Any attempt at church history in a state or in a city would be incomplete without honorable mention of the Sisters. The history of the parish school is also the history of the Sisters, that glorious body of women who have given and who give their lives to the uplifting of the human race. That branch of the Sisterhood which devotes their lives to teaching is one of the most powerful allies the church has in keeping her members faithful. The teaching orders are not alone in the work of education. The Sisters have done a great work on the battle field and in hospitals in opening the eyes of the world to the great ends sought by the church.
MERCY HOSPITAL
There are many orders, each doing their own work in their own place. Wherever there is work to be done, or good deeds to be performed, there we find the Sisters with an eye single to their work and looking for their reward in the world to come. To come from general to particulars, I would be untrue to my promise if I did not call particular attention to one institution in particular, namely, Mercy Hospital. There are few Catholics in Iowa who are not acquainted with Mercy Hospital, Cedar Rapids, and the great work being done by the Sisters of Mercy.
The absolute need for such an institution became so much a necessity in Cedar Rapids that on November 15, 1900, the Sisters for the first time began operations in an old residence quite near their convent. For three years, under conditions entirely inadequate, they ministered to the needs of their constantly increasing patrons, till they were compelled by necessity and their rapidly increasing work to build the present institution, which compares favorably with any similar institution in the country and offers every facility to the medical profession.
The corner stone of this beautiful building was laid on August 15, 1902, and the building was completed by December 1, 1903. It cost over $100,000. It is in charge of the Sisters of Mercy of Cedar Rapids community, who also have charge of Sacred Heart Academy on Mound Farm, and of St. Joseph's parochial school, with St. Wenceslaus' school and St. Berchman's Seminary, Marion, together with several schools through Iowa, and of the Mercy Hospital at Kalispel, Montana.
So great has been the success of this institution that there is need at present for an addition. There is a large training school for nurses in which at present there are twenty-five pupils. The management of the institution is accomplished by the Sisters, who at present number about fifteen, among whom there are seven qualified trained nurses.
Ability of more than ordinary character is required to manage successfully an institution like Mercy Hospital. And as the work increases the greater the strain on the management. This position of trust and responsibility has been capably filled for nearly ten years by Sister Mary Alphonsus. She it was who first assumed charge of the little hospital on Third avenue. She has seen that mustard seed grow into the present beautiful institution. Sister Alphonsus, always solicitous for the comfort of others, overtaxed her limited strength. Never physically strong, she has given herself most generously in constant care and vigilance to the duties of her responsible position. Forgetting herself to be of help to others, it is not surprising that her frail constitution should give way, when one considers the responsibility of her position. This fact, coupled with the recent death of her beloved mother, to whom she was much attached, almost completely undermined her physical condition, and acting on the advice of her medical adviser and that of her superior mother, N. Teresa, Sister Alphonsus retired from the hospital to recuperate her failing strength. During her years of office she made herself a general favorite with all with whom she had to do.
SACRED HEART ACADEMY
This high grade school fills a long felt want in Cedar Rapids and Linn county. There is no more suitable location for a young ladies' academy than Cedar Rapids, and for its site there is not perhaps in the west a place more suited than where the Sacred Heart Academy stands. Situated on the highest elevation, perhaps, in the county, it is by nature and the skill and taste admirably fitted to generate both sound minds and healthy bodies. Recently a new addition has been built to the former academy.