Part 86 (1/2)

This arrangement continued till the spring of 1905, when the Sisters secured the beautiful house and property known as Mound Farm, on which they now have a beautiful mother house and academy. Up to 1905 St.

Joseph's was the mother house of the Cedar Rapids community. Now the mother house is at ”the Mound.”

The new Sacred Heart Academy opened in September, 1905, with thirty boarders. It is situated on the same location as the mother house of the community.

From the Cedar Rapids mother house of the Sisters of Mercy the following branch houses have been and are supplied: Decorah, Grand Junction, Anamosa, Manchester, De Witt, Charles City, Elma, Oelwein, Bernard, New Haven, Waterloo, Marion, St. Wenceslaus, St. Joseph's, Cedar Rapids, with Mercy Hospital, and a new hospital at Kalispel, Montana.

In the community at present there are about one hundred and thirty members. In the novitiate or preparatory school for aspirants to the Sisterhood there are about forty young ladies laying the foundation for their future life work.

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 inst.i.tution 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 inst.i.tution 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 inst.i.tution, which compares favorably with any similar inst.i.tution 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 inst.i.tution 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 inst.i.tution 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 inst.i.tution 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 a.s.sumed charge of the little hospital on Third avenue. She has seen that mustard seed grow into the present beautiful inst.i.tution. 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 const.i.tution 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.

The church realizes that true progress is the law which G.o.d has given to His creation. Any progress is creation continued. The gospel of Christ is the gospel of progress. The mind to be progressive must seek Him and find Him, and finding Him, be of value to the child and the state.

This the church understands better than she gets credit for, and this is the reason why her parish school is her first care after her own existence has been established. Hence any attempt at her history which would not include her schools would be incomplete and dwarfed. In the school is sown the seed which is afterwards nursed and cared for by the church, in its life-giving sacramental system.

One of the chief parish schools in Linn county is Sacred Heart Academy, at Green Mound Farm. It is a school for young ladies in which are taught all subjects which qualify candidates for the varied positions to which they may wish to aspire, such as teaching, bookkeeping, stenography, etc., etc.

St. Berchman's Seminary at Marion is a boarding school for boys who have not attained the age of fourteen. In this school, which is in charge of the Sisters of Mercy of Cedar Rapids, the most approved methods are employed in imparting thorough and comprehensive instruction in all the elementary branches of an English education, together with a marked attention to the moral culture of the boys, which makes them an honor to their parents and society. Careful attention is given to their physical needs and bodily comfort, and diligent care is extended in seeing that their time in the seminary is put to the best advantage. Music and elocution are among the subjects taught.

The seminary is located on First avenue and Fifteenth street. It is situated on a twenty acre area, beautifully wooded, and affording excellent facilities for outdoor games which boys usually indulge in.

The seminary has its own sources of supply in all edible stuffs. It has a beautiful orchard and vegetable gardens, and its needs in the way of dairy produce and poultry are supplied from its own farm. While within the city limits, it is far removed from noise and all disturbing elements which may in any way militate against the best results.

The apartments are s.p.a.cious and are furnished with every modern improvement conducive to health and comfort. The building is heated by steam, well ventilated, and lighted by electricity. Hot and cold water are in use for the bath system. At the present time a large addition is being built to meet the needs of the increasing patronage.

CHAPTER x.x.xIX

_Linn County Statistics_