McNamara's Blog
Mrs. J. Delehanty is Carmelite Nun. Former Miss Monahan of Brooklyn, Now a Widow, Joins Severe Order. RULES EXTREMELY STRICT. Picturesque Ceremony at Monastery on Bedford Avenue—Vicar General Officiates (The Brooklyn Eagle, July 19, 1916, 18.)
A new member has been added to the Carmelite Monastery at St. John’s Place and Bedford Avenue, the black veil of the order being given to Sister Mary Angelus by Vicar General Joseph McNamee. There were impressive ceremonies which denoted her rejection of the world and all its pleasures for the remainder of her life. The sister, who will henceforth devote her life to prayer and contemplation, was formerly Mrs. John Delehanty, of Clearfield Street, Philadelphia, a widow, her husband having died four years ago.
Mrs. Delehanty decided a year ago, after inheriting a tiny fortune, to apply for admittance to the convent, joining her sister, Miss Tessie Monahan, who had joined the Carmelite Order a year previous.
The Carmelite nuns are members of the strictest religious order in the Catholic Church. They live in seclusion, not leaving the convent from the day they enter until their death. All communication with the sisters is had through a closed door, their faces being covered with veils. Sister Mary Angelus had served a probationary period of a year, and when she was accepted by Mother Teresa for admittance to the order preparations were made for the solemn profession.
Attired as a bride, with a flowing white veil over her head and a holding a lighted candle in her right hand, Sister Mary Angelus, behind two sets of lattice work, which separated her from the chapel in which her relatives and friends had gathered, knelt as Msgr. McNamee celebrated Mass. Behind her, dressed in the somber habits of the order, were eleven Sisters of the community. All but the new Sister were heavily veiled. She replied in a firm voice to the questions put to her by the Vicar General, who handed to her the new habit of brown which she will wear for the rest of her life. One of the most impressive pictures was when the new Sister prostrated herself on the floor, on a carpet of lilies and made her final profession.
From now on the new Sister may see her friends only once in three months, and that through the grille work of the convent chapel. She will sleep in a cell on a bed of straw, rising during the night for prayers and living on the most frugal fare. Meat she cannot eat for the balance of her life, nor can she partake of any delicacies of which it forms a part. The sisters live on the charity of their friends, and it is only in case that no food is given them for a period of two days that they can procure it by purchase themselves, but in the twelve years that the order has been established in Brooklyn such a contingency has seldom happened.
Notwithstanding all these rigors, the members of the community are healthy and very happy, as the new sister told her friends before the final parting.
Sister Mary Angelus is the daughter of Thomas Monahan of Manhattan Beach, who formerly lived at St. John’s Place and Washington Avenue. Her sister, Miss Tessie Monahan, joined the order about four years ago, after the death of her mother.
Among the relatives and friends at the ceremony were: Thomas Monahan, father of Sister Mary Angelus; Edward J. Monahan, a brother; Mrs. James Delehanty, Mrs. E.J. Monahan, a sister; Miss Elizabeth Monahan, Mr. and Mrs. Hornardle of Philadelphia, Mrs. F.J. Gallagher, Mrs. F.J. Creamer, Mr. and Mrs. James J. Harris, Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Finnegan, Mrs. Martin, Miss Culhane, Mrs. Roberts and Mrs. George Tilyou.
Among the clergy at the ceremonies were: The Rev. Peter Donohue, the Rev. John F. Stack, the Rev. Leo Williams, the Rev. Nicholas Zijerino, the Rev. Walter Kerwin and the Rev. Father Gillick.
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