CHAPTER 4.

  (EPILOGUE)

Heaven

      Early in 1936, Mother Aloysius was at death's door from flu pneumonia complicated to such proportions that her heart-beat was a different count from her pulse. We had the doctor's assurance that for two weeks she was as close to death as anyone could get without actually dying. But Mother slowly recovered after a year of rest and care, and was once more able to serve the Community as actively as ever.

     More serious, because more noticeable to her, were her eyes. She was afflicted with glaucoma the last few years of her life, and Mother dreaded the thought that some morning she would awaken blind. Her one anxiety was to save her sight so as to be able to read her Breviary

and assist at the Divine Office in Choir. God heard her prayer, and in His loving designs arranged that she should even be the mainstay of the Office her second last week an earth and preside over the Community in the absence of the Prioress and Subprioress who were then ill in bed with a virus infection.

      On December 28, 1954, many of the Nuns became ill with a virus intestinal flu and were in bed for nearly a week. Mother Aloysius also caught the germ and ran such a high temperature that her lungs and chest were affected and everyone feared pneumonia. However, after several days of rest and medicine, our patient stoutly declared that she was "all right" and resumed her usual routine with the exception that now she was more willing to say her Divine Office privately and to retire earlier.

      After several weeks had elapsed, Mother Aloysius spoke to Reverend Mother one day that she was convinced her death was near. She maintained that something had happened to her lung during her illness the previous Christmas, but her color and energetic manner seemed to belie any serious malady and there was no further discussion on the subject just then. Nevertheless, at the first opportunity, Reverend Mother asked our doctor's opinion. He firmly rejected the idea about Mother Aloysius having had any serious illness but promised to examine her the next time he visited Carmel.

      The occasion was not long in coming. After carefully examining Mother's lungs, he reassured us once more there was nothing worse than usual and repeated that she did not have pneumonia at Christmas time. But as the end drew near, Mother did seem to have greater difficulty breathing, especially when she had a sneezing spell, and she would remark more frequently that she had a bad night "due to the oppressive air."

      The weeks sped by, and Mother Aloysius was always busy working on account books, etc. (She was First Discreet.) While she did not seem perfectly well, she was never absent from any Community act, and a deepening of her fervor could be observed. We wondered at her will power. On two other occasions when conversing with Reverend Mother, she insisted that she would not live long, and after her death it was discovered how minutely and thoroughly had been her preparation so as to leave everything in perfect order.

      Beginning Easter Monday, 1955, the Sisters, one by one, began to complain of sore throats and were found to be running high temperatures as a result of virus laryngitis. The doctor diagnosed this epidemic as the flu of World War I, and he said the only reason people survived was due to the powerful drugs available since World War II. Penicillin became the order of the day, but Mother Aloysius, who was infirmarian, did not receive a shot because she insisted she had no fever. The Office in Choir was difficult because so many were missing, and those who were left could only manage to recite it in a speaking tone of voice.

 

      Everyone warned Mother to be careful, but she would point out that the germ was in the atmosphere, and since she had not succumbed to it as yet, she had good reason to think she was immune. Further argument was futile.

      Friday, she began to feel a little weak, but blamed it on the extra exertion she had been putting forth the previous days. On Saturday, she was running a temperature, and Reverend Mother, who had no fever for the first time that week, ordered her to bed after coffee to rest as much as possible. This virus infection was very enervating, so that rest was absolutely imperative.

      Mother Aloysius' fever mounted, and the next morning, Sunday, she received Holy Communion in her cell, which was to be her Viaticum. During the noon siesta that day, Mother began to feel nauseated which she thought was due to her heart, and she was given an antidote to relieve it. As soon as she swallowed it she had a frightening sinking spell, and Reverend Mother was called to her side. The doctor and the priest were summoned at once, but before either of them came, Mother returned to herself, to our immense relief.

      A shot of penicillin, and some heart tablets to be taken at regular intervals was the doctor's prescription, and he was satisfied that she was not in danger of death. Just the same, at 5:00 P.M. when Father Raymond Miller, C.Ss.R., arrived, Mother was anointed because we would rather be safe than sorry, and another sinking spell could easily be the end. All the ceremonies of the Manual were performed, and though Father was willing to give her Holy Communion, our beloved patient seemed so much better it was decided to wait until morning.

      Mother felt weak, as was to be expected, but her mind was still active, and she even requested to have tea and crackers for supper. During recreation she, talked freely to those who watched beside her, but she would occasionally interrupt the conversation to ask for more tea and crackers. This happened four or five times, but she merely sipped a few drops of tea and ate only one or two crackers in all. Shortly before midnight, the infirmarian asked if she would like a drink of water, and Mother, being assured that it was only 11:45 P.M., took a heart tablet and drank some water. (Mother Aloysius was very slow about taking advantage of the new decree concerning the Eucharistic fast.)   A half-hour later, a drastic change took place, and she had another sinking spell accompanied with nausea, more severe than the first one. From that time on, she refused to speak except to whisper once or twice, "I'm so sick," and she would move around restlessly from one position to another, throwing off her blankets, rising up as though to dress, then rubbing her forehead anxiously, would sink back on her pillows exhausted. No one could persuade her to lie quietly in bed, and the best procedure seemed to be to allow her to move around like this without forcing her to be still.

      Having persistently refused all nourishment since midnight which certainly indicated that she was preparing to receive Holy Communion, we asked her if she wanted to receive. She said she did, and when her cell was in readiness, our chaplain, Msgr. John C. McAuliffe, carried the Blessed Sacrament to the dormitory. When he arrived at her bedside, Mother suddenly lapsed into unconsciousness and refused to open her mouth. Those who remained with her during Mass reported she had grown restless again,but it was getting more apparent that she was also growing much weaker. At 9:30 A.M. Father Miller returned to recite the prayers for the dying. Oddly enough, when Father entered her cell and began to pray, Mother settled back on her pillow content and perfectly composed. Although she still did not speak, her eyes seemed to recognize the priestly presence, and her lips moved during the rosary in perfect rhythm with every "Hail Mary." This was hardly mechanical because Father varied the tempo and inserted extra prayers between decades. Suddenly, during the fifth decade, Mother gasped for breath and had another sinking spell, but by the time the rosary was finished, she was quiet once more.

     Mother's breathing was very difficult, and her congested throat and lungs caused us to fear suffocation. We finally decided that arrangements should be made to move her to Mercy Hospital in Davenport where she could receive the care we could not give her at home, and the ambulence drove her there at 11:00 A.M., April 18.   Her restlessness grew worse in the hospital so that the nurses were forced to inject the intravenous under her skin instead of into her vein. The doctor told us she was suffering from pneumonia, and assured us that although she gave every indication of a stroke, old people occasionally act this way due to debility caused by pneumonia. He ordered a respirator to remove the mucous from her throat at regular intervals which gave Mother the most relief, and also kept her alive.

      For the rest of the week, everyone lived in expectation of the worst, and each time the telephone rang, the house would stand still, thinking it might be the word from the hospital we all dreaded to hear.

      Msgr. Maurice T. Dingman, Chancellor of Davenport and our former chaplain now stationed at the hospital, visited Mother many times each day and night, and recited all the prayers in the Ritual. Her Dominican nephew, Father Richard Murphy, drove down from Dubuque to see her, and though he prayed in her room for a long time, she never recognized him. Our Most Reverend Bishop gave her his blessing on Saturday, and that same evening, Father Philip Foley, O.C.D., arrived in town for a Third Order meeting and hurried to the hospital to recite all the prayers for Mother. While he was there, Mother had a severe sinking spell but rallied once again. However, we knew that it was now only a matter of hours, and our hearts grew heavy at the thought.

      At 3:00 A.M., Sunday, April 24, 1955, Mother took a deep breath followed by two short ones, and then peacefully slept in the embrace of her Divine Spouse. The nurse in attendance, a devoted friend and benefactor of ours, said Mother was not in any pain and had slept quietly right to the end. The body arrived at 4:20 A.M., and the undertakers finished the embalming in time for us to escort it to the Choir for our 7:00 A.M. Mass, which happened to be the Mass of the Good Shepherd chanted by Father Philip.

      Announcements were made in all the Davenport churches, in the newspapers and, we are told, also on the radio and TV. People crowded into the chapel for three days, and school children flocked to the grate in droves and prayed aloud with all their childish fervor. Since Mother was laid out on a grey velvet bier, she could be seen with ease,and everyone remarked the youthfulness of her expression, exclaiming that she looked to be no more than thirty-five or forty. She was eighty-three.

      Our Most Reverend Bishop, Ralph L. Hayes, S.T.D., celebrated the Pontifical Requiem on April 27 at 9:00 A.M., the feast of the Solemnity of St. Joseph. The Assistant-priest was Msgr. M. Dingman; the Deacon and Sub-deacon, Father Philip Foley, O.C.D., and Father James

J Minett. Assisting at the throne were Mother's two nephews, Father Richard Murphy, O.P., and Father George Smith. Msgr. Maurice J. Dingman preached a beautiful eulogy, a copy of which is preserved in our monastery.

      Twenty seminarians from Saint Ambrose College chanted the solemn Gregorian Requiem under the direction of Father Cletus P. Madsen.

      The immediate family were all represented by one or two nieces or nephews. Nephews among the pall-bearers included: Alfred and Lloyd (Aloysius) Smith, (I'da's); Kevin Remick, (Nettie's); Raymond McKenna, (Mary's son-in-law).

      The Nuns carrying lighted candles led the funeral cortege down to the crypt which is located under the sanctuary. Mother's coffin is unpainted oak and had been shipped by fast express from Cincinnati. Unpainted wooden coffins are not always available, and we were fortunate to have procured this one. It would have pleased Mother very much. She lies opposite Mother Clare, and the arrangement reminds one of the early days when Mother Clare presided as Prioress and Mother Aloysius as Subprioress.

      When our Bishop met the Community for a few minutes in the speak room after the Mass, he remarked that if a funeral could be called beautiful, this funeral certainly was, and that a Carmelite funeral compares in solemnity with that of a Pope. As former rector of the North American College in Rome, he ought to know.

      Expressions of sympathy arrived from all our Carmels, and we deeply appreciated their sisterly union of prayer and affection. We are certain that Mother Aloysius, who did not limit her motherly solicitude to Bettendorf alone while on earth, will continue to interest herself in each and every one, and her prayers will always follow them, wherever they may happen to be.

      May Our Lady of Good Counsel, whose loving care was such an inspiration to Mother throughout her life, guide us safely to the haven of peace for which we all yearn.

The Carmelite Nuns

  Bettendorf

Iowa

Feast of All Saints

November 1, 1956

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