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Final Wish
Mother Thecla, alone in her hospital room, worked her way slowly out of bed and found a scrap of paper and pencil. She tried to write. Even though her mind was lucid, her hand could produce only an unintelligible scribble. Shame filled her and a large tear rolled down her cheek. She crumpled up the piece of paper and hid it. Later, when the sisters came in she unraveled it and showed it to them. One of the sisters squeezed the Mother General's hands and whispered, "It takes time to get well, just a little more time."
"I am no longer able to govern the Congregation," Mother Thecla managed to say. "It is necessary that I resign, and that another superior be elected."
The sisters who gathered around shook their heads in a definite refusal. She retained her position without mentioning the subject again.
The chaplain of the Albano hospital sat by her bedside and listened as Mother Thecla confided worries that wouldn't give her a moment's rest:
"I am not doing any penance," she said sadly, "I can't even do any work. Tell me what I should do, what mortification I should make."
"Accept this penance," the priest said slowly. "Accept with patience your inability to attend to the duties of your office, the renunciation of activity, the confinement to apparent idleness. This is your penance. To conform yourself to the will of God, this is the best penance you can do."
The Mother General nodded her head. He was right. ********************
Days passed. Mother Thecla sat in her chair near the window and watched the construction men building the Albano hospital's new wing. She thought back to the day when she had chosen the land, and even farther back, to the war days and nights, many of which had been spent in the air-raid shelter. She had determined then to build that hospital for religious. And now, in 1963, a new addition was being added.
The hospital wing continued to take shape. Its progress seemed to have special meaning for the ailing Mother General. She, who had spent her lifetime "building" a strong Congregation, not with steel and bricks but with faith, humility and obedience, could not be defeated now that the "external" part of her mission was done. She would continue to "build" the shrine of sanctity within her own heart until the end of her life.
Yes is Forever, by the Daughters of St. Paul, Copyright © 1981, Daughters of St. Paul. |
"God is good," she thought to herself. Her eyes followed the muddy boots of the industrious men who hoisted beams and mixed cement. When the work looked dangerous or very difficult she would whisper "Hail Marys" that all would go well arid especially that our Lady would make their burden light.