Highlights Newsletter, issued November 1955

              /\nd I he Sisters Came North...
Coat-of-Arms of the Sisters of Charity of
Leavenworth.
Thanksgiving Day comes early for the
Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. November 11 is truly a day of thanksgiving
for the whole Community; thanksgiving
to Divine Providence for guiding the Sisters of Charity to Leavenworth ninety-
seven years ago; thanksgiving for the
kindness and generosity of benefactors
who befriended, counseled and aided the
Sisters on innumerable occasions; thanksgiving for the students, patients, orphans
and aged we have had the privilege of
caring for, guiding and educating; and
thanksgiving for the vocations we have
received to carry on the numerous and
extensive works of the Community.
On November 11, 1858, after a long
and perilous eleven-day journey via
coach, train and steamboat, four Sisters
of Charity of Nazareth, one novice, two
postulants and one orphan arrived in
Leavenworth, Kansas. Five more Sisters
and three orphans arrived a month later
and on February 21, 1859, Mother Xavier
Ross and Sister Joanna came and once
more the little community, which was to make its home in the virgin soil of
Kansas, was complete.
"Come North, Sisters, come North as soon as possible!" It was at this
pressing invitation of Bishop John B. Miege, S.J., Vicar-Apostolic of Indian
Territory, who needed religious pioneers to assist him in his work, that the Sisters
from Nazareth undertook the hazardous journey into the unknown plains of
Kansas. It was Bishop Miege's fatherly greeting to the first group of Sisters to
arrive in this strange Indian Territory that made them feel "at home." "Sisters,
you are most welcome, and may your coming be a blessing and a satisfaction to
both your community and our city." After enjoying breakfast with his Lordship,
the Sisters knelt for his blessing and at its conclusion he said: "My biggest
possible biessing to my Sisters of Charity. He who transplants will sustain.
Never be afraid to send your roots deep into this new soil. I think you will grow
here and be happy." These warm, hearty felicitations of Bishop Miege to the
Sisters on November 11, 1858, began a life-long friendship between him and
the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth under whose wise guidance the Sisters
pioneered for fifteen years.
The Sisters displayed an energetic spirit of progress and to the amazement
of Bishop Miege were ready six days later, November 17, 1858, to staff the
parochial school. The following March St. Mary's Academy was opened under
the patronage of Our Lady of the Annunciation. July 26, 1859, Bishop Miege
formally established a novitiate for five members. In 1862 the need for an
orphanage was imperative. Generous ladies of the city gave a fair and
materialized $7,000 for the building which was ready in less than a year.
Leavenworth's population was increasing so rapidly a hospital was needed to
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