provide sisters: 'Appreciate offer. Regret inability to accept.'
"The faith-filled Bishop, pressed by the urgency of this difficult situation, sent another cablegram on the following day: 'Please, at least six to begin with; otherwise obliged to close school.'
"This repeated appeal Reverend Mother Rose Columba considered as a call to the congregation to 'put off a little from the shore.' After prayer, consultation and discernment she decided to move ahead on the proposal. With characteristic zeal, Reverend Mother Rose Columba, accompanied by Mother Mary Killian Corbett, provincial superior of the Los Angeles Province, in May of 1938, sailed to Hawaii to explore possibilities and to gather information about the island mission. As a result of their five-day visit in Honolulu, a new and fascinating chapter in the history of the Sisters of St. Joseph was begun.
"By July, nine Sisters of St. Joseph had been chosen for Hawaii. Ranging in age from twenty-one to fifty-eight years, these missionaries prepared themselves for a mid-August departure from St. Mary's Academy, the provincial house in Los Angeles. From the St. Louis Province came Sister Mary Virginia Becker, superior; Sister Mary Zenaide Belanger, assistant; Sister Mary Felix Jochem, Sister Frances Celine Leahy and Sister Alice Josephine [Marguerite]Tornovish. The four sisters from the Los Angeles province were Sister Mary Faber Vanderwerf, Sister Adele Marie Lemon, Sister Mary Anne Bahner, and Sister Ann Patrice O'Conner. Once again, with an intense desire to serve the needs of the people, our sisters--chosen and sent--headed for the Pacific Paradise with that same spirit of faith-filled love and joyful expectancy.
"On August 18th, in the late afternoon, our nine missionaries boarded the S.S. Lurline, the princess of the Matson Line, at the Wilmington Dock in Los Angeles. Two hours later, as the ship pulled out to sea, all members of the newly formed community knew and experienced the deepest meaning of an Abraham-call, 'Leave your home; move from the well-known to the unknown and trust in the journey to which I have called you.' With the beautiful strains of the Ave Maris Stella still singing in their hearts and the promise of the prayers of the community alive in their memories, all was well."
From "Aloha Ke Akua: The Love of God" by Kathleen Marie Shields, CSJ. Used with permission.
