We Sisters of St. Joseph already know about the imprisonment of Mother St. John during the French Revolution, and her almost miraculous release from the sentence of death at the guillotine, when the tyrant Robespierre was himself guillotined on July 28, 1794 and the prisons were opened. But I have been reading about the times afterwards and was struck by the fact that nothing was stable. No one knew if there would be another revolution. Supporters of King Louis’ relatives to reclaim the throne were armed for war in the cities and besides that the Austrians and Russians had armies on the very borders of France, planning a takeover. Yet, we do not have any signs in Mother St. John’s life that she allowed any of these terrible threats to cause her to change her regular, daily outreach to the poor, homeless, sick and abandoned. She and the Sisters dealt with the needs right in front of them. We only have signs her complete confidence in God, and her constant prayer of trust. So, when Pope Francis was here and urged us to deal not with “ideologies’ but rather with the needy before us, I was thinking of Mother St. John’s brave example in her own times of instability and suffering. She is an inspiration for me.
Sister Wendy Cotter csj (L) Chicago.