The Servants of relief for incurable cancer


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Dominican Sisters

CONGREGATION OF

ST. ROSE OF LIMA

1900-1950
DECEMBER 8





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in 2016

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ST. ROSE OF LIMA
Window over main altar in Chapel

Rosary Hill Home



The Servants of Relief

for

Incurable Cancer

CONGREGATION OF ST. ROSE OF LIMA

SISTERS OF ST. DOMINIC



}



HIS HOLINESS POPE PIUS XII



This Holy Year In the life of Mother Church
marks also the Golden Anniversary of The Servants of
Relief for Incurable Cancer, those Sisters who
dedicate their lives to Almighty God and devote
their services to caring for some of the most pitiful
of His chllaren - the Incurable, cancerous poor I

Fifty years ago, a groat and noble woman began
a great and noble work. With the title of Mother
Alphonsa, Rose Hawthorne organized her little band
of heroic workers to bring comfort to the bodies and
souls of these needy hopeless and suffering. These
Sisters overcame seemingly Insurmountable physical
demands and financial difficulties, for Mother
Alphonsa 's words, "If God wants this work to continue
He will take care of It", were bulwarked by constant
work and prayers for the victims of this dread
disease

.

This Report recounts not only Mother Alphonsa 's
struggles and successes but shows also the mighty
harvest that can be gleaned from the smallest seedlings
of Christly compassion and charity when combined with
selfless actions and fearless faith.

June
Twenty-Seventh
Nineteen
Hundred
Fifty



HIS EMINENCE FRANCIS CARDINAL SPELLMAN
Our Ecclesiastical Superior



MOST REV. EMMANUEL SUAREZ, 0. P.
Master General of the Dominican Order

!



ESTABLISHMENT

The eighth of December, 1950, marks the fiftieth an-

niversary of the Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer as

a religious Congregation. Considering these years In retro-

spect our hearts are filled with gratitude to God who In-
spired the first little band of cancer nurses to take this Im-

portant step—a step which has brought Innumerable bless-
ings and insured permanence to the Work. A tiny Chapel
in St. Rose’s Home at 426 Cherry Street, New York, was
the cradle of the Infant community; the Feast of the Im-

maculate Conception, 1900, the day of Its inception. It

was on that great feast of the Blessed Virgin that the first

three members received the holy Habit of the Order of Saint

Dominic and pronounced their first vows. While It was not

customary to be invested In the religious Habit and make

profession at the same time, this singular privilege was

granted them by Archbishop Corrigan, who called the trials
undergone in the establishment of their Work a “long hard
novitiate”.

At the time the Servants of Relief became a Religious

Congregation the Charity was In Its fifth year. First there

was the little three room flat, rented by Rose Hawthorne

Lathrop at Number 1 Scammel Street on the lower East
Side of New York. There she dispensed relief to the ill and
destitute of the neighborhood and went out daily to care for

the sick in their homes. While no needy person was refused,

cancer sufferers were the spe-

cial objects of her solicitude,

and it was to aid them in par-
ticular that this gifted daugh-

ter of Nathaniel Hawthorne

renounced a life of luxury and

ease to devote herself to their

welfare. She had found no class

of sufferers so greatly in need

of compassionate care—none

A MEMORABLE DAY—DEC. 8, 1900



so deplorably neglected. For the

maintenance of her establishment

she resolved to depend absolutely

on the Providence of God and the
generosity of the public. Xot a

penny would she accept from the

patients, their relatives or friends.

Within a month after settling

on Scammel Street, Mrs. Lathrop

received her first resident patient,

a poor, forlorn woman with cancer
of the face, whom she had met
while training for her work in the New York Cancer Hos-
pital. Having been pronounced Incurable, Mrs. Watson was

dismissed from the hospital, and Mrs. Lathrop often won-

dered what had become of her. One day a letter came, the

writing scarcely legible; it was from Mrs. Watson, begging

for a home.

Six months later four rooms were rented at 668 Water

Street, and three patients accommodated. Soon four more

rooms were added, and the number of sick mounted to seven.

The directress besought our Lord to send kind-hearted

women to join her. She also prayed for financial aid and
made her wants known in the daily papers.

One of the first to respond to her pleas was Mr. J. War-

ren Greene, a non-Catholic attorney, whose wife had died of

cancer. On his first visit to the Water Street tenement, this
gentleman, a member of the firm of Arnold and Greene, was

so impressed by the true Christian charity being dispensed

there that he offered his legal services gratis. To this prac-
tical support, which he continued until his death, were added

liberal donations, a deep sympathy for the sick and constant

encouragement to those who nursed them. Other profes-
sional men also rendered invaluable services in these early
years, among them, Doctor Miller of Gouverneur Street and
Doctor John Grant Coyle, both of whom attended Nlrs.
Lathrop’s sick people, even those living at a distance.

Another early friend, IVirs. Frances Moulton, was to

be a benefactor of the Work for over forty years. Her first
donation of two hundred dollars w^as accompanied by a

IN LOVING HANDS



gracious letter, containing the words, “Your methods meet

my most unqualified approval.”
An old veteran, Patrick Burns, of the soldiers’ home in

Togus, Maine, enclosed his first gift of ten dollars in a sheet

of paper bearing the single word, “Friend.” His liberality

for the next twelve years proved his fidelity to a promise to

help the charity as long as he lived. In such good people

was fulfilled one of Mrs. Lathrop’s dearest wishes: “I should

like to feel that the hearts of those who help the poor are
warmed to them because they are Christ’s poor.”

On the twenty-fourth of March, 1898, the Charity was
enriched by a gift of inestimable value when Miss Alice

Huber came to join Mrs. Lathrop. In the natural order it

would seem that cancer nursing was the occupation for which

Miss Huber was least fitted. Her tastes as well as her edu-

cation had been in the field of art, particularly that of por-

traiture. Although her father was a physician, nursing had

always repelled her. Yet she loved God with her whole
heart and for a long time had felt called to serve Him in a
very special way. One day she confided to a friend, “When
I find a work of perfect charity I will join it.” A visit to 668
Water Street led to her discovery of that “perfect charity,”

and a short period of volunteer service convinced her that

this was to be her life’s work.

Together Mrs. Lathrop and Miss Huber toiled and
nursed, and suffered, sometimes almost beyond endurance,

yet always with a firm trust in God and a deep interior peace.
Before long the sick poor in many parts of the city were de-
pending on the ministrations of

these women, who were known as
Servants of Relief. For the most

part, the people of the neighbor-

hood were kind to them. A few,
however, resented their presence

and threw stones and refuse at them.

One day a young priest, Father

Clement M. Thuente, O.P., of St.
Vincent Ferrer’s Church, came to

thank them for caring for a parish-

ioner of his. As he was leaving he

ALICE HUBER COMES TO STAY



IB'S
^

THE FIRST ST. ROSE'S HOME
426 Cherry St.

noticed a small statue of St. Rose of

Lima and, picking it up, exclaimed,

“Oh, ladies, if you want to keep up this

life and work you will need most special

graces. Join the Third Order of Saint

Dominic like Saint Rose. She did not

live in a convent but went about caring

for the sick as you are doing.” They

followed his advice and on September

14, 1899, were received by him as lay

'Fertiaries of the Dominican Order,

Mrs. Lathrop taking the name of Sis-

ter Mary Alphonsa; Miss Huber, Sis-
ter Mary Rose; and Miss Cecilia Higley, who had recently
joined them. Sister Mary Magdalen.

Meanwhile they secured their first real home—a three-
story brick building at 426 Cherry Street. Over the door of

the home was placed ,“St. Rose’s Free Home for Incurable
Cancer,” and the quotation: “I was sick and you visited Me.”

As time went on the new Tertiaries, though living a

semi-religious life, longed to participate more fully in the

blessings of the religious state. With that intention in mind

Mrs. Lathrop and Miss Huber called on Archbishop Cor-

rigan and asked permission to wear the full Dominican

Habit. Xot only did His Grace accede to their plea, but

requested Father Thuente to give them the Habit and re-

ceive their first vows. Thus on December 8, 1900, there

came into being a new religious Community, the Congrega-

tion of St. Rose of Lima.

During their formative years the Sis-

ters were guided by “The Rule of St.

Augustine and the Constitutions of the

Third Order of St. Dominic,” lent to

them by the Dominican Sisters of St.

Vincent Ferrer’s Parish. Insofar as their

duties permitted they followed the Rule

strictly and set aside special periods for

the recitation of the Little Office of the

Blessed \drgin and other religious exer-

cises. Although the third member of the

A POOR WOMAN FINDS RELIEF



original band found the life too difficult and withdrew, the

new status of a religious Community gave incentive to others
to join them. This was fortunate, for an opportunity soon

arose to extend the work.

GROWTH
In the spring of 1901 some property at Sherman Park,

(now Hawthorne, Xew York) was purchased for ^28,000.
The rambling old frame building, which had served in turn

as a summer hotel and as a monastery for the French Do-
minican Fathers, now became the Motherhouse and Novitiate
of the Congregation, as well as a Home for the cancer-
afflicted. The Community was divided between the two
Homes, Mother Alphonsa making her headquarters at the

new foundation and Sister Rose assuming charge of the

city Home.

The Feast of Corpus Chrlsti, June 6th, marked the

formal opening of Rosary Hill Home. The first contingent

of patients, five in number, had come the previous day.

Within two weeks six more arrived, among them the Home’s

first male patient, Mr. John Smith, of whom the record
states: “He has only one friend, Mr. Dwyer, who brought
him to us. He is absolutely penniless.”

The first winter on Rosary Hill was a never-to-be-for-

gotten experience. The house was very much in need of
repair, and there was little money. In fact. Mother Al-

phonsa had not a penny. Sister Rose had twenty dollars.

Mother referred to the situation as “dark and tragic;” yet

she did not think for a moment that God would not provide,
for on similar occasions she had received help which seemed

unmistakably divine. In this necessity, as always, the Sis-

ters had recourse to prayer, and again their petiltons were

heard. A friend sent two thousand dollars.
To enlist the sympathy of an ever-widening circle of

benefactors during her early years at Rosary Hill, Mother

Alphonsa published a pamphlet entitled Christ’s Poor, the

first number of which appeared in August, 1901. In this

little magazine she told the subscribers frankly, yet enter-





tainingly, of all that concerned the two cancer homes and

their “guests;” of the great-hearted charity of some people

for their suffering fellowmen, of the neglect of others; and

of the great need of many women to carry on and extend
the work, even to every city. Unfortunately, lack of funds

to meet the cost of publication, as well as the time and labor

involved, necessitated the suspension of Christas Poor in 1904.

The Paschal Season of 1906 brought a signal blessing

to the Congregation of St. Rose of Lima when the diploma of

affiliation with the Dominican Order was received from Rome.

The Reverend Hyacinth M. Cormier, O.P., Master General,
who sent the document, wrote to the Sisters: “You have

Jesus in your midst in two ways, Jesus in the Sacrament in

your Chapel and covered with wounds in the halls of the

sick. Adore Him, bless Him, serve Him by a two-fold meas-
ure of reverence and love.”

As the Congregation of St. Rose of Lima grew, so also

did its sick family. The Cherry Street Home became so
crowded that cots and morris chairs had to be utilized to

take care of the overflow of patients. Hearing of their need

for larger quarters, Mr. Edward J. Smith, a candy manu-
facturer, offered the Sisters $25,000 toward a new St. Rose’s
Home. Another benefactor, Mr. Cornelius F. Cronin, gave a

like sum, which made possible the purchase of land at the
corner of Front and Jackson Streets. Through a public ap-

peal, the aid of others was enlisted so that on December 15,

1912, a modern, five-story building was blessed and opened.

Meanwhile, the Sisters in the country home prayed each
day that their old clapboard dwelling would escape the fury

of wind and storm and above all, fire. When Columbus
College in Hawthorne was com-

pletely destroyed by fire in 1917

Mother Alphonsa decided that

something must be done to pre-

vent a like disaster at Rosary

OLD ROSARY HILL HOME



I



Hill, so she began to beg for a fireproof hospital-home. The

begging was to be done, she said, in that “calmly laborious

manner in which a bird builds its nest.” Laborious the task

proved to be, but not calmly so, for difficulties of many kinds
delayed operations until the plans for a large building had

to be postponed. Instead, in 1924, a preliminary structure,

St. Joseph’s Annex, was erected for the most helpless patients.

Two years later sufficient funds had been raised to con-
tinue the building project and on the fourteenth of June,

1926, the first spadeful of earth was turned for the new fire-

proof Rosary Hill Home, which would house one hundred

patients. All were elated, especially Mother Alphonsa, who
had worked so hard to make this project possible. Often

she envisioned the practical and convenient home of Spanish
mission architecture, with its red tile roof, its “contrasting

outlines of level one-story eaves, and high portions of tower”

as a “gem in the landscape” as well as a safe haven for her

poor, sick family. Her dream was realized but she did not

live to see it, for on the ninth of July, 1926, she died in her

sleep.

Those who knew and esteemed this devoted servant of
the poor and afflicted were startled at the sudden closing of a

life so worthy of admiration. Newspapers and periodicals

all over the country paid tribute to her memory. Yet it re-

mained for the members of her Community to appreciate
at first hand her greatness of soul. To them she left a price-
less legacy, a glorious example of sacrifice of self for the

glory of God and the welfare of neighbor.
No one realized this more fully than Sister Mary Rose,

her faithful co-laborer for twenty-eight years. Together they

had worked in the greatest harmony for the common good.
Together they had shared the joys and sorrows of the

Charity’s upbuilding. Among the many loving tributes Sis-
ter Rose wrote in memory of her deceased associate is the
one on the bronze tablet at the entrance of the new home:

“We who have completed this Home must bear in mind that
she who laid the foundation stone braved many hardships
and difficulties. We have only finished what she commenced
and made secure. This is her last gift to the poor. May her
name be held in everlasting remembrance.”



2076 St. Anthony Avenue

St. Paul, Minn.

}



Rosary Hill Home, Motherhouse and .Novitiate



MOTHER M. PASCHAL FLANNIGAN, 0. P.



EXPANSION

At a General Chapter held at Rosary Hill Home on the
25th of August, 1926, Sister Mary Rose Huber was unani-
mously elected Mother General of the Congregation. In her

new duties Mother Rose manifested the same sterling qual-

ities which had characterized her entire religious life—fidel-
ity to duty, steadfastness of purpose and deep spirituality.

Like her predecessor, she had perfect trust in God and con-
fidence in the charitable public, which enabled her to face

the future without fear. Under her leadership the work

made steady progress. Her first important duty was to ob-

tain approval of the Rule and Constitutions for the Con-

gregation. This was granted on the feast of the Ascension,

1927.

The following October the new home was ready for

occupancy. It was both fireproof and of fine artistic beauty.

Into this home, which would welcome within its portals des-

titute cancer sufferers of every race and creed and color, had

gone not only cold steel and tile and concrete, but long years

of labor and prayer, and the pulsating love of compassionate

hearts for their stricken fellowmen. Rich and poor, well and

ill alike, had helped to make it possible. A crippled friend
had sent twenty dollars, saved little by little over many
years. A working woman had given her entire savings to
furnish two rooms. When reminded that she might need the
money she replied,' “I will trust in God.” Within three

years a fireproof Chapel and convent were added to the home.

In the interim a new foundation had been made in Phila-

delphia, The Sacred Heart Home. This Home, situated at

the corner of Old York Road and Hunting Park Avenue,

was dedicated by His Eminence, Dennis Cardinal Dougherty,

on April 27, 1930. Apparently the whole of Pennsylvania

needed such a home, for applications came from various

parts of the State. One of the first patients was an extremely

ill man who had been living alone in an unheated cabin in the
mountain district. Made comfortable for the first time in
months, he exclaimed the morning after his arrival, “It must

be a dream.”



'rhree more foundations were established in Mother

Rose’s lifetime: the Rose Hawthorne Lathrop Home, Fall
River, Massachusetts, in 1932; Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Home, Atlanta, Georgia, in 1939; and Our Lady of Good
Counsel Home, St. Paul, Minnesota, In 1941. In each foun-
dation the Sisters met with whole-hearted cooperation on the

part of the diocesan authorities as well as the general public.

Within a year after the opening of the St. Paul Home
Mother Rose was called to her eternal reward. She died on

September 30, 1942, at the age of eighty, after spending

forty-four years as a Servant of Relief. In contrast to the

widespread notices of Mother Alphonsa’s death, the passing

of Mother Rose was scarcely noted. Yet it was as she her-

self would have wished. She had never sought honors in her

life, nor had she received them. It was enough for her to

know that to the best of her ability she had fulfilled the
will of God.

On November 17, 1942, the Superiors and Delegates
from the various Homes assembled at the Motherhouse to
choose a successor to Mother Rose. The voting resulted In

the election of Mother Mary Paschal, a member of the Con-
gregation for thirty-two years. The new Mother General

said she felt wholly Incapable of assuming the task, but was

assured by the priest who presided that the Holy Ghost,
W ho had signified that she take up the charge, would enable
her to accomplish It. He also pointed out that she would be a
strong link connecting the past with the present and future,

and that her long association with the foundresses would be

an asset in carrying on the traditions of the Order.

W'hlle Mother Alphonsa’s chief work was the founding

and building up of the Charity, and that of Mother Rose, Its

expansion, the special objective of the third Mother General

was to strengthen the edifice their long years of labor had

effected. During Mother Paschal’s administration World

W’’ar II was In progress, yet each Home, despite wartime

scarcity, was able to care for Its full quota of patients. More-

over, the generosity of kind-hearted friends made It possible

to provide them with delicacies as well as the necessities of

life. When one considers maintenance alone for six such
institutions without any assured source of income and that,



not for a day or a month, but over a period of years, one is

forced to acknowledge the all-loving Providence of God.

Imbued with a spirit of gratitude. Mother Paschal thought

that a special tribute of honor should be paid to the Sacred

Heart of Jesus Whose constant solicitude was so manifest.

Therefore, she directed that an Enthronement of the Sacred

Heart take place with an appropriate ceremony in each of

the Houses of the Congregation. Throughout the six years

of her term of office. Mother Paschal bore the burden of ill

health in addition to the responsibilities which her position

entailed. In December, 1948, she returned to St. Rose’s

Home, where she had given more than thirty years of de-

voted service. Here she died on September 16, 1949.

It is the cherished hope of Mother IVIary Siena, the

present Mother General, to extend the Work of the Congre-
gation to other parts of the country. This can only be ac-

complished when a sufficient number of young women, with

hearts afire with love of God, generously sacrifice all that

the world holds dear to devote their lives to the sublime

mission of nursing the cancer afflicted. Many requests for
foundations have been received, and undoubtedly every im-

portant city in the United States would welcome a home for
its destitute cancer sufferers. Surely in this great country

of ours there are many who would gladly embrace this Christ-
like Work were they cognizant not only of its need but of its
deep consolations. May we ask our friends to join us in beg-
ging God to inspire many young women to serve Him as
Servants of Relief in the Congregation of St. Rose of Lima.

OUR GUESTS

The Sisters are often asked the secret of their success
in keeping the patients satisfied and happy, in spite of the

hopelessness and at times the long-drawn-out course of their

disease. Freedom from fear and worry are contributing fac-

tors in the contentment of these sick people—fear of not be-
ing able to meet hospital or doctor bills, and anxiety about

family difficulties, which distance to a great extent removes.



As to the attitude of the patients toward each othei,

their common bond of affliction seems to instill Into them a
spirit of sympathy and brotherly love which is most edifying.

An incident in the Atlanta Home is but one of many like
occurrences. In the men’s ward all but two had frequent

visitors. On Christmas Eve a patient handed the Sister a
dollar, remarking as he did so, “We fellows chipped In. Take
this and get a Christmas present for those two men.” “And

how about yourselves.^” she Inquired, knowing how poor

they were In w^orldly goods. “Oh, don’t worry about us,

Sister, we have friends, but they haven’t anyone.” Little

did he know that just out of sight there was an abundance of

gifts for all.

Visitors sometimes exclaim, “Why, some of these people

do not look poor at all!” This Is quite true, but were the

Inquirers to know the facts In each case they would have to
admit that the patients were not enjoying the hospitality of

a free home without sufflcient reason. One does not have to

advertise poverty by being clad In ragged garments; nor do

the cancer patients have to forego nice clothes because they

are ill and destitute. Clothing of fine quality for both men
and women has always been provided for the Homes and
seldom at the expense of the Sisters. True, the abject pov-

erty prevalent In the earlier years of the Charity is not often

encountered at the present day because of Improved living

conditions. However, there are still no adequate provisions

for those who cannot afford to pay nurses, even if they were
available. Nor are there hospitals to keep patients indefi-

nitely when they have been pronounced incurable. If people
with means find it difficult to ob-

tain hospitalization for cancer

patients for any length of time,

how much more desperate Is the
' plight of those whose resources

have been drained to the utmost.

Furthermore, in these days

cancer sufferers are sometimes

found in shacks, hardly fit for

human habitation. Two such
patients came to Rosary Hill

CHRISTMAS GIVING



Home within a few days of
each other in the summer

of 1946. The first, an old

lady with advanced cancer

of the face, had been dress-

ing her frightful lesion with

newspapers. The second, an

eighty-year-old woman,like-
^ GOSSIP AMONG FRIENDS

wise a victim of face can-

cer, was recommended by

a priest. Rector of a house of studies not far from her mis-

erable dwelling. She had been living in such a state of neg-

lect that the Board of Health warned her to improve hy-

gienic conditions. Hearing of her plight, the priest enlisted

the aid of his seminarians and undertook to provide more

healthful surroundings. Like many another, she clung to
her home, poor as it was. Finally, weakened by the progress

of the disease, the priest prevailed upon her to accept the

hospitality of the Sisters.

Throughout the years the Homes have sheltered young
and old, saint and sinner, those of various faiths and some

professing no faith at all. With few exceptions they have

found through their affliction and the patient acceptance of

sufferings a gateway to heaven. It was edifying but not sur-

prising to hear an eighty-two-year-old man reply one day
when asked about his condition: ‘T feel terrible. Sister, but

don’t worry about me. My life has been spent in clean, hon-
est living and God has been very good to me. Who am I to
complain when I think of Him Who suffered for me.”

That cancer is no respecter of age has been proved over

and over again. “Grannie” had passed the century mark

before cancer attacked her. Enfeebled and very ill, she was

received into the home at the age of one hundred and three
and succumbed six w^eeks after admittance.

Irene, on the other hand, was pronounced a victim of the

disease in her teens, and strangely enough, she was the third

member of her family to develop cancer. Her parents, both
strong and vigorous, were heartbroken as one child after an-

other was stricken. Irene was placed in the care of the most

competent specialists, but to no avail. When medical science



had exhausted its resources, she was sent to Rosary Hill for

terminal care. With head and face swathed in bandages, she

aroused compassion in all who beheld her. In fact, she was
so pitiful that one day a priest who had just given a confer-
ence to the Sisters exclaimed on seeing her, “Why should 1
come up here to talk to you Sisters when you have the cruci-
fixion right here before you!”

Idnda was much younger. She entered the Sacred
Heart Home wheii a tiny mite of one year, and by her
winning ways won the hearts of all. Her little world
seemed a pleasant one, for she was Invariably smiling

and happy. She was an only child and her parents had been

told that hers was a hopeless case and she would hardly live

beyond five years. At first they came to see her often, but

when another child was born visits to little Linda became

few and far between and finally ceased altogether. But

Linda found a foster-mother in Ann Marie, a fifteen-year-old
patient, who had been in the Home for several years.

Ann Marie’s stay was to be a long one. She was a vic-
tim of skin cancer and because of it, though intelligent and

capable, she would not be happy or accepted in the outside

world. She often longed for a normal life, but humiliating

experiences in her few brief contacts with the public had

taught her the futility of her hopes. With the coming of

Linda her whole world changed. Always eager to help the

Sisters, she now took over the task of entertaining Linda
until the two became almost inseparable. Patiently she

taught her tiny pupil until at the age of four Linda was as

bright a child as could be found, and happy as the day is

long. As for Ann Marie, she became the replica of a con-
tented young mother.

Another patient, a former garden-

er, recaptured a zest for life in raising

choice plants in the greenhouse. The

magnificence of his blooms at all sea-

sons is a marvel to everyone. When
asked the secret of his success with

flowers, he invariably answers, “You

must love them. Of course,” he will add,

“you must give them plenty of care

too.”

THE TWO BECAME ALMOST INSEPARABLE



Frank’s hobby was gardening of a different type. Each

year the fruits of his labor appeaerd In the most peculiar

places—on the well-kept lawn, the gravel path, almost any-
where but In the garden. Remonstrances were of no avail,

but more definite measures were taken when huge sun-

flowers sprung up, as if by magic. In a plot of choice ever-

greens at the main entrance of the Home.

Many of the patients are unaware of the hopelessness
of their malady, or even the nature of it, and strange to say

some, after months and even years of confinement without

improvement, cling to the hope of returning home cured.

Others are given the Impression that they are going to a

convalescent home to build up their strength after an oper-
ation. “Dannie” was one of these. His improvement was

remarkable and as the days passed he became so well sat-

isfied with his environment that he hoped to become an em-

ployee when fully recovered. But one day, after hearing

some of his fellow-patients freely discuss their ailment “Dan-

nie” decided the place held too great a hazard for him. With-

out delay he found the Sister in charge and exclaimed, “You’d

better hurry up and cure me, Sister, or I’ll have cancer like

a lot of these fellows
!”

Should anyone think that the life of a Servant of Relief

is a constant round of monotonous duties, any member of
the Congregation could quickly dispel that Idea. Her day is
made up of frequent Interludes of prayer as well as labor
and recreation, and the diversity of character she daily en-

counters adds color and variety to a life which might other-

wise be prosaic. Scarcely a day passes without some un-

looked-for incident, humorous, pathetic, uplifting or en-
tirely unexpected.

Perhaps the most unexpected

event in one Sister’s experience

was the day on which she opened

the trunk of a meek-looking

woman who had just arrived and
found Its sole contents to be

three guns—all loaded!
In recent years extensive

studies have been made and

YOU MUST LOVE THEM.’



millions of dollars
have been spent in

cancer research, but
as yet no cure has

been found for cancer

in its advanced stages.

It is to be hoped that

soon a cure may be
found. When that day ^ FAVORITE PASTIME

dawns, no one will re-

joice more than those who nurse the cancer-afflicted poor,
unless it be the sufferers themselves. In the meantime, the

Sisters will continue to offer them a free home until death

calls them. If the time ever comes when cancer is finally

eradicated, the Sisters can concentrate their attention on an

objective of Mother Alphonsa’s as quoted from Christ’s

Poor: “Other diseases in the incurable stage among des-

titute persons of both sexes will be attended to when the

members of the Community become sufficiently numerous

to extend the Work.”

THE FUTURE

The Sisters of today consider it fortunate that Father

Thuente, inspired by the Spirit of God, invited their found-

resses to affiliate with the illustrious Order of St. Dominic.

Although Mother Alphonsa and Mother Rose have com-

pleted their earthly span, their spirit lives on in the Work
built up by their long years of labor and sacrifice.

The Dominican Sisters of the Congregation of St. Rose

of Lima retain the title by which they were first known, the

Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer. All the Homes are
incorporated under that title in their respective states.

The Charity would not be successful without the con-
stant cooperation of the public. While legacies have been a

source of great help, other donations, large and small, and

from all classes, have been no less sustaining and have given

permanent courage to those who place their confidence in the



krSriJn

LULU MAE GOES VISITING

Providence of God and

the liberality of His

people.This also includes

the liberality of those

who have given in a
spiritual way, for the

Sisters have always felt

the potency of prayer

and the stimulus of en-

couragement to be ef-

fective aids in their

work of mercy.

The Homes of the Servants of Relief are not endowed;

nor do they receive aid from City or State. They are sup-

ported by the hourly mercy of the public. Our homes are

free to poor, incurable cancer patients, of any race, creed or

color. A doctor’s diagnosis only is required of the poor.
In a true Dominican spirit, the hidden work of the Sis-

ters in receiving and caring for the poor without any pay-

ment has been matched by the secret donations that have

made the Charity possible. The patients are the guests

equally of those benefactors who seek no advertising in this

life for their love of neighbor. Hospitalization today is so

organized that it cannot reach beyond the acute cases. The

chronic incurable, afflicted with poverty, stares desperately

at the world. Light suffuses his soul in the Homes inaugu-
rated in 1896 by Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, and consecrated

by her in 1900 as Mother Alphonsa, O.P.

The following words, written by Mother Alphonsa many
years ago, could well be repeated by the Sisters of today:

“The workers of the Charity have exclaimed joyfully to each

other over the tone of the notes received from persons re-

sponding with various aid. The cordial, enthusiastic ap-
proval and their solicitude of the sick poor have shown a high

quality of mercy that has refreshed our souls, as brave mar-

tial strains refresh the heart. We thank the public both for
money and courage.”

As if to echo her words this most recent letter, sent to

us from Euorpe, gives assurance that God will provide the
ways and means to continue the Charity. “I have been ill



for six months, and although I may gain a little in warm
weather, it is only the best hope, and I am evidently em-
barked on the last voyage, be it long or short. Therefore, I

want to send you my small contribution for the fiftieth an-
niversary at once, for delays are dangerous at 82 ! It is

nearly 50 years since I first knew of your work, and as I

was in great grief at the knowledge that my dearest friend
was stricken with cancer, I felt the keenest interest in Mother

Alphonsa’s work. What a grain of mustard seed she sowed,
alone and only armed with faith, hope and charity, and what

an almost miraculous growth it has produced. You may not
hear from me again—but also you may, but I know I shall
have your, and the sisters’, prayers, and you know that my
interest after nearly half a century will not fail.”

This letter recalls an earlier communication from Samuel

L. Clemens (Mark Twain) to Mother Alphonsa: ‘T am glad
in the prosperous issue of your work, and glad to know that

this prosperity will continue, and be permanent—a thing
which I do know, for that endowment is banked where it

cannot fail until pity fails in the hearts of men, and that will

never be.”

In presenting this report of the fifty years past, we are

confident that the years before us will be rich in the harvest

of the Lord, laying up in Heaven for Servant and Benefactor

alike the “treasure where rust and moth do not consume and

thieves do not break through and steal.” Where the treasure

is, there is the heart also.



''We have joined ourselves so entirely to the poor that
when we speak of the destitute we speak also of ourselves”

—Mother Alphonsa

STATISTICS OF

THE SERVANTS OF RELIEF FOR INCURABLE

CANCER

1900—December 8—1950

Patients cared for 25,121

Male 10,811
Female 14,310

White 22,832

Colored 2,289

Catholic 14,571

Protestant 9,915

Hebrew 424

Greek Orthodox 95

Quaker 10

Mormon 2
Mohammedan 2
No religion 102

Hospital Days 3,542,539

FORM OF BEQUEST

I give and bequeath to The Servants of Relief for In-

curable Cancer (incorporated under the laws of the State

of ) the Sum of

"Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it for one of
these, the least of my brethren, you did it for me”

—Matthew, 25:40.



The costs of this Report

have been contributed by

friends of the Sisters.





t,

ii