Three remarkable women—all linked to St. Paul: In 1852 a group of Loretto nuns left Nerinx, Kentucky, on a mission to open the first girl’s school in New Mexico. Among them was Sister Magdalen. During the trip several members of the traveling party fell ill with cholera. The superior of the group died and Sister Magdalen was chosen to succeed her. The group arrived in Santa Fe on September 26, 1852 and the “Our Lady of Light” Academy for girls was opened the following January. This school was later called the Loretto Academy. Over a period of years more Lorettos traveled into New Mexico and ten more schools were established in Taos, Albuquerque and other area towns. Much of this expansion was done under the supervision of Mother Magdalene. Between the time of her arrival and her death in October of 1894 Mother Magdalen left her mark on New Mexico; and those marks seem to have multiplied during recent years. Perhaps the most famous mark related to the Sisters of Loretto and Mother Magdalene is the famed Loretto Chapel and its spiral staircase. The original school was moved to what is now downtown Santa Fe and Mother Hayden was superior when the Loretto Chapel was built; and the ‘miraculous’ staircase was added. Now, the chapel is no longer a church—it is operated as a historical attraction. The large, fashionable Loretto Hotel and Spa is nearly attached to the chapel and is clearly capitalizing on the Loretto story. One important mark, about a block from the chapel, leaves no doubt that Mother Hayden was an important person. During the spring of 2008 the state of New Mexico started erecting a set of 54 historic markers honoring women who played key roles in the development of the state. The first marker, erected in the spring of 2008, was the Mother Magdalen Hayden Marker. During dedication ceremonies state and local dignitaries joined Lorettos from Kentucky and around the country to honor the missionary nuns. During the celebration, two Hollywood actresses read from Mother Magdalen’s journals. Santa Fe, the “City of Holy Faith”, has taken good care of their religious past and that history has repaid them with tourism revenue. So what is the link? Five years before Sister Magdalene left Nerinx for New Mexico, her sibling, Sister Bridget Hayden left Nerinx for the treeless prairie west of Missouri. The year was 1847 and it was five years before Kansas was a territory and fourteen years before statehood. Sister Bridget’s group of four had a similar mission as Mother Magdalen’s group—open the Osage Manual Labor School for girls at Osage Mission—the first girl’s school in Kansas. A few years after arrival her superior was reassigned and Sister Bridget Hayden became Mother Bridget. Over forty years she watched southern Kansas transform from barren plains to a bustling landscape of cities, farms, railroads and mills. But the transformation was not smooth. While her young Osage students were eager and attentive, some of the parents were suspicious of the oddly attired missionaries. She watched Father Schoenmakers’ assistant Fr. John Bax struggle to help the Osage through a series of epidemics and then succumb to illness himself. During the Civil War the Lorettos tried to maintain the mission’s neutrality by feeding both Union and Confederate soldiers—sometimes on the same day. During that period the mission was in constant danger of being destroyed by guerilla troops. In the late 1860’s she watched her beloved Osage depart for Oklahoma—and then she shifted gears. During the early 1870s Mother Bridget and Father Schoenmakers realigned the Osage labor schools into a system of public and boarding schools. She became the sole superior of one of the most prestigious frontier women’s boarding schools, St. Ann’s Academy. For more than 20 years the academy educated young women from many of the eastern states as well as from Mexico and New Mexico. Some of the art and music students progressed to eastern specialty colleges. During her stay she also watched the original government Indian mission transform itself into the town of Osage Mission. Five years after her death, in January of 1890, the town of Osage Mission became St. Paul—“The Cradle of Catholicism” in southern Kansas. There was a third Hayden “Sister”. Mother Elizabeth Hayden served as the superior general of the Loretto Order from 1870 thru 1876. In that capacity she managed the entire Loretto Order from Nerinx, including their widely dispersed missionary activities. The Hayden sisters immigrated to the United States from Ireland with their parents in 1820. But it can certainly be said that they played a very important role in development of the American frontier. These women exhibited a level of devotion that is difficult to imagine today. Rosie and I visited the Loretto Archives in Nerinx about a year ago and head archivist, Sr. Eleanor Craig, said something that stuck in our minds: ‘When Sister Magdalene got off of the boat in Westport to start the trek down the Santa Fe Trail she must have been full of emotion. She knew she was within 90 miles of her beloved sister, Mother Bridget. She also knew she would never see her again. When those women went west, they seldom came back. So whose accomplishments were greater Magdalene or Bridget? Mother Magdalen’s mission home of Santa Fe has certainly recognized her accomplishments. Who in St. Paul even knows much about Mother Bridget Hayden?
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 14:26:56 +0000