1947 Chronicles (2): Our New Home

Sister in her work apron in front of the Chittendon farmhouse

“After Mass, Sister Mary Joseph, our cook, laid siege to the kitchen, ‘the most important room in the house next to the chapel,’ as she would say. Her one aim was to cook the most appetizing meal in the shortest time possible. Large of person, with a heart as big as herself, she was armed with the black cloth bag that she had sewn together in Summit and crammed to the bursting-point with coffee, tea, canned milk, bread, butter, eggs, etc. – things that she foresaw might be handy in the hustle and bustle of arrival.

“In the kitchen, Reverend Mother and Sister Mary Joseph found the wife of the caretaker, Mrs. Morriarty, who made no secret of her red, tear-filled eyes....”

“In the kitchen, Reverend Mother and Sister Mary Joseph found the wife of the caretaker, Mrs. Morriarty, who made no secret of her red, tear-filled eyes as she and her fourteen-year-old daughter, Marion, cleared the remnants of the lunch she had prepared for her family during our first Mass. They realized now that this had been their last meal in the house that they had come to regard as home – so dear had it become to them that they had stubbornly refused to leave, though they had been kindly warned by Reverend Mother that they must move before January twenty-first. Mrs. Morriarty dried the tears from her eyes with a corner of her gingham apron as Mother consoled her with the fact that the house across the road, our Father Chaplain’s future residence, would provide a very comfortable shelter for her family. Before leaving the kitchen, she very kindly lent Sister Mary Joseph her own pots and pans and gave her some instructions for using the enormous gas range that filled one corner of the low-ceilinged kitchen.

            “Sister Mary Joseph donned an apron and got right to work and, almost before we had time to find enough odds and ends of dishes, knives, forks and spoons, etc., with which to set a large table in an adjoining room, she announced in her cheerful voice that our first meal was ready. How hungry we were! There was nothing formal about the serving or partaking of that first repast – “brunch” as we called it, since for us it was a combination of breakfast and lunch. We gathered family-like around our simple table, upon which Sister Mary Joseph’s steaming-hot coffee and scrambled eggs had been placed. After graces had been said, we laughed and chatted gaily.

“Mrs. Meehan and Margaret Cox joined us at table and were very pleased and proud to do so. Arthur was the server for the first meal in this novel refectory and his good humor added to the simple merriment. We had also prepared a small table to one side of the room for Father so he would have some privacy when partaking of his repast, but close enough so he could hear and enjoy the happiness of his children. In one corner of the large kitchen, Sister Mary Joseph prepared and served a hearty meal for her “boys,” as she called them: Arthur; George Carty, Sister Mary Monica’s brother, who proved himself to be very generous with his time both before and after we came to Guilford; and Tommy McGarry, the brother of Sister Mary Kathleen, who, being only seventeen, was filled with an adventurous spirit and stayed to share in both the hardships of those first months and, finally, the joy of the fully established monastery.”

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