A Sister’s Story

By Bryan Jacobson

Toast Master’s Competent Communicator project 7: “Research Your Topic”.

Note: I use underlining to remind me of places where I intend to slow down a bit or add a
bit more vocal emphasis.

Mr. Toastmaster. Fellow toastmasters.

Stephanie, just six years old, had been warned about dancing on that brick wall.
Stephanie fell backward onto concrete, shattering her elbow. The doctors did the best
they could, but the elbow healed with a grotesque twist, her arm hinging at the wrong
angle. Corrective surgery would be a problem, because her family did not have
insurance.

There is a connection with Montreal, Canada.

In 1843 Montreal already had a 200 year history, was French Canadian, and very
catholic. In that year Bishop Bourget and Madame Jean Baptiste Gamelin founded a new
religious order of nuns, dedicated to a medical ministry. Sister Gamelin was already
caring for the sick in her home. The Bishop called on the women of his diocese and
Esther Pariseau, answered his call.

I wonder what motivates a 20 year old woman to give up what I think of as “normal life”
to join a convent? Religious service and caring for the poor, certainly. Her father’s
words suggest an additional reason:

"I bring you my daughter, Esther, who wishes to dedicate herself to the religious life. She
can read, write, figure accurately, sew, cook, spin and do all manner of housework. She
can even do carpentering, handling a hammer and saw as well as her father. She can also
plan for others and she succeeds in anything she undertakes. I assure you, Madam, she
will make a good superior some day."

Esther Pariseau was born to lead.

Esther used her sewing skills to make habits and vestments. She became expert at
making the wax figurines the sisters sold to raise funds. Esther helped with the accounts
and was soon in charge of all the order’s finances.

After two years Esther took on vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and service to the
poor. The sisters have a tradition of taking on the name of a saint, and Esther became
Sister Joseph.
When Cholera hit Montreal, Sister Joseph courageously cared for the afflicted sisters.
When the order’s founder died, young Sister Joseph was named assistant to the new
mother superior.

In 1856 the sisters were asked to extend their medical ministry to Fort Vancouver. Fort
Vancouver, was founded by French Canadian fur traders just 30 years previously.

Living conditions at Fort Vancouver were primitive. Nevertheless, five sisters agreed to
go, including Sister Joseph, as their leader. Just 33 years old, she becomes Mother
Joseph.

Consider the determination of five women as they set out on a 45 day journey to Fort
Vancouver. On arrival, the sisters rolled up their sleeves and converted a small bakery to
St. Joseph Hospital, the first permanent hospital in the Northwest.

But the growing community needed a real hospital. And that would require a lot of
money. Some could come from community donations, but not nearly enough. Mother
Joseph proposed an unlikely plan: She would ride out on horseback to mining camps and
offer: Give us gold dust to build a hospital, and when you are sick, we will treat you for
free.

The Bishop was skeptical, and few expected her to succeed. She traveled hundreds of
miles through lawless territory. She outwitted stagecoach robbers and evaded hungry
wolves. Months later, she returned with thousands of dollars.

Mother Joseph became the architect of the 75 bed hospital, and also the building
supervisor. She was a stickler for detail. With the help of one workman she built the
roof herself. She bounced on support beams to verify their strength. She crawled under
the building to inspect the foundation. When she saw a chimney built on a wooden
foundation, she knocked it down, and spent the night rebuilding it on a foundation of
stone.

For those who could pay, the fee was $1.00 per day. Many could not. An early account
stated: 630 patients have been admitted to the hospital and 490 were taken free of all
charge.

The second hospital Mother Joseph built was St. Vincent in Portland.

There is too much story to tell. Mother Joseph established Sisters of Providence. Across
fifty years she was responsible for the completion of two orphanages, five Indian
Schools, seven academies, and eleven hospitals.

I mentioned Stephanie’s shattered elbow. When her bones were done growing, it was
time for reconstructive surgery. Insurance was not an option because the elbow was a
“pre-existing condition”. The cost for the surgery would be over a hundred thousand
dollars. But it was performed at Sisters of Providence, St. Vincent free of charge.
Stephanie’s arm now works correctly and her elbow is as beautiful as the rest of her.

Thank you Mother Joseph.