Nuns reach out to sick

Sisters of Bon Secours jump in to help minister to the stricken

The following is an excerpt from the 1982 book, "A Century of Caring." Sister Mary Cecelia O'Sullivan wrote this passage, according to Caroline Hook, Account Executive for Bonnie Heneson Communications, the PR agency of the Sisters of Bon Secours:

"During the week of Sept. 15, the disease in its lighter and incipient stages began to spread among the men in Camp Meade, which at that time was home to roughly 43,000 men.

"When several cases of pneumonia developed on Sept. 26, the Catholic chaplains in camp determined that a systematic method of handling the problem was needed. By this point, 26 men had received the last rites of the Church, and influenza patients filled several wards of the base's hospital. By the week of Sept. 29, several hundred new cases developed each day. The arduous work of caring for the sick began to take its toll on the doctors and nurses, as many of the nurses were incapacitated by the sickness and three died while battling the scourge.

"On Oct. 1, His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons offered the aid of the Catholic sisterhoods of Baltimore, leading to familiar scenes of Civil War days and Spanish-American War days as consecrated women administered to dying American soldiers.

"At Camp Meade more than 700 soldiers died. On Sunday, Nov. 10, 1918, a memorial mass was celebrated there. It was declared to be one of the most solemn and impressive ceremonies in the history of the camp. Cardinal Gibbons was present at the mass and delivered a short address to the great throng of army men and civilians who were present.

"While the sisters in Baltimore were busy taking care of the victims of the Spanish influenza, so were the sisters in Washington, D.C. It was in October 1918, especially during the last week of the month, that Washington, D.C., was in the thick of the epidemic. The sisters, among the many trying to relieve the stricken, were constantly busy doing all they possibly could. Even the superior of the Washington, D.C, community, Mother St. Seraphine, who had been appointed just that month, answered calls when no other sister was available. So many were ill that the person who opened the door to admit a sister to a stricken household was often himself on the verge of collapse."